Singapore to push for gold

Helmed by former Asian Games champion and Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) president Ben Tan, an 'Olympic Pathway Taskforce' has been set up to shape the national squad with an eye on the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

"In the high performance environment, it is all the more necessary to continually review and plan forward as the competition does not stand still," said Tan.

"I'm especially heartened to be surrounded by a highly respected group of experts and more importantly, people who have been there and done that, including winning Olympic gold medals."

Former Olympic gold medallists Evgeny Braslavets and Igor Mativienko from Ukraine have been signed up as advisors while officials from other sports have also been enlisted to help, including Singapore's sports development chief Bob Gamberdella, who was previously involved with USA's volleyball and taekwondo teams.

The SSF said it is looking at multiple Olympic cycles to help develop the national team and will use the 2012 London Olympics as a stepping stone towards success in 2016.

The OPT met for the first time last week and plans to review the high performance environment, reduce attrition on the road from youth competition to the Olympics and increase the breadth of the national squads.

One focus will be to address Singapore's lack of heavier sailors and women sailors, the taskforce said.