Rio 2016: 15 minutes with Team Singapore sailors

Meet Elizabeth Yin, 24, a full-time athlete, Jovina Choo, 26, a sports development officer at the Special Olympics Singapore, and Amanda Ng, 22, an undergraduate at Singapore Management University.

All three of them are from Team Singapore and they are currently representing our nation at the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This is Elizabeth's second Olympic meet. She participated in 2012, where she came in 24th in the Women's Laser Radial event. Jovina and Amanda are first-timers. They race together in the Women's 470 event.

The sailors trained intensely for months before the Olympics - mostly outside of Singapore. We look forward to seeing how they perform against the world's best athletes.

Tell us more about the event you'll be competing in at the Olympic Games.

Elizabeth: "I will be competing in the Women's Laser Radial event, the women's one-person dinghy in a Laser Radial. There will be a series of races, and each race lasts about an hour."

Amanda: "Jovina and I will be racing together in the Women's 470 event."

Jovina: "The 470 is a double-handed dinghy, which means it is a boat sailed with two persons on board. It is named the 470 as it is 4.7m in length."

What's the most common misconception people have about sailing?

Elizabeth: "People think it's relaxing and you don't do much at all. That's not true."

Amanda: "That it is very difficult. Actually, after just one sailing lesson, you'd probably be able to steer a boat by yourself."

Jovina: "That it's like windsurfing. Until I show them a picture of our boat."

When did you start sailing? And was it love at first sail?

Elizabeth: "I started around 10 when I chose it as a CCA in school. Until the 'A' levels, I always had manage my time between the sport and my studies. At university, I was able to defer my studies. I love sailing and wanted to see how far I could go, so I decided to go full-time into training to qualify and compete in the Olympics."

Amanda: "I tried it for the first time when I was seven. However, one stormy day was all it took to scare me. When I was 12, a slightly bigger and stronger me decided to give it another shot. This time, I absolutely loved it! I was motivated to train hard so I could do well in my races. I got invited to the National Optimist Squad back in 2007 (if I recall correctly) and that was when I started to take sailing more seriously."

Jovina: "I started sailing when I was 10. My parents sent me and my brothers for a basic sailing course during the school holidays. I then continued with the weekly classes. I started taking part in competitions, and started doing well enough to get into the national team three years later. I've been full-time training since January this year when I took unpaid leave from work."

What do you love most about the sport?

Elizabeth: "I love being outdoors. And there are many factors in sailing that you have to take into account, the variable wind speed and direction, the waves and currents, so it's not monotonous. Being out at sea feels like being on an adventure, especially when it's stormy."

Amanda: "The challenge. Weather systems, wind and wave conditions constantly changing means that every race is unique. This forces sailors to adapt to situations quickly and to process information. We are required to make decisions on the spot all the time, whilst working hard to make the boat go fast."

Jovina: "It gives me the opportunity to travel and sail in different parts of the world, be it in open seas, rivers or lakes. Being on the water allows me to see a new place from a different perspective and it is always prettier from the water."

What qualities do you need to excel as a sailor?

Elizabeth: "You need to be aware of the changing elements, to be adaptable to such changes and have the mental strength to deal with challenges."

Amanda: "Precision, versatility, and determination."

Jovina: "Focus, discipline, tenacity. Focus because races tend to be long and requires full concentration throughout the whole race. Any lapse in focus results in mistakes that can be costly. Discipline as we not only have to be disciplined in training our bodies to be in the best physical form, we have to be disciplined in checking and maintaining our equipment daily as well. Tenacity because sailing as a sport is unpredictable. Winds can change and positions can change really quickly so it is important to stay focused and keep fighting till we cross the finish line."

How important is winning?

Elizabeth: "Winning is a confidence booster."

Amanda: "It is important to me, but it is not the most important. Winning means nothing if you have lost the respect of your competitors. What means more to me than winning is whether I deserved it."

Jovina: "It is not everything. Cliched as it is. Such is the nature of sport that there can be only one winner. Of course, I take part in a competition always striving to do my best and winning is a bonus, it is a reward of the hard work done."

What do you do for fun?

Elizabeth: "I enjoy rock-climbing. Whenever I have a break and there is a place to rock climb nearby and a friend for company. So far, I have been to the French Pyrenees, Blue Mountains, Krabi, Lake Garda. Again, being outdoors and figuring out the best way to reach the top."

Amanda: "After a long day of training, I love relaxing in bed while watching YouTube videos or reading books to rest both my mind and body. The last book I read was And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. I love doing simple yoga stretching too.

Jovina: "My current favourite pastime is rock climbing. I try to go climbing once a week if I am not too tired from training. In Singapore, I go to the climbing gyms. Climbing is a social activity so I get to meet up with my friends while having a workout at the same time. I also climb so that I can get better at it and be able to do outdoor natural wall ascends. It's also not a secret that I'm a bookworm. I read mostly novels, with a range of genres from fantasy to romance to biographies."

What's your life motto?

Elizabeth: "Never give up. Otherwise, why start in the first place."

Amanda: "Go hard or go home. I believe that if you want to achieve something, you have to commit your all to it. Going into something half-hearted isn't going to make your time and effort worthwhile."

Jovina: "Everything in life one must try. Life is short, and it is too short to live in regrets. So if there is an opportunity to do something I've not done before, I would try it out. If I like it, great. If I don't, then that is the end of it. But if I don't try, I will never know."

Visit Simply Her for more stories.