Schoolgirl triathlete Tania Mak So-ning and schoolboy rower Chow Kwong-wing have been named the Hong Kong Sports Development Board's (SDB) Outstanding Junior Athletes for the second quarter of 2004. Excellent performances during that period secured the coveted honour for the two teenagers who will receive their prizes - a cash award of $2,500, sports gear vouchers worth $2,500 and a certificate of merit - at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, Sha Tin, tomorrow. The awards scheme was introduced by the SDB in 1999 to encourage Hong Kong's best young athletes. Kwong-wing, 17, snatched a gold medal in the single sculls at the 10th Asian Junior Rowing Championships in Japan, defeating promising athletes from six countries. He also won a silver medal in the double sculls. 'To win a gold and silver was very impressive,' said Sam Wong Chi-wai, Hong Kong's director of coaching development. 'He [Kwong-wing] is very committed to training. I think he is a candidate to win a place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is certainly a future star for Hong Kong.' Tania, 18, finished fourth in the female elite junior category at the 2004 Asian Triathlon Championships in the Philippines in April. She also won a silver medal in the same category at the 2004 ITU International Series/Asian Cup Series in South Korea. 'Tania has been aiming for this award for a long time and she is very happy to win this time. Her hard work has not been wasted,' said Tania's father, Raymond Mak. Last Sunday, Tania competed in the female under-23 category at the ITU Macau International Triathlon. It was the first time she had taken part in a full Olympic distance race (1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run) rather than in the junior event. Tania put in a mature performance and finished third in two hours, 20 minutes and 55 seconds. 'Most of the triathletes were around 20 years old,' her father said. 'She [Tania] managed to beat the elite open champion from Hong Kong and one of the Chinese athletes who trains full time.' Meanwhile, former La Salle College running ace Ricco Chan Ye-ko, now a full-time athlete at the institute, won the junior category of the 2004 Aquathon in Repulse Bay on Sunday with a time of 31 minutes, 1 second. Former Diocesan Boys' School champion Derwin Chan King-chung was second in 31.54. Crystal Wong won the women's junior race in 36.11 with Kitty Wu second in 36.47.