NTU canoeing sweeps Inter-Tertiary Championships

Canoe team takes home men’s, women’s and overall titles

By Ignatius Koh

From left: Collette Seow, Phua Yu Ning, Linnet Xue and Grace Yong won the WK4 200m race. PHOTO: JAMES NG

NTU’s canoeists made a clean sweep of the annual Inter-Tertiary Canoe Championships on 19 Mar, clinching both the men’s and women’s overall titles for the first time in the competition’s four-year history.

The team emerged as overall champion from a tough field which included two-time champion National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Management, Singapore Institute of Technology and various polytechnic teams.

The women’s team successfully defended its title as overall champion in the category for the fourth consecutive year, winning five golds out of six events.

“This year’s team was more united as compared to last year, and our efforts paid off with NTU winning everything,” said women’s team captain Angelica See, 21, a second-year student from the Asian School of Environment.

“The win shows that if we put our mind to it, we can do it.”

From left: Wong Heng Jin and Bryan Loy were champions of the MK2 200m event. PHOTO: JAMES NG

For the men, who had finished second the past three years, their overall victory was a result of the team’s dedication, said team captain Benjamin Ho, 23, a second-year School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering student.

Contributing to the win was Southeast Asian Games canoeist Luke Yap, 23.

Yap, a second-year Sports Science and Management student, crossed the finish line first with his three teammates in the four-man 1000m kayak race.

The victory was even sweeter considering it was only the second time the quartet sat on the same boat — the first time was during the morning heats.

In contrast, it was a case of reestablishing chemistry for Marvin Tan and Benedict Chong, both 23.

The duo won the two-man 1000m canoe race, reigniting their winning partnership from their Singapore Polytechnic days.

“We were nervous as it’s been three years since we raced together,” said Tan, a second-year School of Materials Science and Engineering student.

Chong, who returned from exchange just over a month ago, only had six weeks to prepare.

In addition to attending regular training sessions, he put in extra hours to catch up with Tan.

Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Mr Ong Ye Kung (centre, in red), was this year’s guest-of-honour at the Inter-Tertiary Canoe Championships. PHOTO: JAMES NG

Organised by the NTU canoeing team for the second straight year, the competition saw Mr Ong Ye Kung, Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) in attendance as guest of-honour.

Also present at the event were Mr Desmond Lee, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of National Development, and Mr Yip Kwan Guan, president of the Singapore Canoe Federation.

Organising committee chairman Wong Heng Jin, 21, lauded his canoeing teammates, who doubled as organisers, for balancing their organising duties with their already gruelling training.

“Some of us had to travel from school to MacRitchie Reservoir for training, and then rush back to school for morning classes.

“It’s been very hectic for us,” said Wong, who is a first-year School of Civil and Environmental Engineering student.

Wong also won two golds in the four-men 1000m and two-man 200m kayak events.

“We actually had time to rest between races but most of us were on the ground to keep the event running smoothly,” Wong added.

NTU’s win came after eight months of preparation.

“We’ve also been paddling before our morning lessons,” said men’s team vice-captain Christopher Huang, 23, a second-year Sports Science and Management student.

“In the end, the tough training was worth it,” Huang also said.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Nanyang Chronicle on April 4, 2016, with the headline ‘Hat-trick for NTU canoeing’. Print Edition