As she dims the lights on a 16-year career, Hong Kong windsurfing royalty Hayley Chan Hei-man is setting her sail in a new direction. The two-time Olympian returned to school after the Tokyo Olympics, where she finished a creditable eighth place in the women’s RS:X. “I am now a part-time athlete because I want to focus on my studies, which is my top priority at the moment,” Chan said. “I started my degree at the University of Hong Kong more than a decade ago, but only completed the first two semesters. It’s time to get back to my studies and finish what I started.” Like most professional athletic pursuits, Chan committed herself to training and competing at the highest levels – leaving little time for herself or her family. “In windsurfing, you need to commit full-time if you want to do well at the top level. Otherwise you can never succeed,” she said. Her showing at next year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou is now looking unlikely. Hong Kong windsurfer Hayley Chan into Olympic medal race Despite being a part-time boardsailor, Chan will feature in next week’s Haitong International 2021 Victoria Harbour Windsurfing Race, the first time in decades windsurfers can compete on the busy waterway. Twenty of the city’s leading windsurfers will compete in Tuesday evenings event, which serves as a prelude for the showpiece Hong Kong Open in Stanley, set for next Thursday to Sunday. “It’s not easy getting a license to race on the harbour and I hope more people come out to watch us,” Chan said. “Most of our races are held far into the sea and this will be the first time we can race in the harbour.” A highlight of the event will be new reflective neon lights on each windsurfer’s sail, something Chan hopes will give fans another reason to catch the action. After getting married in October, Chan’s priorities shifted to family and a life outside her professional athletic duties. “If I continue my career at the top level, I will have to spend a lot of time overseas training and competing, but I think this is not fair to my husband,” she said. “After all, we both considered having children very soon and it will definitely affect training once I get pregnant. I have gone through three Olympic campaigns with appearances in both the London and Tokyo Olympics. I will have to stop and give the opportunity to the next generation. Windsurfer Hayley Chan reignites career for Olympic challenge But retirement plans do not mean she will walk away from the sport for good. Far from it. “I still want to get involved in the sport that I have spent more than 16 years in. My plan is to become a coach to help windsurfing but the immediate target is to finish my university degree.” Chan named up-and-coming windsurfers Ma Kwan-ching and Mak Cheuk-wing as the next generation of athletes for Hong Kong. Both have potential to perform well when a new class, iQFOIL, replaces RS:X in the 2024 Paris Games. “The techniques for iQFOIL are totally different from RS:X as you will be racing on the board with a foil. It has more emphasis on speed with less physical requirement than RS:X. Ma and Mak are both young and have plenty of room for development in the new class,” she said.