Rower Chiu Hin-chun, a two-time SAR Olympian who made history with his performance at the Paris Games, said he wants to thank his family for supporting his career over the years.

Chiu was ranked 20th overall in Paris, the best result for himself and a male Hong Kong rower at the Olympics.

He finished fourth in his heat in the preliminary round at the Paris Games, and had to go through the repechage to advance to the next stage.

“After the heat, I keep asking myself if anything I can squeeze more to not get caught by the Hungarian athlete. And after that, I told myself I already gave my 100 percent in the heat so there's no regrets,” he said.

Taking on five Olympic races in just a week, Chiu said the biggest challenge was to recover both mentally and physically in a short period of time.

“I have to think [about] how to recover, what else I have to eat so I can recover faster. In the middle of the race, I feel very tired and [have] to adjust my [mentality] to prepare for the next race,” he said.

As a lightweight rower competing in the open category, he admitted it’s not easy to take on Europeans who are larger.

But with a bright smile, the 29-year-old said family support kept him going until now.

“Especially like this time, they come to Paris and they have to walk through like the 2km courses from the start to the finish to the spectator stage to watch my race, and then go back to the start again, and to take the bus and go back to the hotel,” he said.

“Normally people have their family trip [elsewhere], and our family trip is watching my race. So it is really special for us,” he said.

Formerly a windsurfer, Chiu found his place on the flat water because of the satisfaction it brought.

“In rowing, we have a quote, it’s ‘mileage makes champions’. So when I changed to rowing, I [was] very satisfied with my performance and also the achievements can keep pushing me to the other level,” he said.

Chiu, who won a World Cup gold medal in Switzerland just before Paris, will fly to Canada next for the World Rowing Championships from August 18 to 25.