Alden Ler pumping his fist in celebration after crossing the finish line in the men's K4 500m final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games on 24 Sep. Photo: SpexSG/ Bryan Foo
Singapore's canoeists made a good start to their Asian Games 2026 campaign, with the men's K4 500m quartet and women's K2 500m pair all smiles after their respective finals on Sep 24.
Brandon Ooi, Alden Ler, Oliver Bowhay and Sean Teo finished sixth in 1min 28.298sec in the men's K4 500m final. Compatriots Georgia Ng and Grace Ng completed the women's K2 500m final in 1:57.834 for seventh place. Both teams qualified for the finals at the Miyoshi Lake Canoe course after placing in the top three of their semifinal races earlier in the day.
Games debutant Bowhay, who is still a junior at 18, said of the final: "That was amazing. That's probably one of the best executions we've done in the boat together. It felt like such a controlled race all the way through, and wow ... we just performed the best we could.
"This was my only race, so I really had to put my 100 per cent towards it. Everything I've done the past few months has led up to this and crossing that finish line with that result is probably one of the most rewarding feelings I've had in this sport."
The Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games are Ooi's fourth - and first as a father. The 32-year-old, whose son was born in February, noted that fatherhood coupled with starting a full-time job in 2024 had given him new perspective on training and ensuring enough time for recovery.
"You end up having to make sacrifices here and there. I'm also sacrificing the amount of time that I have with my seven-month-old and as I hear it, this is the best time for watching them grow up," said Ooi, who was an AI development manager and now does data analytics with Sport Excellence Singapore’s (SpexSG) High Performance Sport Institute.
“The good thing is that I'm being pulled into many good directions, so for any choice I make, I sacrifice something else that's good. But I know that it is just a choice that has to be the best of (all the good options).”
He was the youngest on the team at his first Games in 2014 and as the oldest now, he has become a mentor to his teammates.
“For the technical stuff, I can’t see what they are doing because I’m also training,” said Ooi, who will compete in the men’s K2 500m semi-finals with Asiad debutant Ler on 25 Sep. “But right now, what I offer or what I can try to mentor them in is the life aspect or mental aspect of how we approach races and training, and how we can improve as a team to fulfil our goal.”
Teo, who is featuring in his second Games after making his debut in Hangzhou three years ago, has also sought to guide his younger teammates in the hopes of eventually making a bigger breakthrough at the Asian level.
“We hope to inspire the next generation and hand down this knowledge to future batches, and have a good flow,” added the 30-year-old. “Our federation is doing a lot of good work in building the next generation … we’re always struggling to break through with our competitors from central Asia, so hopefully we’ll finish closer and closer at the next editions of the Asian Games, and eventually work towards the podium.”
The women’s K2 500m pair, who started training together in March, were also buoyed by their performance. This is just their third race together, having previously competed at the Asian Championships in April and the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Cup in July.
And there were “no complaints”, as Georgia, 24, said: “It was really the best-executed race throughout our whole preparation leading up to this, and we couldn’t ask for anything more.”
They are now well in tune with each other’s communication preferences throughout the past few months of training. For instance, Georgia expresses her thoughts aloud to reassure herself – but this approach sometimes has the adverse effect of causing her partner to feel more nervous.
Grace, 20, said: “When she tells me things, she’ll say that it’s also for herself. Before this race, she kept asking me, ‘Are we going to do it? We can do it, right?’ And I just had to assure her confidently: ‘Yes’.”
Georgia, who has a silver and a bronze from the 2025 SEA Games, explained: “I just needed to hear it from her. When I heard (her confidence), I felt reassured.”
They are looking forward to being on the water again on 25 Sep for the women’s K4 500m with fellow debutants Kirsten Heng and Lim Kai Jing. Grace added: “We’re definitely a bit more confident and the nerves are out, and I also trust that the other two will be able to push hard.”
The 20th Asian Games are held in Japan from 19 September to 4 October 2026. For the latest Team Singapore coverage and news, follow Team Singapore on their social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) or visit the official Team Singapore website.