PETALING JAYA: Sailor Dr Kevin Lim is not expected to contend for the medals but his journey to Beijing is certainly an inspiration to all Malaysian athletes who hope to be an Olympian one day.
Kevin became the first from the Malaysian contingent to set foot in China for the Olympics when he arrived in Qingdao two days ago.
Early bird: Kevin Lim is the first from the Malaysian contingent to arrive in China for the Olympics. Of the 33 would-be Olympians, he was the one least expected to be there.
The National Sports Council and the Malaysian Yachting Association (MYA) gave up on him after a miserable outing at the Doha Asian Games two years ago.
He was disqualified twice on the first day of racing and never recovered to totally miss out on the gold medal target. But while everyone else gave up on him, Kevin never lost faith of his ability.
The two-time Asian Games silver medallist returned to work as a houseman in Sydney for a few months and the 2007 Laser World Championships – the first qualifying event for Beijing – quickly passed him by.
Though the lure of the choppy seas proved too hard to resist, there were still some hurdles to overcome.
He found out that MYA not only failed to submit an entry for the 2008 Laser World Championships – the last qualifying event – but also did not pay their annual subscriptions to the International Laser Class Association (ILCA).
Kevin pleaded with ILCA to accept his entry and forked out RM5,500 from his own pocket after MYA ignored his repeated requests for funding.
Realising that he would not be able to make the Olympic grade if he trained part-time, Kevin quit his job and lived off his savings.
“I knew my fitness had dropped. So I clocked ridiculous hours on the water and in the gym.
“I also knew I was lacking regatta experience, so I went to every ISAF graded event I could – driving for 12 hours at times. Once to Brisbane (1,000km away), twice to Melbourne (also 1,000km away) and then daily to Terrigal to familiarise myself with the World Championship venue (70km away),” he said via e-mail.
The rest is history.
Kevin earned a quota spot for the country in the world meet and, in the process, became the first-ever Malaysian to compete in four consecutive Olympics.
But his participation in the Beijing Games was put in doubt when MYA ordered him to return home to take part in a selection trial.
Kevin refused to bow down to their demands.
Kevin, 31, has since settled down at the Athletes Village in Qingdao, which is almost 900km from Beijing, and will begin proper training from today.
“The Athletes Village is like a six-star hotel. It’s truly impressive and my room has a perfect bird’s eye view of the sailing marina.
“It’s not easy to leave the athletes village with the facilities that are provided,” said Kevin.
The Star
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