YOG hopefuls Brandon Ooi and Wang Nan Feng make a splash at canoe marathon

Contributed by Sheila Rasu

Marina Reservoir, Sunday January 17, 2010 - About 570 paddlers took to the waters at the Singapore Canoe Marathon 2010 in what was its biggest turnout to date.

The annual Singapore Canoe Marathon saw Youth Olympic Games (YOG) hopefuls put on a good show with Temasek Secondary School's Wang Nan Feng coming out on top in the K1 Junior Women's category.

Speaking after her win and timing of 2hr 23.05, 16-year old Nan Feng commented, "The National Team didn't really get a chance to prepare for this as we have just come back from a training camp in Hungary so this was unexpected but a nice surprise."

Nan Feng will be attempting to qualify for the inaugural YOG where one female will represent Singapore in the K1 category. Her usual partner Chew Li Julienne from National Junior College had to settle for a 6th placing.

Another YOG hopeful who top home top honours was Brandon Ooi who finished first in the K2 Junior Men's category. His partner Joshua Lim does not qualify for the YOG due to his age but it was a team effort for them, and they eventually put in a timing of 2hr 21.17 for the win.

"I expected to win as many of the National Team members did not compete in this category," said Brandon. "I have just come back from a training camp in Hungary and was confident I was strong enough to win today."

Earlier in the day, the Men Seniors saw Brian Khoo from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) finish atop the table for the K1 category with a time of 3:18:07. In the Women Seniors, Ng Xiang Ru Annabelle from the National University of Singapore finished with a timing of 2:46:36 for the win in the K1 category.

The annual competition saw almost 600 participants vie for the top spots in 12 categories with distances of 22km, 27km and 36km. The Singapore Canoe Marathon is also known for its portage segment, where competitors in the C and K classes had to carry and run with their boats across a 80 to 100m stretch, and a new Masters category was introduced this year.