SINGAPORE — Singapore is emerging as the top Asian sailing nation, if the number of sailors earning qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is anything to go by.

Out of 10 Singaporean athletes who have met the qualifying standards, a whooping eight — from five different sailing classes — are sailors. The other two are swimmers Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen.

The eight — with their selection pending internal trials by the Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) — is the biggest cohort who has qualified for the Olympics in the Republic’s sailing history. The number is set to increase, with two windsurfers — Audrey Yong and Leonard Ong — gunning for qualification at an Abu Dhabi regatta in March.

Currently, the number of qualifiers also ranks Singapore as the top Asian sailing nation in terms of Olympic representation at the Games later this year, tied with Asian powerhouses China (eight sailors in six boats). Japan has six sailors (four boats) who have qualified, while South Korea has four (three boats).

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) may enter a maximum of one boat per event, and only France, United Kingdom, New Zealand and host country Brazil have qualified for all 10 events with a total of 15 athletes each.

While the last Olympics in London 2012 saw just two sailors — Colin Cheng and Elizabeth Yin in the laser and laser radial respectively — earning qualification, SSF president Ben Tan told TODAY that the big jump is testament that the federation’s programmes are bearing fruit. Singapore saw six sailors qualify for Beijing 2008.

“How did we get to where we are now? It wasn’t by chance. Everything was engineered several years ago, and done through systematic and forward planning,” said Tan, who was the first Singapore sailor to win an Asian Games gold medal in 1994. “To date, Singapore sailors have amassed about 38 world titles. We won at least a gold medal at every SEA Games since 1973, and we are also the top sailing nation in terms of medal tally at the 2006 Asian Games.

“The thing that has eluded us is an Olympic medal. But we are making good progress. With another few years, we will get there.”

Since 2002, the SSF has introduced initiatives such as the High Performance Sailing Strategic Plan, The Next Leg’s “leave no class behind” strategic thrust and the Olympic Pathway Programme.

“The important thing we did was to work backwards,” said Tan. “We look at top Olympic sailors, and note how many hours they put in dry-land training and on water, and how many big regattas they do in a year. We also ‘hot house’ our sailors with intensive training since young. That’s why we produced so many world champions. Our national championships are also at a very high level. You can win the world title, come home and get beaten by another Singaporean.”

Cheng is one of many successful products from SSF’s programmes. The 26-year-old was the best Asian sailor at his first Olympics in 2012, finishing 15th out of a fleet of 49. He qualified for Rio in his first trial, and Tan thinks he can be the first Singaporean sailor to achieve a top-10 finishing this August.

“If we have just one Colin Cheng, it may be a fluke. But we have a wealth of talent here,” said Tan. “They are growing beyond the regional and Asian levels, and I’m confident they can do special things at the Olympics.”