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Windsurfing Headlines
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| Windsurfing Sport's Rising Athlete |
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| Sports - Windsurfing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Marine WebClub | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 01 July 2009 12:13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It's more convenient for me to stay here than spend one-and-a-half hours going home to Jurong, ' he says cheerfully while laying on his bunk-bed. Chua Jun Ler will be competing in the Bic Techno 293 sports class of windsurfing, a sport that has been in Singapore for a few years. Windsurfing in the 1980s and 90's was fanned by the late Kelly Chan, a former world No.1 windsurfing champion, who regularly won medals.
Currently, the windsurfing sport here is lost. More so when compared to its more illustrious and successful counterpart, dinghy sailing The Republic's sailors have won seven golds during the last three Asian sports Games while windsurfing's best was Andrew Foo's sixth at the Mistral One-Design class in 2002 in Busan. Singapore Sailing president Low Teo Ping said the AYG will be the perfect opportunity to rekindle the windsurfing sports early popularity,especially among the youth. National windsurfing athlete, Leonard Ong, 17, is making waves. He came in fourth at the ISAF Grade 1 Kieler Woche sports event in Germany on Thursday. For sure, Ong's overseas exploits will add interest among the younger windsurfing generation, such as Jun Ler. Besides using his free time searching the Internet for new windsurfing tactics and techniques to improve his windsurfing ability, he also tests himself on 'Virtual Skipper 5',which is a sailing simulation computer game. He accepts the isolation as a sailor. Walking past 'Bunny', the only noticeable sign of life are the clothes that are left hanging on the rigging lines. When hunger strikes, he's off to his mother's sail shop at the club to raid the fridge and make himself a ham sandwich. Sometimes Jun Ler, he patronizes the club's restaurant. Says Sim Leong Sin, the restaurant general manager: 'Jun Ler knows the staff here and they watch over him. But he's good with taking care of himself.' It's this independence that has changed him from a timid eight-year-old who once refused to go for a jungle night walk during a school camp activity to a confident sailor. 'When he was younger he was afraid to try new things,' says his mother Quee Sian. 'But now he's grown up very fast in the past few years.' Not only in terms of self-reliance. A growth spurt has seen the 1.61 meter-tall, 51kg windsurfing athlete gain about 7cm and 7kg in the past year. This can be attributed to the physical demands of windsurfing sports, including twice-weekly, two-hour gym sessions. Singapore coach Jannicke Stalstrom, a former Olympian, says sports windsurfers need to have a very strong upper bodies and core muscles to help them pump the sail consistently and move the board when the wind dies down. 'I hate it when there's no wind,' Jun Ler says, as he winces at the windsurfing memory of once having to pump without rest for 15 minutes. Stalstrom also has the kids to do push-ups on their windsurfing boards out at sea.'It's very important that they spend as much time as possible on the water getting comfortable with the currents and the feel of the wind,' she said. Windsurfing is sailing stripped to the bare elements. The sports surfer stands atop a plank the length of two ironing boards, and wind whipping behind. Windsurfing is the best feeling imaginable, to be out there and alone, you and the ocean,' says Jun Ler. Yet, there are a few things beyond a windsurfer's control, like the weather, even while he enjoys the sports battle against the elements. Windsurfers love speed. It is their raison d'etre. The current world record is held by French windsurfing Champion Antoine Albeau at 49.09 knots (90.91 kmh) set last March. 'It's like you're flying,' says Jun Ler. 'It feels awesome.' He and fellow AYG windsurfing buddy, Audrey Yong, 14, race at speeds more than 20 knots off the waters at East Coast Park, the venue for the AYG windsurfing competition, which begins on Tuesday. Having started out on the Optimist class when he was nine, the Secondary School student made the switch to windsurfing in January. The interest sparked after an introductory lesson organized at the Ministry of Education Sea Sports Center in Changi. laughing at the memory, Audrey recalls: 'Then, he was so foggy about the sport. He couldn't figure out how to turn the board around. So, I had to show him everything.' But Jun Ler picked up windsurfing quickly and easily and, in April, edged out fellow windsurfer Jeddy Tan, 15, on countback during the AYG windsurfing trials at the Pattaya Cup in Thailand. In his second overseas windsurfing race in Sydney earlier this month, he finished in fifth place at the Australian Bic Techno National Championships. 'The AYG is my biggest competition and I will improve on that fifth place,' he explained. Away from the ocean, he is an enthusiastic cyclist. His two wheeler collection now stands at three mountain sports bikes and two racing bikes. The cycling addiction was sparked by his dad - who works in the oil rigging business - five years ago. He and his dad would spend hours cycling in the evenings across the island - sometimes from their home in Jurong all the way to Changi. Windsurfing and cycling aside, Jun Ler is eyeing the keys to his dad's pleasure craft and taking 'Bunny' out for a spin. He will be eligible for a Powered Craft Driving License in about two years. 'I can't wait to bring it out by myself,' he laughed. It is not enough that he has roamed the island on his bike. This teenager wants to make the entire ocean his playground - and waking up in an unfamiliar parking space will not deter him a bit.
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