Cover Singaporean rower Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafa’ee is gearing up for her second Olympics
Singaporean rower Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafa’ee is gearing up for her second Olympics
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Competing in various sports from kitefoiling to fencing, equestrian and rowing, seven athletes, who are among those representing Singapore at the Paris 2024 Olympics, share what it means to perform at the top of their game. Singapore rower Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafa’ee shares her hopes for her second Olympics
No one would have thought that a rowing machine and a post-exam activity would lead Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafa’ee to the Olympics—but it did. Growing up, Aisyah was very much into sports, but she only began rowing at age 16. A post-exam activity had pushed her into the water. “It was very frustrating, and I didn’t like it at all,” she reminisces. In the beginning, she would spend more time capsized in the water than on the boat itself. However, determined to prove that she could do it, she pushed through.
In 2007, she competed in her first Southeast Asian (Sea) Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia, and won a bronze in the women’s lightweight single sculls event. It was then that she realised that she enjoyed the sport more than she thought.
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Above Aisyah
Rafa’ee training
on the water
Aisyah Rafa’ee training on the water
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She won her first gold medal at the 2013 Sea Games in Myanmar, when she beat Thai rower and Olympian Phuttharaksa Neegree in the women’s single sculls event. The win motivated her to pursue her goal of becoming an Olympian. “If I can beat an Olympian, then I can be an Olympian,” she thought to herself. Aisyah’s Olympic debut at Rio 2016 was a rollercoaster ride filled with long training days, self-doubt and injuries. Looking back, she shares how she was so stressed that she “didn’t get to enjoy the race”. If she could turn back the clock, she would tell her then-28-year-old self “to chill out and enjoy the experience”—something she will be doing this time around in Paris.
Above The rower returns to the
Olympic start line with a new mindset
The rower returns to the Olympic start line with a new mindset
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As she looks towards the Games with a new perspective, Aisyah says she is wiser and more mature now. “In 2016, I thought [the Olympics] was the be-all and end-all,” she expounds. But she has been enjoying the process a lot more now—and even her coaches have told her how she “looks a lot happier”.
Qualifying for her second Olympics at age 36, Aisyah believes that age is not a barrier. Going back into competitive rowing has taught her a lot about herself. “I’m excited to see how this will translate to other areas in my life after I’m done with the Olympics. A lot of people allow age to stop them from doing something, but I truly believe that you can do anything at any age.”
Credits
Images: Hydrow
Amanda Goh was the former senior writer for Tatler Singapore.
