Interview with Chew Wee Daniel (Singapore) - winner of AIC-1 21 km men's race. - Congratulations on winning inaugural AIC race. Was it a tough one? - It was definitely a tough race for me. It took a lot of preparation to get myself ready for this event. During the race, the constant pressure from Daisuke's sneak attacks made me work very hard to keep in pace with him. - Did you expect such a big group to stay together through the whole race to contest the finish? - It was a good race with athletes from Korea, Italy, Japan and India all trying to be in the front. I wasn't surprised that the group stayed together for the whole duration of the race. - Any comments about Indian skaters - most of them half of your age they have finished just outside of top 3? - They are a force not to be taken lightly. I didn't expect them to be just outside the top 3 placing for their age and size, very impressive. - Daisuke Kazamaki from Japan and you have been working harder than anyone through the race. Weren't you afraid to get all your energy wasted half way through? Why you didn't support any breakaway attempt by Daisuke? - I can't let Daisuke breakaway knowing that he is going to capitalize on it and there will be no turning back. I had to risk wasting my energy to chase him to close up the gap or let him go on a lone breakaway which I believed he is capable of doing so. There was a breakaway that we managed to open decent gap from the main pack with an Indian skater and we were communicating about taking turns to lead so we can maintain it. However the Indian skater was instructed by his coach not to take lead, therefore Daisuke and I have decided to wait for the main pack to catch up since we don't want to let him have a free ride and get advantage of it. - Were you worried about Kim Bum-Sik from Korea? Many have expected him to win this race. - I was worried about all the skaters behind me when I'm leading. Have always been looking back to ensure there is no sudden sneak attack by anyone. Kim didn't show any intention to attack throughout the whole race until the last few laps where he became a serious threat when Daisuke slowed down after one attack and he attacked straight after that. Daniel (on the left) in AIC-1. Photo by Lawrence Ang - Since Asian Championship in China last October you have improved quite a lot. How did you manage to do it? - After races in China last October, I realized that I need to raise my level of fitness and technique in order to compete with top athletes in the international level. I have been working even harder since then to improve my fitness. During the period when Bill Begg was in Singapore, I've been working on technique with him. He also told me that I need to lose some weight to perform better. - Please tell us more about yourself: how long you have been skating, how did you pick up this sport, any other sports you are practicing? - I have been skating for 13 years since I'm 16. It started with skating with a group of friends and then we formed an inline hockey team. As of how I pick up this sport, it's a long and funny story. It all started when I took part in a local ITT race sponsored by Samsung under Fitness category. During that race, I was wearing a pair of recreational skates and when I finished the race, my timing was 1st. However I was given a 15 sec penalty for false start and thus became 3rd. 1st and 2nd placing were skaters from one of the speedskating teams regularly presented in local races. I was fuming as we were in the fitness division but was treated like speed skaters where we were expected to know the rules of speed skating. Therefore straight after the race, I contacted guys from Team Revo Racing to know how I can be a speed skater and win the rest of them (speedskaters) in Singapore. I'm currently playing inline hockey as well as ice hockey which I'm representing Singapore to compete in the Asia Challenge Cup in Abu Dhabi in March. - Tell us about your team. - Team Revo Racing is an organized team with well planned and structured training program to prepare the team for competitive level or to improve their personal fundamental skills. They are one of the pioneer speed skating teams in Singapore with a good reputation and fun team members. - In today's race you were all by yourself with no support from your teammates. However we were told by Bill Begg that your team has a very talented skater, Lai Yongquan. Why wasn't he at the starting line for AIC1? Are we going to see you racing together with him in the near future? - He is busy with National Service which affects all guys in Singapore around the age of 17-22 years old; therefore he can't join us in the race. We will all be waiting for him to race again after his commitment to the nation. - Racing on speed skates, what are advantages and disadvantages you have from your hockey background? - Advantages will come from ability to increase the pace of my skating as hockey is a sport which requires instant acceleration from whichever position you are in. It also allowed me to be agile to change my line during skating to avoid skaters who is blocking. The disadvantage will be the posture. As I play defense, I need to be tall and big during hockey but during speed skating, I need to be low and compact to be more aerodynamic. - As far as we know this is the first international speedskating event in Singapore and its organized by a group of enthusiast without involvement of the local skating federation. Why is it so? Don't you think such efforts should be supported all the way? - Any skating event in Singapore should be supported by the federation but it all depends on the federation objective. Hopefully, the federation will look into the event as its successful and provide more support to the speed skating scene. - This is the first big win for Singapore speedskaters. What do you think local skaters need in order to become a prominent force on the international level? - Local skaters need to put in more heart and soul into their training program and more exposure to international skating competition to be able to compete to their maximum potential. They need to improve fitness level as well as mental strength. There should be training among the top skater together so all will be able to learn from each other. - Do you have plans to compete in the World Championship in China later this year? - Yes, the training program from my team is designed to be ready and peak for the world championship in China. - Many people from around the world will be reading this interview on the net. Do you want to say something to them? - Although Singapore is just a dot on the whole map, it is a beautiful country. We would like to invite more foreigners to come visit this little dot. Be it as a tourist or as a skater, we hope that the speedskating in Singapore can be brought up to a higher level with more of foreign competition. - Thank you very much, Daniel, and good luck in AIC 2nd stage on the 7th of March. Back to Media