What exactly is success, and what does it really mean to be a champion? What exactly is raffles canoeing about? Is it really about the medals? Is it about being the best? Or is it about fighting to be the best, and being able to be content with the outcome, secure in the knowledge that nothing else could be done? Would you rather have a team that comes in through DSA with years of experience that clinches the gold, or a team that starts from scratch and comes in unplaced? What exactly is a team and what exactly is our tradition?

At the end of the day, Raffles canoeing is not about winning medals or getting the gold. Hell, it is definitely not about beating nj. What raffles canoeing is about is forging a close knit team of individuals who are willing to fight for what they believe in. It is about nurturing the next batch of raffles canoeist's, passing on what our seniors' have passed on to us. What they have passed on is an unyielding zeal in anything they do, a willingness to excel in all areas of their life - as one of our seniors once said, "The members don't make Raffles Canoeing, Raffles Canoeing makes the members". I have yet to see a canoeist who has given up once the going gets tough, and that is what raffles canoeing is all about, moulding the members by instilling in them the right attitude to face life, to move on and excel in their next phase of life. Raffles canoeing is about letting go, letting go of the result and being content with what you have. Being content with the fact that even if your best is not enough, your best effort is.

At the end of the day we will all(almost all) leave raffles canoeing after 1.5 years. After 1.5 years of smiling, of crying, of laughing and of fighting we will all eventually walk out of macritchie on the last day of nationals and leave it all behind, medalists and non-medalists alike. When the next batch walks out of macritchie, what are the thoughts that will be in their minds? Do you want a team to walk out having given their all to canoeing feeling disappointed if they did not get the gold? Or do you want a team that will be able to laugh and smile on the last day of their career, regardless of the outcome of the races?

The path ahead will not be simple, but the road for Raffles canoeists has never been an easy one. It is from walking across this uneven road blindfolded with nothing but the help of their team that the waves of raffles canoeists before us have learnt to deal with disappointments, fight with resolve and live with passion.

All the best and I hope you will carry on our heritage of what it means to be a raffles canoeist.

RAFFLES ROW FTW!

Updated@8:05 PM