Their competitors were much taller, bigger, and more muscular. As Sec 2 student Letitia Ho recalls, "The tallest boy in our team looked like a dwarf next to them. The girls, though not as muscular, were very strong. We were definitely intimidated by the strength of our competitors."

Against the odds

Their competitors were also more skilful and experienced. Aged from 16 to 18 years old, many of them had at least two years of competitive experience at the Asian level. In comparison, the Singapore team was aged 13 to 15 years old, and this was their maiden competition at the Asian level. How would they fare?

The pressure mounted during the warm-up practice session at the race course. Although the Singapore team attempted to pace their competitors, the strategy failed because their competitors would surge ahead in just two strokes.

The eight-person team that worked hard to bring home Singapore's first medal.

Nonetheless, the Singapore team was determined to take on the immense challenge and do their best in completing all the races they had signed up for. The objective set by the team manager and the coach was only for the rowers to race against themselves and improve their own personal best timing. Any medal win would be a bonus.

Pushing ahead

Over the next few days of gruelling competition, the Singapore team did extremely well, despite coming in last in their respective events. The distance between their boats and the competitor boats at the end of the two-kilometre race course was kept to a highly respectable 100 to 200 metres. At the end of each race, the students congratulated each and every competitor. Such respect and sportsmanship shown made the Singapore team the most popular among all the countries.

Sec 2 student Guo Xiu Jin says proudly, "As we were a rookie team, the umpires were expecting all kinds of nonsense from us. However we were complimented for not living up to those expectations." The team of international umpires even complimented the behaviour of the Singapore team.

On the last day of the competition, Joy Tay and Letitia Ho went for the finals for the Double Scull. Psychologically prepared to finish last and aiming only to improve their personal best timing, the pair started off. It was a very tough race, as Letitia recounts: "After the first two strokes, all the boats were out of sight! They were extremely fast. At the 750-metre mark, we wanted to give up - it was that demoralising. But we knew we couldn't, not at that point. We went all the way to the end."

The Singapore pair found themselves overtaking the pair from South Korea. At the end of the race, they were ranked 6th for the event - a sweet surprise indeed.

Getting ready to go out onto the water.

And the Singapore team brought home a medal after all. In the finals, the eight-person team kept close to the boats from Hong Kong and Taiwan for the first half of the race, and continued to do their best to pace the first two boats in the second half. Their determination paid off: Singapore came in third, earning the team's first medal in the Championship.

Looking forward to the next challenge

They couldn't have done it alone, of course. Besides their coach and team manager, some parents also travelled with the team to Hong Kong to cheer them on. The school also supported them during the Championship and in the preparation leading up to it, when students were training every day to reach their top physical form.

Reflecting on the experience at the Championship, Letitia says, "Coach told us, 'Even if you are losing, you still fight.' It hit me that this was what our team was doing all along. We knew we couldn't be compared to our competitors, who had trained for so long, had so much experience and of course were much older than us. But we fought anyway."

Next up: the team will continue to prepare and train for a place in the Youth Olympic Games 2010. With the lessons of the 2008 Championship behind them, they understand all too well now the value of resilience and good sportsmanship, no matter the circumstances.