ST Athlete of the Year: Behind Kimberly Lim, Cecilia Low’s fine 7-day run in Tokyo were 7 years of toil

SINGAPORE – It took Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low lower than seven days to develop into Singapore’s first sailors to qualify for the medal race on the Olympics final 12 months, however their first steps to creating historical past in Tokyo started seven years in the past.

They joined forces in 2015, with the objective of qualifying for the 2016 Rio Games. But they confronted a steep studying curve as they struggled to grasp a brand new boat – the 49erFX class was new to them – and determine a marketing campaign technique.

In the tip, it was compatriots Griselda Khng and Sara Tan, who ultimately represented the Republic in Brazil.

Lim, 25, mentioned: “When we first started the class, we didn’t have enough help. We struggled a lot, we got injured a lot, we were not campaigning the right way.”

Things improved in 2017 once they started coaching with Fernando Kuo, who had labored with Portugal’s males’s 49er sailors for the London and Rio Games.

With his data and expertise, Lim and Low started studying extra about learn how to deal with the boat and plan an Olympic marketing campaign as they launched into their quest to qualify for the Tokyo Games.

It required them to sacrifice time with their household and mates. It was common for the Portugal-based duo to come back again to Singapore for a collective two months annually.

There was progress although. They gained gold on the 2018 Asian Games, which boosted their confidence, and a 12 months later, they secured a spot at Tokyo 2020 by ending fifteenth on the World Championships in New Zealand.

But by the tip of 2019, the pair had been exhausted and near being burnt out. The 12 months’s delay of the Olympics because of the pandemic was a blessing in disguise because it gave them a much-needed break.

Returning to Singapore from Portugal simply earlier than the circuit breaker kicked in, they continued to coach.

Low, 30, mentioned: “We worked on the small stuff that we really needed to. We kept saying that we needed to work on communication more, but we never had the opportunity to slow down and say what we actually needed to work on. It was small stuff like, ‘Let’s use this word because this word isn’t working’.”

The help of these round them, like their physiotherapist, psychologist, coach and supervisor, was additionally important, she added.

Lim mentioned: “When we glance again on the Olympics, it was a particular one as a result of, in the long run, issues fell into place. We sailed actually good races, we had a race win which was additionally very particular.

“Ultimately, it was a feeling of all your pieces coming together, that kind of feeling after seven years of looking towards a goal and finally being on that stage performing and achieving something we’d always wanted to do.”

Their achievements have earned them a nomination for The Straits Times Athlete of the Year Award, which is backed by 100Plus.

Portuguese Kuo, 33, was pleased with their accomplishments, significantly as Olympic debutantes.

He mentioned: “What we’re on the lookout for is consistency. You should be very centered the second you enter the Olympic Village. It’s excessive depth by way of mindset administration – you really want to know the way you management your atmosphere as a way to carry out the perfect you may.

“It’s very rare that a first-timer at the Olympics performs well. There have been many cases where people who have led the whole campaign, winning World Championships, European Championships and major events go to the Olympics and can’t win a medal.”

After the seven-year voyage, Lim and Low are not sure what lies forward for them. They hope to win a medal at September’s Asian Games in Hangzhou whereas juggling their research on the Singapore Management University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Asia respectively.

But there may be uncertainty about Paris 2024, which can function tools adjustments, and each wish to take a look at out the revised updates earlier than committing to a different marketing campaign.

Low mentioned: “We are grateful that everyone’s giving us time and space to make the call. In the end, if we want to do another campaign, we want to be better. We always want to be better.”