It takes a steady hand to run a tight ship for BNP Paribas' Joris Dierckx

GROWING up in Belgium, sports and exercise was always second nature to me. It was part of my routine as a child to cycle from home to school and back - a 45-minute ride each way. When you're young, you don't really think about how much exercise you're getting.

Perhaps being outdoors a lot in my younger days has shaped my exercise preferences today. I find that I prefer to exercise outdoors and with the least equipment possible - a realisation I came to when I was asked to participate in this column. I swim and run regularly - both sports which require very little or no equipment.

I have always been fond of the water, and swimming has always been my main form of exercise. When I moved to Singapore for the first time 20 years ago, the first thing I did was to look for a pool, and ended up swimming regularly at the public pool in Queenstown.

It was only later on that I found out from colleagues that the Queenstown Swimming Complex is quite an institution in Singapore - being one of the nation's oldest public pools.

This is my second posting in Singapore - after stints in Japan, Greece, Korea and India - and I still swim at the pool in Queenstown and enjoy it there.

However, Covid-19 pulled the plug on swimming last year. With pools closed and at the behest of friends, I tried running to keep fit, despite never really being good at it. For someone who swims regularly - logging 80 laps in the pool, twice a week - it was not a question of stamina, but about getting the breathing technique right.

I was almost about to hang up my running shoes when a friend and an avid runner taught me how to regulate my breathing. That helped and, now, I am a convert to running.

Exploring the nature trails of MacRitchie and Clementi Forest has been a source of respite for me, especially during the last year and a half. A creature of habit, I find myself on these trails up to 3 times a week, running up to 10 km each time.

Being in nature, breathing the fresh air and taking in the sights and sounds helps me recalibrate and refocus after long days in the office.

Staying the course

While running and swimming is pretty much how I keep fit these days, my true passion lies in sailing. I love being at sea - be it whether on a beach catamaran, which is my favourite (I even had one at Changi Sailing Club), or on a larger racing yacht. It is highly exhilarating being at odds with Mother Nature and, sometimes, in her favour.

Sailing on a beach catamaran and on a racing yacht are polar opposites. On the beachcat, you can use brute force to keep control over the boat and prevent it from capsizing, whereas on a yacht, that is not a concern. Sail trimming - my preferred role on yachts - is much more an exercise of finesse than one of raw strength.

I'm a self-taught sailor, learning the ropes from friends as a teenager. As a young banker in Ireland in the late 1990s, I joined a sailing community and found myself sailing up to twice a week, almost every week for the 3 years I was there.

In most of my stints around the world, I've always found opportunities to sail, be it whether in Greece, Korea, Japan, India, and of course in Singapore.

There definitely are parallels to be drawn between sailing and my career. In Ireland, in the early years of competitive sailing, I would occupy the bow of a racing yacht. Being in front, splashed on by the staggering waves of the Irish Sea, mirrors my early career. As a young banker, I had to be right in front, charging ahead and staying the course, regardless of challenges.

Now, you'll find me mostly in the cockpit trimming the sails, which is very much like my role in the board room - constantly adjusting course to match the direction and velocity of the wind.

And in today's climate, they are indeed capricious winds.

• Joris Dierckx, 52, is regional head of South-east Asia, BNP Paribas.