SINGAPORE — It was with a heavy heart that Cecilia Low collected the Team of the Year (Team Event) title at Tuesday’s 2013 Singapore Sports Awards, an accolade for her 2012 achievements in partnership with Rachel Lee in the 420 class.

TODAY has learnt that the pairing, who won the women’s 420 title at last year’s World Championship, could be set to part as 20-year-old Lee is planning to pursue a career as a pilot.

While Lee has declined to comment, Low told TODAY she will accept her team-mate’s decision.

“Even though we talked about it, I was still somewhat surprised when I heard of it,” said Low, 22.

“I’m not angry about it, although I do feel disappointed because we had made plans to go all the way to the 2016 Olympics, and I thought about it during the awards (on Tuesday).

“At the same time, I understand that she has to plan for her own future and I respect whatever decision that she will make.”

Lee was absent from Tuesday’s gala, where sailing also clinched the Sportsgirl of the Year and Coach of the Year awards, which went to last year’s World Optimist champion Elisa Yukie Yokoyama and national Optimist trainer Fernando Alegre.

Low and Lee had first teamed up for the double-handed 420 class in mid-2010 and their biggest achievement came at last year’s World 420 Championship in Austria, where they topped the 36-strong regatta to become the first Asian sailors to win that title.

Battling rough conditions at the Neusiedler See, the Singaporeans finished third in the 10th and final race to win the title with 28 points, just one better than runners-up Sofia Middleton and Nadja Horwitz of Chile (29), who managed fifth in that race.

Singapore Sailing Federation Chief Executive Officer Tan Wearn Haw chose to see the positives in the impending split.

“It’s good that athletes have options beyond their sport and at a personal level, and these are individuals with a bright future,” he said.

“However, if they’re to commit to an Olympic campaign, then it has to be whole-heartedly, and that is for them to decide. The door is always open for sailors who want to return to the sport.”

Low, who is awaiting entry into the Singapore Institute of Technology, where she will study aerospace systems, admits she is uncertain about the future of her sailing career.

She may team up with her 24-year-old sister Priscilla for the trials for this December’s SEA Games in Myanmar, though the prospect of the partnership with Lee ending leaves her wistful.

“We have been training very hard in the past few years and made plans to achieve things. Now, the chances of making it to the 2016 Olympics look quite slim,” she said.

“But looking at it from another angle, at least we could say that we bowed out on a high as 420 world champions.”