Asian Games champs Lim, Siew help get SEA Games buzz going

SINGAPORE — Newly-minted Asian Games sailing champions Kimberly Lim and Savannah Siew paid a visit to Tanjong Katong Girls’ School — their alma mater — yesterday, where they shared their experiences as part of efforts to drum up more interest for the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.

Also present were national basketball players Larry Liew, Wu Qing De, Ng Han Bin and Delvin Goh, and softball players Guo Yan Xiu, Benjamin Ang and Marcus Lew.

Their visit was part of the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee’s (SINGSOC) Modular School Programme, which aims to inculcate the value of sports to students and impart knowledge to them as part of the build-up to next year’s SEA Games, to be held from June 5 to 16.

The programme, which comprises nine modules, includes interactive sessions with Team Singapore athletes and learning journeys to the Sports Hub and Singapore Sports Museum.

SINGSOC chief of corporate and community outreach Toh Boon Yi said 80 primary and secondary schools have signed up for it so far.

Lim and Siew — both 18 — won the women’s 420 gold medal at the Asian Games in Incheon last week, but have now moved on to different Olympic classes. Lim will team up with Cecilia Low in the 49er FX, while Siew will partner Amanda Ng in the 470 as they bid to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“We’ll jumpstart everything really fast because most (of our rivals) have started (preparing) two years ago,” said Lim. “We’ll start training in December and it will be pretty much full-time from then on.”