Jovin tackles the rough seas

The 8th ASEAN Para Games will be held here from Dec 3 to 9, with some 1,500 athletes from 11 countries to compete for honours. As Team Singapore readies for the battle on home ground, TODAY takes a closer look at each of the 15 sports, and the inspirational stories behind the local athletes competing in them. The focus today is on sailing.

SINGAPORE — Inked on national para sailor Jovin Tan’s chest is an African proverb: “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”. One of five on the 29-year-old’s body, it perfectly sums up Tan’s journey in the sport, and in life.

Born with cerebral palsy, the wheelchair-bound Tan found escape from a troubled home life — his ill-tempered father could not accept his disability and used to lose his patience with him easily — at the age of 15, when he was introduced to sailing by the Singapore Disability Sports Council.

But it was not love at first sail for Tan, who told TODAY: “I was so scared I wanted to cry.

“When it came to my turn, there were no senior sailors left to partner me. I cannot swim and I was scared of falling overboard as the sea was very choppy.”

His love affair only began a few months later, when he finished fourth in his first competitive race at the Changi Sailing Club.

“I just wanted to catch the guy in front as the top six would be selected for a regatta in Australia,” said Tan, who works as an executive assistant at executive search company ChapmanCG.

“My phobia of water has lessened, but I still cannot swim, and the fear comes back sometimes when I’m overseas.”

On top of enabling him to travel the world, and compete in many international regattas, as well as three Paralympics to date, sailing has helped Tan in many other ways, including strengthening his arms, which, in turn, has enabled him to perform more daily activities on his own.

He said: “Sailing has helped me a lot. In the past, I wasn’t able to feed myself as I couldn’t bring the spoon to my mouth, or push my wheelchair as my arms were too weak. But my muscles are stronger now after sailing. My relationship with my father also improved as he could see my achievements.”

Next month, Tan will partner Anthony Teo, 71, at the ASEAN Para Games in a bid for gold in the Hansa 303 class at Marina Bay. As Tan is also preparing for the 2016 Paralympic qualifiers in Melbourne this month, both sailors have only been able to put in four training sessions at the bay, but Tan is unfazed.

“We will do our best as there are a lot of challenges in the new place — the wind is very unpredictable and shifty,” he said.

“My partnership with Anthony (who has polio) has been good, and I’ve told him that sometimes I may scream and shout but I don’t mean it. I’m very aggressive on the water and firm on my tactics. When you work with somebody new, you have to accept their abilities and limitations. I only steer and open my mouth.”

While Tan’s medals and trophies take pride of place in the family’s living room, a special spot is reserved for the Asian Para Games gold he won last year with Yap Qian Yin in Incheon. And Tan will be happy to add a Paralympic medal to the collection. He and Skud 18 partner Desiree Lim — they finished seventh at the 2012 Games in London — are competing in this month’s Para World Sailing Championships in their bid to qualify for Rio.

It has been all work and no play for Tan since last October’s Asian Para Games, but the sailor is no stranger to the grit, sweat and tears required to compete at the sport’s highest level.

He credits coach Edward Yow’s brand of tough love for making him a stronger person. At training sessions, Yow had forbidden anyone from carrying Tan from the pontoon to the boat, leaving him to crawl on his hands and knees into the boat.

“My knees would be bloody after that … At that time, I thought why was this crazy guy making me do this,” said Tan.

“But at the Athens (Paralympic) Games (in 2004), I understood why. All the sailors were stuck in their boats at the marina with no help and didn’t know what to do. I was happy because I could crawl out of the boat on my own.

“Without him, I wouldn’t have these achievements. Sailing has taught me a simple lesson — that in life, no matter how hard something is, it is a matter of whether you want to do it or not.”

ASEAN PARA GAMES SAILING

Introduced as a demonstration sport at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, sailing became a medal sport in Sydney in 2000. Dinghies are installed with assistive devices to help those with physical disabilities, including athletes with spinal cord injury, amputation, and visual impairment.

Classification:

Sailing is open to athletes with any type of physical impairment and classification is based on four factors: stability, hand function, mobility and vision. Athletes compete in three events: single-person keelboat, two-person keelboat, and three-person keelboat.

For the three-person class, athletes are classified in sport classes from 1 to 7, from the least functional to most functional ability. The visually impaired compete in either class 3, 5, or 7, with 7 indicating the highest eligible visual ability. Each crew is allowed a maximum of 14 points.

For the two-person boat, sailors are allocated two different classes, “TPA” for athletes with more severe impairments (equivalent to sport class 1 or 2), and “TPB” for those who meet the minimum impairment criteria for sailing.

A single-person keelboat will require athletes to pass the minimum disability criteria, and there is no further sport class distinction.

Competition:

After selecting a course such as trapezoid, triangular, sausage, and M courses, the boats have to complete it within the given time – up to 90 min. The boat that finishes the course in the shortest time wins. Competitors will race a total of seven to nine races, with their worst score excluded from the final tally. The boat with the lowest series score wins.

Team Singapore:

Jovin Tan, Desiree Lim, Yap Qian Yin, Aaron Per, Ng Xiuzhen, Glenn Tan, Anthony Teo

THE GAMES ON MEDIACORP:

On okto:

* Dec 3: Opening ceremony ‘LIVE’ at 8pm

* Dec 4-9: Daily action belt, 8-10pm

* Daily Highlights, ‘LIVE’, 10-10.30pm

On Toggle

* Visit Toggle.sg/APG2015