Hello everyone! This is the start of something new.
Here I hope to share with you regularly the reality and dreams of an Olympic windsurfer’s life.
This was me. I started windsurfing when I was 9. I was training with kids my age in the development squad program organized by the Windsurfing Association of Hong Kong. We had fun windsurfing every weekend and did training camps during school holidays.
In the beginning, our training base was at Tai Mei Tuk, where the conditions were fair most of the time — flat water, moderate winds. Quite often the wind would not pick up until the afternoon so we would be running on the dam in the morning as training.
Training was simple and fun as kids. Ken Sir (our coach and that was how we called our him), made sure that was the case. We had fun racing each other on land and water. But I do remember I tended to be more serious in winning than others. I would speed up when I heard the footsteps of those behind coming closer. And I liked to win everybody, girls and boys, on land and water.
Then as our skills improved we moved the training to Stanley Beach. The water is also quite flat inside the bay, but we had the option to sail out to the channel where we could get big swells and choppy waves. However, the biggest different was the wind. It is very gusty and shifty in the bay. We were surrounded by hills and a quarry. The wind can drive sailors crazy there. Experience and intelligence matters most there. It is still one of the most challenging places for me to sail.
This is me now, at 22 years of age. I am a scholarship athlete of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, which means I receive a monthly training grant, and have funding and support for training, which includes coaching, equipment, expenses for training & competitions in Hong Kong/ abroad, medical care, etc… a full package.
I know. I am lucky. And I am grateful for what I have. And as you know, we have a responsibility — a mission. To represent our nation, to show good sportsmanship, and to get the results.
It sounds simple, it is simple: You have to win. But it is not.
So here I will present to you the little stories that have got me here, and share with you my present journey to my next Olympic dream — Rio 2016.