After Lee retired, Low teamed up with her sister Priscilla to win 2013 SEA Games gold in the 470 class, a more technical and challenging boat.
The sisters then took silver in the 29er, another sailboat class, in the following year’s Asiad.
Low next joined forces with Kimberly Lim in 2015, and won gold three years in the 49er FX – a larger, faster skiff – at the 2018 Asian Games.
Competing in the same class, the duo made history for their country three years later as the first Singaporean sailors to qualify for a medal race at the Olympics, eventually finishing 10th overall in Tokyo.
Low and Lim then clinched a bronze at the 2023 Asian Games, but later missed out on a potential second Olympics in 2024 as they grappled with equipment changes in their class.
“There were expectations going forward, but they changed everything and it was very demoralising, like an emotional rollercoaster,” Low recalled.
The plan was never to gun for more than two Olympic campaigns, and so this marked the end of their journey.
“I was very tired. And I needed a breather,” said Low.
EMBRACING NEW CHALLENGES
Picking up kitefoiling – mere months later – was not without its challenges, even for a seasoned sailor like her.
For one, there is less sense of security being on the hydrofoil, a wing-like structure that lifts the rider above the water’s surface, compared with being on a boat.
“You end up in the water more … It was a bit scary because I didn’t know how to control anything; I didn’t know what to expect,” said Low, recalling the first time she tried the sport in December last year.
