Penang International Cross Channel Swim

 

On 26th March 2015, the Penang Amateur Swimming Association (PASA) in conjunction with the Penang State government organized the Penang International Cross Channel Swim.

This was a 6+ km swim starting at Pantai Bersih in Butterworth, and ending at Ocean Green Restaurant at Northam Beach in Penang Island. The last time a similar cross channel swim was organized was 27 years ago.

I was the Chief Time Keeper for the event. All officials assembled at Ocean Green Restaurant as early as 4:30 AM. There was an air of excitement at the briefing room. And quite certainly, all of us were proud to be part of this event.

We had to board fishing boats for our journey to the Butterworth side for the start of the race. Wearing sports shoes and socks, wading into ankle-deep sea water to board the boat was not a pleasant experience for me.

 

A view of the Butterworth side from the middle of the channel.

 

Equipped with life-jackets, the technical officials speed towards the event's starting point.

The trip from Penang Island to mainland Butterworth was a surprisingly fast and smooth one. There were some 10+ fishing boats ferrying the technical officials to the Butterworth side. Although it had rained earlier in the morning. thankfully, the weather was bright and sunny for the rest of the day.

 

The technical officials' landing point at mainland Butterworth. We arrived by 5AM.

 

This restaurant was the assembly point for all officials and participants. The race started slightly after 7AM.

 

The participants assembling at the restaurant prior to the start of the race.

 

I couldn't resist a selfie at the starting point of the race.

The start of the race started slightly later than planned, about 10 minutes after 7 AM. There were some 170+ participants in this event, most of them from China and all above 30 years of age. The oldest participant to my knowledge was 68 years old.

 

Participants waiting for the starting signal.

 

And they're off!

Soon after the participants started their race, the technical officials embarked on the fishing boats and we sped back to Penang island to complete our duties.

I regret not taking pictures of our return trip, of our landing back at Penang island, or of the finishers. But during that time we were all caught up in our duties and rarely spent a moment for ourselves.

Frenchman Sergei Dominichini, aged 48, finished first place in the Men's category with a time of 1:47.22. The last of the participants finished some 4+ hours after the start of the race. All the finishing participants had jelly fish stings.

Personally, it was a memorable event for me, and I was proud to be part of this event. Hopefully, they'll hold it again next year.

Related links: The Star Online, Official Website

Me, just me

I am 40 years old as I write this. I have lived a good life; I have loved and being loved, I have scored the winning goal for my team, I have performed in an orchestra, I have acquired qualifications and certifications, I have impacted the lives of many children in a positive manner, and I have made my sole-living parent proud.

Professionally, as a coach, I have produced medalists in both State and National levels. I have also written an article which has been published in a National Publication. I have coached swimmers at both State and National levels, and I have even trained swimmers at State and National levels. Finally, I've also represented my state as State Coach and my country as a National Coach in numerous swimming championships.

My swimmers may forget me and my efforts for them. But I shall never forget them. I have reached the apex of my career. I cannot think of what else I desire apart from what I've accomplished or acquired.

MASUM 2012 in Sarawak

From the 9th to 16th April, I accompanied the Universiti Sains Malaysia Pusat Kecermerlangan Sukan (USM-PKS) Swim Team to Kuching, Sarawak for the National University Games, or more commonly known as MASUM.

My stay in Kuching was not a comfortable one. My room at MyGalleria in Kota Samarahan was very dirty and dusty and the apartment itself didn't have any running water. I learned later that some of the athlete's apartments didn't even have mattresses.

The moment I checked into my room, I developed an allergy problem due to the dust. As a result, I ended up in the UNIMAS Hospital Emergency Room on my very first night in Kuching!

Fortunately, the USM Secretariat went into action and found everyone better accommodations the next day. But I swear, I was prepared to buy a plane ticket home after my dusty experience at MyGalleria.

The MASUM meet was similar to all other meets that I had attended countless times. But during this meet, I felt like a fish out of water; I didn't notice any other coaches with stop watches taking splits and stroke rates on the deck.

The team officials didn't seem interested in how well their swimmers performed, but rather, how many gold medals their team won. This got me thinking.

Overall, the USM swim team won 4 gold, 9 silver and 11 bronze medals as well as broke 3 meet records. This is an admirable achievement and credit must be given to the Team Captains / Coaches Lim Ben and Mandy Yeap for this success.

To be honest, the meet itself was boring for me. Each day's events ended by 1:30 PM and personally, I just couldn't wait till lunch where I could enjoy a good meal and a good shower and return to my bed.

When the MASUM meet ended, the USM team had to stay an extra two days in Kuching. This meant we had two days of nothing to do and we had to come up with our own forms of entertainment. Luckily, being in the company of resourceful young adults, we managed to rent a few cars and even had a short tour of Kuching.

We visited malls, notably The Spring and Boulevard, and even watched the movie "Battleship" at MBO Theatres at The Spring Megamall.

The movie was loud and full of CGI. The storyline was not realistic and not something you would remember in 6 months' time. But it was entertaining nonetheless, and something needed to pass the time.

We also visited the Cat Museum and the Kuching waterfront.

We made trips to Kueh Lapis shops where everyone feasted and enjoyed themselves on the free samples.

We also had an excellent seafood dinner at TopSpot Kuching. There, we sampled the paku pakis dish - a Kuching speciality.

