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Lesley

My name is Lesley de Cruz and I'm 17. I started sailing when I was nine until I was 15 which is when I picked up windsurfing and I have been doing it for a year and a half and I'm now currently sailing the RS:X.

I am currently at Temasek Polytechnic taking business studies. I train about four to five times a week on land and water. When I have free time I usually like to just rest at home or go out to the movies or shopping with my friends or my mum.

I really like music and books so I normally like to sit at home and listen to music and read. I joined the Twitter team because I really love windsurfing and I wanted to be part of the windsurfing YOG, plus it would be fun to watch the races first hand.

Dawn

My name is Dawn Liu and I'm a national 470 sailor. I've been sailing for 13 years and have experience in both single and double-handed classes. I started out just as our Youth Olympic sailors did, as an Optimist sailor, though I took a different path from them, moving into the double-handed 420 class and finally to the Olympic women's 470 class.

For me, sailing is the best sport in the world, so I'm excited to have the chance to bring it live to audiences at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. I was part of the Live Blog team at the Asian Youth Games last year and I learned then that this is a fantastic new platform to showcase how awesome sailing is to the world. This is why I am taking part again this year, hoping to make the on-water action really exciting for everyone tuning in.

I hope to have fun reporting on the sailing as well as getting to know both sailors and my audience while being the connection between the two!

Chai Xun

I am a student of Raffles Institution currently in Year 4. Sailing has been a part of my life ever since I started sailing in 2001. However I have always looked at sailing from the perspective of a sailor, never have I visualised sailing from a spectator's point of view.

The Youth Olympic Games is able to give me the opportunity to observe how the best competitors fight for their position. It is something that you do not get very often and the agglomeration of these competitors is something that really draws me into wanting to have the chance to watch them up close.

To be very honest, that was one of the reasons why I wanted to join the Twitter team. But that wasn't the only reason. I find that the ability to see through the competitors' tactics is a valuable skill needed in this sport. And that is something which being in the Twitter team is able to test me on. This is actually the main reason why I wanted to be a part of the Twitter team.

Chai Xun (right) with Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan
at the Singapore Sports Awards 2010.

Daniella

I am Daniella Ng, a national sailor sailing in the 420 squad. I've always wanted to be involved in the YOG though being over-aged meant that I couldn't take part in the competition.

I was approached to help out with the media centre for the AYG last year, and I sure had a fun time. This year, I am helping out on the Twitter team, something new this year.

Being a Twitter not only allows me to be part of the YOG workforce, but also to get close to the action on water. It gives me great privilege to be able to give live commentary to those who are unable to watch the races down at the National Sailing Centre.

Ling Ying

Hello, my name is Ling Ying. I volunteered to be involved in the YOG because I would like to support my friends as well as make new friends in this inaugural event.

Being a sailor myself, I feel that I am able to understand the emotions of the sailors and I would like to bring across this excitement and other feelings experienced by the competitors to the general public.

Watching sailing from shore may be a little difficult as there may be parallax error and the course might be too far away from shore that even your super binoculars will not let you see the races clearly. However, no need to fear, for that's what we're going to be there for!

Having a Twitter team out in the sea to provide life commentary is going to be great and absolutely helpful in better understanding the events far out at sea.

The YOG is a global event and I would really like to experience the spirit of competition and camaraderie at its highest level. Looking at the best athletes from everywhere go through trials and tribulations, I hope to learn from them and to improve myself as an athlete. Acts of perseverance, determination and sportsmanship are sure to be aplenty at the YOG and I look forward to seeing national athletes all over the world congregate in Singapore.

Siobhan

Siobhan (left) hanging out with the famous Youth Guru at NSC.
Hi I'm Siobhan (pronounced as 'she-von'). I sail the 470 as a crew and I'm currently pursuing a degree in Singapore Management University.

I really love sailing and I try sailing different boats whenever I'm given the opportunity. I started sailing at our National Sailing Centre about 10 years ago and now we're inviting the world to race here with us.

It's just great! I participated in the Olympic Youth Camp in Athens back in 2004 where I met youth athletes from all over the world and the atmosphere was just awesome. It will be great for our local youth athletes to be immersed in their sport and meet many other athletes from around the world.

I'm very excited about the development and growth of sports in Singapore and hope to see many young athletes perform well and win for Singapore on homeground! It's not often that Singapore has the opportunity to hold such a major sporting event, and it is an honour for me (and for all of us Twitter people) to be able to contribute and be part of it. During the YOG, all the athletes' friends, fellow sailors, family and especially parents from all over the world would want to keep up with racing action.. So, the Twitter team is here to bring live commentary to the world. Stay tuned!!

