Elite Athlete: Lucas Cheng – Windsurfing
The Journey of the Windsurfing Prodigy: Lucas Cheng
As a Hong Kong windsurfing representative who is also in the midst of studying the demanding IB curriculum, Lucas Cheng has flourished and come out on top in his windsurfing career.
Lucas, beginning his journey as a windsurfer at the age of 8 says, “I didn’t enjoy it at first, as I found it to be boring.” He initially found it boring because he was going at really slow speeds, but as he learned to go faster, he started to enjoy it more. Looking back now, Lucas has come a long way, such as awarding a Bronze medal in the 2022 Asian Championships (U17) placing 5/13 in the 2023 Asian Champions (U19) etc. These are just a few of the accolades achieved by Lucas, and we anticipate and support Lucas on his path to many more achievements in the near future.
Having to balance his life as a student-athlete, Lucas follows a rigorous schedule, having to train at Stanley 3 hours per week, and hitting the gym for 2-3 hours twice a week. He also has a full day of training every weekend at a stadium, which takes him about 45 minutes to travel to and from. Lucas arranges and organises his time by scheduling what he needs to complete to prevent procrastination. An impactful and challenging moment in Lucas’ journey was the selection process for the 2023 Europeans, where his IGCSE exams clashed, hence he had to cut down on his training time. As the exams made Lucas more stressed and he was occupied with his studies, he, unfortunately, couldn’t perform to his highest potential and did not qualify, costing him his place in the competition.
Despite the challenges faced as a member of the Hong Kong team, a memorable moment for Lucas was winning 1st place in the Victoria Harbour Race. It took place in December of 2022, and even though it was not considered an official competition when it comes to selections, it was in front of a huge crowd, making the moment enjoyable and memorable for Lucas. Moments like these are what drive athletes like Lucas to excel at their sport and enjoy it wholeheartedly.
Having to participate in countless competitions, athletes naturally will feel nerves and waves of anxiety prior to the game. “Before launching, I would sometimes listen to music to get things off my mind; anything non-windsurfing related, to try to get me focused.” By taking this approach, Lucas can aim to create a clear headspace and not panic before the competition starts. From a more practical standpoint, Lucas says that all warm-ups are done in the water and he would check the course on the day to analyse the environment before the competition starts so that he is familiar with his surroundings and is ready to go. He specifically looks for which part of the racing area has the most wind, as this can be a factor that determines a win or loss.
A few wise words from our windsurfing prodigy to anyone out there seeking advice on how to get into windsurfing and how to deal with the hardships that come with it. Lucas believes looking for local clubs and starting with the basics and foundations are the key to beginning a career in windsurfing. “Losses are inevitable and will come to everyone, no matter how good you are,” Lucas says. Whenever Lucas faces any loss or hardship along his path, “I would think about what went wrong throughout and how to reduce the chance of me making these same mistakes again.” What wise words from our windsurfing prodigy! From Lucas’ experiences and advice, this is a great opportunity to learn from the experience, and anyone who would like to pursue windsurfing can take Lucas Cheng as their role model.
Interview by Evelyn Wang & Cyrus Tse
Written by Evelyn Wang (Apprentice Deputy Head of Media, Sports Media Team)
