Tony Tan's nomination and subsequent selection as Coach of the Year 1993 was acknowledgement of that quality as seen through the triumphant feats of two of his charges, namely sailors Ben Tan and Tracey Tan.

Both sailors had been under the umbrella of Tan since 1990 and at the 1993 SEA Games (Sinagpore), Ben and Tracey both sailed to gold medals in the laser (men and girl) categories.

The Coach of the Year tribute awarded to Tan also came on the back of his illustrious charge, Tracey Tan, having attained the Sportsgirl of the Year award that same year. Incidentally, Tracey, also happens to be the daughter of Tony Tan - competitive sailing runs in the family.

Consequently, Ben Tan then went on to win the coveted gold medal at the Asian Games the following year ('94) at Hiroshima, Japan. That win itself was one for the history books of local sport and also reinforced the credentials of not only the athlete, but also of the coach who mentored his apprentice ever so well.

Tony Tan, himself an accomplished sailor, had taken up the sport of sailing in 1970. He first represented the Singapore yachting team as a reserve at the '73 Games.

He then earned his stripes as a national sailor from 1975-1985 and represented Singapore at the SEAP, SEA and Asian Games. However, he was unable to win any medals for five of the six scheduled SEAP/SEA Games during that period.

It was only at his final Games, the 1985 SEA Games in Bangkok, that he finally broke his duck - and he did it in fine fashion by winning the gold medal with partner Tan Yeok Keong in the Enterprise Division.

On his solitary SEA Games gold medal in '85, Tony Tan attributed the win to determination and skill and one-and-a-half decades of experience.

Those were the same qualities he likely imparted to his two winning apprentices, Ben Tan and Tracey Tan, as they did him proud eight years after his own glorious victory, securing for him the Coach of the Year award in 1993.