By Singapore Sailing Federation

Sunday, July 31, 2011 — Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) announced their recommendations of the Olympic Pathway Taskforce (OPT) following six months of review.

The six-month review conducted by the OPT identified the following key gaps and success factors for sailing to succeed at 2016 and beyond:
a. Olympic success is NOT premised on junior success
b. 7-10 year Olympic timeline to medal at the Olympics
c. Singapore’s elite sailors have the talent but need more Olympic level exposure
d. The need to be full-time 3 to 4 years prior to target Games
e. Importance of sailing fitness
f. Potential Medal Classes based on review of past Games’ performance trends, boat design and Singaporean sailor physique analysis

The OPT has identified five key thrusts towards developing a holistic, comprehensive and sustainable pathway towards Olympic level success at 2016 Rio Olympics and beyond.

a. Establishment of the Joint Management Teams – Building the team around the team
b. Milestone planning – Benchmarking to Olympic standards early
c. Forming regional alliances – Collaborating with our regional counterparts to increase critical mass and training quality and quantity for more sailors
d. Merit based funding – Supporting sailors based on their performance and thereby fostering an open system where every and any sailor can thrive
e. The Olympic pathway – Building a clear and focused pathway towards Olympic success

Key implementation features include the setting up of a pioneer pilot under the Singapore Sports Institute’s Athlete Life Management Programme. This is essential in helping sailors manage their sporting and life aspirations in tandem with the nature of sailing as a sport with a long development and performance runway.

The building of a self-sustaining ecosystem centered on the Olympic pathway — single-handed, double-handed and windsurfing pathways — converging towards professional sailing will see Singapore’s sailors building their intrinsic market value both as athletes and individuals. This will ensure that they remain relevant and valued during and after their Olympic campaigns.

These thoughts on the impact of sailing on a young Olympic aspirant are echoed by Igor Mativienko, OPT advisor and 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist.

“Sailing is our life. With every race we are becoming mature and wiser. Winning the race hard, we become braver and stronger, having lost it, we seek, to invent, to progress. In extreme situations you are accumulating all your inner strength. There are hidden lessons, which in normal life you would never know about. An experienced strategist knows that whenever a battle is lost, the war is not over yet. In the same way in sailing, to be concentrated until the end and have no doubts about your victory. You can see the effect of sailing on the formation of human character and its great educational factor.”

Mr Bob Gambardella, Chief of Sports Development Group and Singapore Sports Institute, Singapore Sports Council, summed up the challenges of the OPT.

“21st century sport requires many critical success factors for the achievement of sustained competitive success. Factors such as athlete identification and development, International competitive analysis, building a team around the team and strategy planning are the building blocks that create sustained success at the highest levels. I applaud the efforts of SingaporeSailing in initiating the process of strategic planning for Rio 2016 and beyond. The plan that has been charted out by the OPT will undoubtedly yield great success in Rio 2016 for the Republic’s sailors.”

In working alongside the existing wider high performance sports infrastructure and the Singapore Sports Institute, SingaporeSailing continues the push towards building sailing ecosystem looks forward to seeing Singaporean sailors take the next step in standing atop of the Olympic podium.

Olympic Pathway Taskforce Members
Dr Ben Tan (SIN)
Chairman
Head, Changi Sports Medicine Centre, CGH
President SSF, Olympian and Asian Games Gold medalist

Mr Rupert Ong (SIN)
Deputy Chairman
Associate Director, PKWA Law Practice
Vice President (High Performance) SSF

Mr Evgeny Braslavets (UKR)
Advisor
Professional sailor, Olympic Gold Medalist (1996), former Australian 470 Olympic Coach

Mr Igor Mativienko (UKR)
Advisor
Professional sailor, Olympic Gold Medalist (1996)

Mr Bob Gambardella (USA)
Member
Chief, Sports Development Group, SSC
Involvement with USA Taekwondo and Volleyball (Olympic Teams) and various capacities with
USOC

Mr Tan Wearn Haw (SIN)
Member
CEO, SSF
Competed in elite sailing — America’s Cup and Olympics, and involvement in sports policy and planning work in MCYS

Ms Peggy Tng (SIN)
Member
Athlete Advisor, Singapore Sports Institute
Expertise in Athlete Career and Education support areas and formerly Netball Singapore Exco member

Dr Taisuke Kinugasa (JPN)
Member
Senior Performance Physiologist, Singapore Sports Institute

OPP 2012 SMSS sub-committee member and lead sports scientist of OPP Joint Management
Team for swimming (Tao Li)

Mr Tonny Tan (SIN)
Member
Professional Coach, consultant to YRAT (Yacht Racing Association of Thailand)
Key advisor to Thailand’s sailing programmes and architect behind Thailand’s sailing medalists in ISAF World Youth C’ships, Asian Games and Optimist World C’hips

Mr Zhang Yong Qiang (CHN)
Member
SSF 420 National Coach
Formerly one of China’s top 470 sailors and national coach. Produced multiple ISAF World Youth
champions and Asian Games gold medalists for Singapore

Mr Dan Smith (AUS)
Member
SSF 470 Olympic Coach
Former Dutch Olympic coach, produced world champions and Olympic medalists

Mr Chua Tan Ching (SIN)
Member
SSF Windsurfing National Coach
Former elite windsurfer, produced YOG windsurfing medalist

Mr Fernando Alegre (PER)
Member
SSF Optimist National Coach
Former Peruvian national Coach, produced world champion level sailors for Singapore

Mr Chung Peiming (SIN)
Secretariat
High Performance Manager SSF
Asian and SEA Games medalist in 470 class, exercise physiologist with Olympic campaign experience

Mr Mark Plummer (GBR)
Secretariat
SSF 470/ Youth Coach
Former coach with GBR Youth Sailing Teams, produced Byte world champions for Singapore