It cost 3pounds to swim each time ><><>dding the bus fare would amount to 5 pounds!! Thats RM35 for each routine training.
For the time being i will opt for the boat club (rowing) which i think would approximate best to swimming. If i get desperate enough i will just 'drop in' and take a swim in the lake, haha.
This was an unedited essay on my swim in the kapas marang swimaton this year on 15th April.
There was a 180 of us that morning, wearing our goggles and the bright yellow swimming caps as we prepare for the big swim. Adrenaline gushed through my body as my whole being anticipates for my first open water swim!
Flag - off.
So it begins, 180 people who has nothing better to do on a Sunday morning except to drive 6 hours to Kuala Terengganu, ferried off to Pulau Kapas and swim a total of 6.5km back to the mainland. We plunged into another dimension, governed by the laws of winds and waves. However the sea was calm and tranquil then, and i was easily deceived.
There were 4 brightly lit buoys placed evenly across the 6.5km course. I reached the first one easily and was within the leading pack. Shortly after that the sun rose up, and i began to notice small creatures in the sea. There were several at first, and i as i swam they became numerous and were everywhere! Also, i could recognise the sinister looking jellyfish with their dangling tentacles dancing about around me as i was about to intrude their territory. They were roughly the size of my fist. I was stung instantly. First at the legs, then the arms, the face. Soon it was all over my body at the time and i felt tentacles brushing past my face and my arms as i swam.They were literally swarmming me and were coming mercilessly upon me.
I passed the second buoy with slighty more effort despite the unexpected challenges. I noticed the waves picking up and the whole landscape undulating rhythmically. The waves shoved me up and down and up again forcefully and i struggled to breathe and swim correctly. I slowed down and lost sight of the leading pack.
Shortly after that others were overtaking me, and i spontaneously followed one of them closely. There was a tiny swimmer which i perceived still in primary school charging past us. Suddenly he stopped and rolled in the water and stared back at us. There was no one to be seen in front of us and he was terrified. He too slowed down and joined the line that was forming behind me, and i was able to keep my pace in this line till the fourth buoy. Only 1.5km left to go.
I estimated that it took me slightyly lesser than 2 hours to reach the fourth buoy, like a beacon of hope spurring us on. My strength began wanning and i noticed something strange going on. I counted about 15 strokes and yet the bright buoy was still within my sight! Worse still, i remembered clearly that i was stearing myself to the left of the buoy, and i ended up on its right instead! Then it dawned upon me.
The current!
Others too perceived the change and were able to pierce the current. I was unable to follow them anymore as i watch them swimming furthur and furthur away till all I saw were bright yellows dots bobbing up and down with the waves. My heart dropped as i was all alone now.
For the next hour it was a gruesome battle against the current. I sighted trees and houses on the shore. I pulled and pulled and the invisible force gently slowed me down. I was going so slow that i understood why half of the participants will give up at this point later. It was a mental torture! I was so near yet so far, looking up again and again wishing that i was getting nearer. The sun was revealing its full strength at this hour, adding to the torture that was stretching me to the limits. I cried out to God, "give me strength, give me strength." again and again, screaming out of sheer exhaustion and disbelief in the water. This continued till a point that it occured to me to stop thinking about the finishing line and focus on my strokes and on God. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it worked!
However as i neared the shore, so did the power of the waves and current. I dug deep into whatever reserves that i have left and pushed on. I saw a swimmer runnning up the beach and crossing the finishing line in the distant. How i wished that was me. I kept my cool and focused on God.
Then i felt it.
The first wave lunged me forward, so did a second wave. I was thrown off balance on the third one, and my feet struck solid ground after 3 hours of gruesome swimming, and i stood up.
The moment was indescribable, and one that i will remember for the rest of my life. I praised God for enabling me to do it.
I took a deep breath and a following wave shoved me back into the water. I just let it carry me to the shore at this point. I came out of the water and stumbled towards the arch. I looked back towards the sea and the hell it gave me. I crossed the line and a medal was hung around my neck immediately.Then I was escorted to the first aid tent where i was asked to lie down on the stretcher. My parents were holding me up and I asked them to let go and i dropped into it. I blacked out.
It is all over. I did it.
My overall position was 66th out of 184. My total time was 3 hours 15 minutes and 34 seconds. An achievement for someone who started to learn to swim during his time at Taylors and taught briefly by the seniors and the teacher advisor, occasionally some swimming videos of Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe on Youtube. In exactly 16 months time, i started from nothing to a certified open water swimmer.
Really miss my swimming pool, thats the thing i am missing most now.
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