This vegetable dish looked very much like the paku pakis fern leaf that you'd commonly find anywhere in the rain forest. Cooked with belacan, this vege dish was very delicious.

Towards the end of our stay, we visited numerous souvenir shops and undoubtedly boosted the Kuching economy with our many purchases.

Honestly speaking, the best experience that I had during my stay in Kuching is the food. Most notably, Kueh Chap from Chinatown. This dish was introduced to me by Lim Ben, the Captain and Coach of the USM Swim Team.

Kueh Chap is strictly non-halal and is made up of a broth with oversized kueh teow (hence the kueh in the dish), pork fat, pork innards and pork bits. Not something for the weak-hearted but very tasty and had me coming back for more.

Another of Kuching's favourite dishes that I enjoyed is Kolok Mee:

The above is the halal mixed seafood Kolok Mee bought at the food court in The Spring Megamall.

Kolok Mee is similar to Penang's Wan Tan Mee, but without the wan tan or dark gravy but with different seasoning. It can be dry to some, but when stirred and mixed thoroughly, it is very tasty. The above picture shows Kolok Mee with pork and pork satay.

Another memorable experience that I had was our visit to Jong's Crocodile Farm. The crocodile farm has hundreds, if not thousands of crocodiles either captured from the wild or bred from captivity. We were lucky to reach the farm in time to see their "crocodile feeding time" or "jumping crocodile show":

These crocs reminded me of the one in the movie "Hook".

Some other pics of the residents of the crocodile farm:

This guy was in a bad mood and was ready to lunge at us. Note those beady eyes staring at me ...

Looking at this picture, I can't remember getting so close to this monster. If he had lunged or snapped at me, I would probably had screamed and ran away like a girl!

All the crocs in the farm appear well-fed. They spent most of the time basking in the sun.

Cooling off. Either that, or waiting for his lunch with the camera (me!) to come closer.

One of the oldest and largest crocs in the farm. I was told that some of the crocs here were man-eaters. I'm not sure if this is one of them.

Some non-reptile residents of the farm.

I left Kuching with some mixed feelings. I can't exactly say that I haven't enjoyed my time there, but I still feel that the 8 days spent there was too long.

One thing that I will miss from Kuching is the Kueh Chap. I also didn't get to try their famous Sarawak Laksa or the Kuching Tomato Noodles. Maybe on the next trip ...

But meanwhile, it's good to be home.

A first for us

Trident Swim Team made its competitive debut from 24th to 26th February at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Aquatics Complex during the 2012 PASA Meet.

The team banner.

Our swimmers doing their stretching before the day's events.

Our "Powerpuff Girls".

We ended the meet in 5th placing with 12 golds, 10 silvers and 16 bronzes. Two of our Group 5 girls even broke Meet and Penang State Age Group records.

Overall, I think we did quite well considering that the team had only been under my coaching for 8 months. We also didn't have to rely on "mercenaries" or "imports" to win us medals. I'm proud to say that all of the team's medal winners were home-grown.

WA state age meet

Some pics taken during the Western Australia State Age Swimming Championship at Challenge Stadium today:

Toyota is obviously a big sponsor of the meet. Note the two Toyota CRVs in the background.

A view of the starting end of a 100-meter event. The diving pool is closed off with lanes for cool down, with the swimmers' marshalling area behind it. A coaches' corner has been set up in front of the swimmers' marshalling area.

The spectator gallery at Challenge Stadium during the meet.

Scarborough open-water swim

I attended (as a spectator) my first open-water swim event this morning at Scarborough Beach.

Scarborough Beach early in the morning. Beautiful beach with soft sand.

The participants registering for the open-water swim. The number tripled within the next 10 minutes.

And they're off!

The participants were set off at different intervals. The ones with the white caps were the faster swimmers. Those were set off first. The kayaks in the foreground as well as the rubber boats in the background were used by the life-guards.

That's me with the Indian Ocean in the background. The water was cold.

Safety of the participants was taken very seriously.

The participants finishing the race at the other end of the beach.

Tough week

My family and I went through one of the toughest times of our lives last week. Hopefully it's really behind us now.

NAG has come and gone and the results are out. Not quite what I had expected as I was expecting better results. The kids are now away for the MSSM. I wonder how that will turn out.

NAG 2010

The 46th Malaysia Age Group Swimming Championship 2010 (also known as the National Juniors 2010) will commence tomorrow. Good luck to all Penang swimmers for this very important championship.

PASA & MSSPP 2010

The PASA and MSSPP 2010 meets have finally concluded. Now, my swimmers and I can breathe a sigh of relief and take a much-needed break. Now, my swimmers and I have to prepare for the National Age Group in March.

During the PASA 2010, PISA Swimming Team won 18 Gold, 30 Silver and 33 Bronze medals. In addition to this, two swimmers from PST also broke two Meet Records each. This is a huge improvement compared to our tally of 3 Gold, 9 Silver and 5 Bronze medals in PASA 2009.

Syabas and congrats to all the swimmers of PST!

 

 

PST swimmers in their new attire during PASA 2010.

As for MSSPP 2010, I'm not sure what our swimmers' achievements are since I don't have the official results. But I'm sure PST swimmers did make waves and claimed their share of medals.

I hope PST swimmers can continue to make similar successful achievements during the coming National Age Group meet in March.

Kedah Meet

Some memorable pics taken during the Kedah Meet, 14 to 15 November 2009:

Good job to them and all others from PST.