Ocean canoes placed along the beach for Singapore Ocean Cup 2019. Photo source: Julaila Latiff
Singapore Ocean Cup 2019 races to fight plastic waste in the ocean. The ocean-paddling event at Sentosa from Nov 2 to Nov 3, 2019, will be Singapore’s first sports event to ban all single-use plastic.
Right now, more sports organisers are thinking of reducing single-use plastics during their sporting events. This may be because of the high amount of plastic waste created during major international sports events. The Singapore Ocean Cup 2019 will be the second sporting event in the world to ban single-use plastics after the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa. The event organisers, Singapore Paddling Club, hope to raise awareness to non-paddlers about the overuse of plastics in Singapore ending up in the water.
“Pollution affects us all but when you paddle in the sea, the reality is there staring at you,” said Matilde, 28, one of the event organisers for the Singapore Ocean Cup. Plastic floating around, oil spills and sick wildlife are one of the common sights she sees when she is out paddling on the water.
Since last year, the Singapore Paddling Club has organised beach clean-ups at various Singaporean islands. It is also a club policy for paddlers to pick up at least 2 pieces of plastic from the ocean every time they go out onto the water. This year, the club wants to extend their environmental actions.
“As paddlers, we notice every day that the waters and shores are extremely polluted. Therefore, we want to act upon it,” said Matilde.
The club is now working with Coca-Cola, the title sponsor of Singapore Ocean Cup 2019, to play a role in Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste initiative. The club hopes to use this waste-free event to promote a friendly solution to Singapore’s ocean waste problem. They are encouraging event-goers to bring reusable bottles and avoid taking any single-use plastic to the race site.
The Singapore Ocean Cup is a yearly international paddling event. It includes six ocean canoe racecourse and classes with three professional paddling coaches from New Zealand and Hawaii.
Paddling teams from around the world enjoy the technical challenges from the Singapore racecourse. It provides a different condition from most international oceans with extreme heat and strong currents.
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