Cheng keen to mentor young sailors
Two-time Olympian and Laser sailor yet to decide on a third Games
He has given himself until the end of the year to decide if he will go for a third Olympic campaign.
In the meantime, sailor Colin Cheng is based in Singapore till next February, when he returns to Australia's University of New South Wales to finish his honours year in nanotechnology.
While the 26-year-old will be able to enjoy an extended period at home - he spent up to three weeks at a stretch in Singapore in previous trips back - Cheng is also eager to nurture young sailors.
"I want to do a bit of coaching to help raise the level of some of the Laser sailors here," said the 2012 and 2016 Olympian, at an appreciation function for Singapore's Olympic sailors at the National Sailing Centre on Sunday.
"I've worked with them once or twice when I was here, but I am hardly ever here so, hopefully, I can do more intensive training camps (for the junior sailors)."
Cheng is keen to work with the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) to help develop a system to measure how well Laser sailors perform their hiking.
Hiking, also known as stacking, is when a sailor leans his body out of the dinghy to counterbalance the boat in wind.
He said: "It is quite an important part of Laser sailing and you have to use your abs, quads and hip flexors.
"I hope to help develop a measure for hiking fitness, so that it would allow the sailors to measure their progress. I just e-mailed Ryan (Hodierne, SSI biomechanist) about this today, so it's still in the early stages."
EXPOSURE IS VITAL
He also added that exposure to international competitions with world-class opposition, as well as experience in varying sailing conditions, is vital for a Singapore sailor to make it at the highest level.
According to him, a "well-rounded" sailor has the ability to do well in whatever regatta he competes in, which allows him to qualify early during an Olympic qualifying period.
This will, in turn, give the sailor more time to prepare for the Games, possibly at the actual venue itself to acclimatise to the conditions.
Qualification for the 2016 Olympics started with the Isaf World Championships in 2014, with the remaining places allocated at the world championships for the various classes, and the continental championships after that.
Among the 10 Singaporean sailors, only Cheng and Laser Radial's Elizabeth Yin booked Singapore's slots at the Olympics during the 2014 world championships.
"Countries like Great Britain, it's almost guaranteed that they would make it to the Games, so they do not need to place that much emphasis on that, and just prepare ahead for the Games," Cheng said.
"On the other hand, for countries like Singapore, qualifying is an achievement already. The mentality is like: Qualify first and then think about the actual Games."
Meanwhile, only the women's 49erFX pair of Griselda Khng and Sara Tan have indicated that they will work towards Tokyo 2020, but Singapore Sailing Federation president Ben Tan is in no rush to get sailors to commit.
He said: "I don't need the commitment now, I want them to do a reflection... We will counsel them, but we will be very careful not to make the decision for them."
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