Chan picked up windsurfing from his colleagues at a relatively late age in 1981. He did not undergo formal coaching, learning the sport from friends and through practice instead. A year later, he won his first regional championship, emerging winner of the heavyweight division at the Siam World Cup. At the
1983 Southeast Asian Games, Chan finished fourth in the International Windglider. In 1984, Chan was ranked first in the lightweight division and second overall in the inaugural Asia-Pacific Mistral Championship in
Kuantan, Malaysia. Chan was selected as the first sailor to represent Singapore in 24 years at the
1984 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles. At the
1985 Southeast Asian Games, Chan won a bronze medal in the King Cobra event. Two years later, he won a silver medal in the Semi-Funboard event at the
1987 Southeast Asian Games. In 1988, Chan won the silver medal in the Division II boardsailing event at the Asian Yachting Federation Regatta in
Jakarta. Chan clinched Singapore's first ever boardsailing gold at the Southeast Asia Games when he won the Sailboard Division I event at the
1989 Southeast Asian Games. In 1990, Chan was part of the Singapore team that came in second in the Super Finals of the Windsurf World Festival in Italy. Later in the year, he struggled with an unfamiliar sailboard as he finished 7th, 8th, 5th, 8th, 5th, 8th in the races at the
1990 Asian Games. At the
1991 Southeast Asian Games, Chan placed fourth as he failed to defend his title. 1992 proved to be the defining year for Chan. At the beginning of January, he finished sixth at the Singapore Open. Later that month, he placed eighth in the Raceboard Lightweight Division at the International Boardsailing Association (IBSA) World Boardsailing Championships in Singapore; this was the first time that a Singaporean had finished top ten in a world championship. A couple of weeks later, he won four races and finished second in two other to win the Lightweight Raceboard class at the Siam World Cup. Chan's achievements meant that he topped IBSA Raceboard Lightweight rankings in March 1992. In May, he won all four races at the World Windsurfing Festival Spring Cup in
Mondello,
Sicily to emerge champion in his category. At the
1993 Southeast Asian Games held in Singapore, Chan won a bronze medal in the Raceboard Lightweight Open event. In July 1994, Chan won the European Masters title in Greece. Two months later, he won the Masters title at the World Boardsailing Championship in Canada. Chan participated at the
1994 Asian Games but did not make any impact. He announced his retirement after the Games, in order to allow Singapore to groom new blood. Although Chan was selected for the
1997 Southeast Asian Games, he withdrew his place as he felt he could not compete for the gold medal due to work and personal commitments affecting his training. == Personal life ==