The Power of Sail — Sailing from Start to Finish

This photograph was taken during one of the races at last August’s Athens Olympic Games. It’s a beautiful shot isn’t it — a bunch of Lasers sailing on the azure waters of the Saronikos Gulf with the beachside suburb of Glyfada in the background. Is the sea really bluer over the horizon? As I move into my sixth year as a full-time competitive sailor, I can’t help but look back on the path I have taken and wonder …

When I started sailing Laser sailboats as a 17-year-old student, all I wanted was an ECA (as CCA was then known) that was … different. It didn’t take very long for me to realise that sailing was going to be more than just an ECA.

Winning two SEA Games silver medals while in law school at NUS gave me a wonderful sense of achievement that came from realising my goals. That motivated me to dream bigger and so I decided to put my legal career on hold to pursue my dream of sporting excellence after graduating in 1999.

Full-time sailing has been my life for the last six years and I have had the rare honour of representing Singapore in the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games, finished fourth at the 2002 Asian Games, and won three SEA Games silver medals (1995, 1997 and 2001). I am currently still sailing 
full-time.

My achievements in sailing would not have happened but for the support and encouragement I have received from the legal fraternity. I won my SEA Games medals because the Law Faculty and the Board of Legal Education granted me time off from class to train and compete. Similarly for the Sydney Olympics, Harry Elias Partnership allowed me to disrupt my pupillage (which was completed over a one-year period!).

Even the Law Society and the Singapore Academy of Law have shown support for my sailing. Prior to competing in the Sydney Olympics, Mr Ahmad Nizam Abbas, who was then on the Law Society Council, wished me well on behalf of the Law Society. The SAL waived my membership fee, which is very helpful for a cash-
strapped athlete!

Competing in the Athens Olympics was particularly memorable. I became the first Singapore sailor to qualify for the Olympics since the qualification system was introduced in 2000, and I had two fellow NUS Law School alumni on the team — Chef de Mission Ms Annabel Pennefather and my brother Eugene, who was the swimmers’ team manager.

Six years of full-time sailing have given me enough experiences and memories to last a lifetime — it has been a tremendous journey of discovery, learning and growth.

But when I see my friends doing well in legal practice and happily married with kids, I think of the opportunity costs of my decision and feel the ‘loss’. But these friends always tell me that I am so very lucky to live my dream and how they wish they could swap places with me … so I suppose the sea is bluer over the horizon!

Despite the horror stories, I look forward to giving legal practice a go when I hang up my sail for good. It will be a fresh chapter in my life and the challenge will surely be just as worthy as elite level sailing.

To all those in the legal fraternity who have shared in my dream and helped me live it, my sincerest thanks and gratitude goes to you.

Stanley Tan

CAPTION

Stanley, with Annabel Pennefather at the Istana following last year’s Olympic Games