race walking

Dr Leong Lee San, chairman of the SAA Race Walking sub-committee, sharing with Singapore Sports School students about the discipline. (Photo courtesy of IMSG)

Singapore Sports School, Tuesday, November 28, 2011 — The Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) is setting its sights on developing and reviving race walking as a sport and identifying future talents to represent the country at the 2013 South-east Asian (SEA) Games.

Former national race walkers Ricky Khoo, Tan Khek Tiong, and Helen Low were the last representatives for Singapore 18 years ago at the 1993 SEA Games, where they each won bronze medals for the Republic.

According to SAA’s records, the 50km race walking national record set by Arumugan Kannan in the 1969 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games still stands. Another race walker, Jairajkumar Jeyabal, still holds the records for the 10000m Track (1996) and 20km Road (1997).

Female race walker Helen Low’s national records in three events — 5000m Track (1991), 10000m Track (1989) and 10km Road (1991) — are also still intact.

Said the president of SAA, Tang Weng Fei: “With an encouraging performance at the recent SEA Games, we are further motivated to expand our horizons and take steps to nurture young talents for athletic events that Singapore was once strong in. With SEA Games 2013 in mind, SAA will continue to work closely with our coaches to develop talents for race walking and better our performance for our key track and field events.”

Highlighting the potential for the country to win medals in race walking at the SEA Games, Dr Leong Lee San, the chairman of the SAA Race Walking sub-committee, said: “There is a higher chance of winning a medal at race walking events, as there are only a handful of competitors, compared to other running events. Given the increasing popularity of running in Singapore, runners who choose to convert to race walking have a good chance of excelling.”

As part of its efforts to promote the sport, SAA will organize Singapore’s first combined Run & Walk event, the SAA Bugis Street Run & Walk Team Championships, on June 10th, 2012, at East Coast Park. Members of the public can take part in teams of four, with each team comprising of two joggers and two walkers.

The top five team finishers for each of the six categories of the championships will be invited to train and hopefully represent the country.

Said Dr Leong, who is also a medical practitioner with special interest in foot biomechanics and foot orthotics: “Good runners can be successful race walkers. Race walking provides the same health benefits and a lower risk of injuries, with less stress placed on a walker’s lower limbs and the lower back. Through SAA’s outreach efforts, we hope to gather the interest of running enthusiasts, especially runners dogged with persistent injuries and members of the public to take up race walking as a sport.”

SAA is conducting three race walking training sessions per week.

Led by Dr Leong, who himself is a veteran walker of more than 20 years’ standing, and his panel of coaches, the sessions are held three times a week:

1. Sundays at the Marina Bay Promontory from 730am

2. Wednesdays at Clementi Stadium from 630pm

3. Fridays at East Coast Park (Car Park B1) from 7pm

Running enthusiasts who wish to make the switch, walkers of all levels of experience and members of the public who want to learn more about the sport are welcome to participate in the sessions.

For more information about SAA’s race walking clinics, log on to: http://www.racewalk.sg