My First Open Water Swim - Part One

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Posing in front of the start line

Everyone will always remember their first take on new things. The first time you try a certain food, the first sip of alcohol, the first theme park ride, the first time they rode a bike/car, first everything. Well for me, I will always remember my first open water swimming competition. It was special to me because of the teammates that I had around. The whole journey towards this 'first experience' was a total rollercoaster of emotions. 

When I joined the swimming team in 2017, I had very little knowledge about open water swimming. At the time, I merely know what was open water swimming, but I always see my seniors train for it. They were more experienced in it as they have already competed in a few of them. After 3 months of being on the team, the coach announced to us about an open water swimming competition that will be happening in the middle of May. We were 4 months ahead of the announcement and we were all excited. The juniors will have the first taste of open water. The juniors will have to take part in the least distance which was 2km. 

I was a playful boy. While training for the competition, I took part in futsal and football tournaments around Malaysia representing my club and sometimes the university. Despite my coach forbidding me to take part in those, I still did it. 

AND IT HAPPENED!!!

I sprained my ankle so bad. 2 months before the competition. The doctors confirmed that I had a severe ankle sprain. My ankle swelled up like a balloon. I could walk for a week. My coach did not say much. He knew I had regretted my actions. He just told me to get some rest and try to make a comeback to the pool as soon as I can. He arranged for me to visit the physiotherapist for recovery. 

Left sprained ankle

Many ice bags, medications, and physiotherapy sessions later, I was back. When I got into the pool after the month-long break, I was noticeably slow. My other teammates were way faster than me and I could not even swim like before. Plus my ankle was in pain most of the time. I had a month to make myself swim better. 

Icing my leg on my table

13 May 2018 - Kelab Tasik Putrajaya Open Water Swimming Challange

It's done. I had no time left. I was up to swim in a few more days. The team had a briefing about the itineraries throughout the 3 days we will be in Putrajaya. We talked about the accommodation, travel, diet, equipment preparation, and went down the swim course and rules for the race. 

We were in Terengganu at the time and it will take around 6 - 7 hours to make our way to Putrajaya. So, we planned to make the move the night before. Usually, a day before the race, the organizers will have a race bag collection and water testing sessions. That's when we are allowed to test the water to get a feel for the open water. 

After the water test and race pack collection, we went for dinner and planned to take an early sleep as we had to wake up at 530am for breakfast. Before we sleep, we always have a meeting as we carbo-load. Usually, we eat bread or anything with carbs to load ourselves with energy. During the meeting, we discuss the checklist of items to bring on race day and prepare our equipment. 

The team after the water testing and a mild swim session

I WILL POST ABOUT MY RACE IN THE NEXT PART.

THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!

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