Jia Yun

Hello, my name is Jia Yun and I am 16 this year. I'm very happy to be part of the Twitter team in this first ever YOG because as a sailor myself, I am passionate about sailing and by being able to watch all the top youth athletes competing I hope to learn a thing or two from them.

From this event, I look forward to being able to make friends with other sailors from abroad and be able to support my friends taking part in this competition.

Since the sailors will be racing out at sea, I hope that with the help of our live commentary, more people will be able to share the excitement and experience some of the thrills and spills the sailors go through.

Since sailing not only requires good tactics and physical fitness, I believe every sailor has to put in a lot of effort and I do wish that everyone play their part in cheering on all the competitors in the YOG.

Sue

Hello, I'm Ng Sue Shen but you can address me as Sue. I am 15 years old this year and studying in Tanjong Katong Girls' School; I am currently in the YOG sailing squad; I am the photographer in the Twitter team. Well I am not exactly going to 'tweet. Firstly, I wish to capture the competitiveness of sailing.

To me, sailing is about determination and being competitive. Being a sailor, I have gone through pain and hardships. In order to overcome the obstacles and improve, you have to put your 110%. It's not about who wears what or has the best equipment. The second reason is to improve on my photography skills.

What would I like to get out of the YOG? Since this is the first ever Youth Olympic Games, it would be great to be part of this legacy. I hope I'll be able to capture the Olympic spirit and savour the rare opportunity. Making friends from other countries would be great too. Friendship is one of the Olympic values and I think it is a very important value. Olympics bring people from all over the world to compete as rivals but at the same time build friendships.

Airiel

Hello! My name is Airiel Ho and I am a 15 year old avid sailor who frequents the beach almost every week to sail. I also love collecting sea shells which was part of the reason why I enjoyed sailing to start off with. But of course sailing is much more than that!

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are here and am proud to be twittering for the Games. Isn't that absolutely cool? I decided to be in the Twitter team as I hope to do my part to help out in the hosting of this magnificent event that I am sure will leave fond memories for all.

My fellow Singapore sailors will also be taking part in this event and I hope to support them. Most importantly, this will be a wonderful avenue for top notch sailors to show case their skills and I hope to learn much from them.

My wishes for the Twitter team is that we can make the sailing races more exciting and give our audience a thorough run-through about what happens in the race especially if they are not familiar with sailing as a sport. After all, sailing is not always a case of how the end justifies the means. So everyone, look forward to the SingaporeSailing Twitter Team!

Man Yi

I am Man Yi. I was a national sailor and I took part in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I am now currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

I think it is really great that Singapore has the chance to host the very first Youth Olympic Games. I feel that the YOG is a good platform for the young athletes to get exposure to international competition and to have a taste of what the real Olympics feels like and it will act as a stepping stone in their pursuit of the Olympic dream.

The reason for me signing up as a volunteer to be part of the Twitter team is because I would like to bring the action on water to more people on shore and get them excited about sailing too!

Jeddy

Hi I am Jeddy and I will be helping in the Twitter team for the windsurfing boys event! I wanted to help out in the windsurfing boy's event as I am also a windsurfer myself too.

I am very excited to help out as I know most of them racing as I have met them in many overseas competitions. I also signed up as they are very good windsurfers and it will be good if I can watch them race, and learn techniques and many things from them to help me improve in my windsurfing.

I volunteered myself as Singapore will be the first country to hold the inaugural Youth Olympic Games and its is a priviledge to help out in the racing! I know the racing will be exciting and fun as watching my friends racing from around the world is something that doesn't happen always as I am always racing with them! I hope the experience will be a exciting and pleasant one!

Sara

I'm Sara, I'm 20 (just barely) and I sail the 470. I am extremely thrilled to be on the Twitter team and even more so, to be able to be a part of the first ever Youth Olympic Games!

To have entire races documented and conveyed in real time to supporters on shore is just great as it gives the supporters a chance to catch some of the action taking place on water.

This will also allow people to learn more about the fantastic and fascinating sport of sailing and hopefully pick it up as well. Being way over-aged to sail in this event, I can't imagine anything more awesome than to be in the midst of it all, cheering on our fellow sailors!

For photos please visit the YOG Sailing website here

To follow racing sign up to the race Twitter feed, access photos and results on the Sailing competition at the Youth Olympic Games website visit: www.sailing.org/yog