National kayakers Alden Ler, Brandon Ooi, Daniel Koh, and Titus Ching made it four straight podium finishes for Singapore on Friday (Dec 12), clinching silver in the men’s K4 200m and adding a fourth medal to the canoe team’s tally.
On Wednesday, Lucas Teo and Stephenie Chen took the mixed canoe sprint kayak double 500m gold before Ler and Ooi teamed up with Chen and Georgia Ng in the mixed canoe sprint kayak four 500m event to bag silver. A day later, Ler and Ng bagged a bronze in the mixed canoe sprint kayak double 200m event.
At the Royal Thai Navy Rowing and Canoeing Training Centre in Rayong, the men’s quartet crossed the line in 31.081 seconds, finishing second out of six teams.
Describing it as an event “dear to his heart” because it is the quickest race in canoe sprint, lasting only around 30 seconds, Ooi said: “Leading up to the SEA Games, I think there were many events that tried to distract us from our goal, but I’m thankful for the team who handled it as maturely as they could and let our paddles do the talking.”
The team advanced from the morning’s heats as the fastest out of three after clocking 32.142.
But edging hosts and powerhouses Thailand ultimately proved a step too far.
“We were definitely hoping for more, but the Thais are strong, and they definitely prepared for these particular wind conditions, so even though we came out in front, we definitely needed a little extra spark for the gold,” the 2015 K1 1,000m SEA Games gold medallist added.
“I think it went as well as it could. We did it how we practised, and we can’t complain. Very proud of the team for focusing on ourselves and putting everything in the race.”
Both Ooi and Koh improved on their 2022 bronze showing in the event when they teamed up with Pan Chongchang and Jovi Jayden Kalaichelvan.
With Ching, 18, and Ler, 22, a part of the quartet, Ooi believes that “the future is definitely bright”. Their sights are now set on next year’s Asian Games, with upcoming canoe sprint World Cups and World Championships serving as key benchmarks along the way.
“Not just (those) in the boat, but there are many younger paddlers that missed out on the SEA Games this time, and they will be hungry to be there at the next one.
“Not just the young ones, though, we will all do our best to push on and improve the overall standard of Singapore canoeing.”
