Swimming Leadership Part II: How Do You Lead?

"Finding Inspiration"

While the movie is not about swimming, one of the many poignant lessons I took home after watching Invictus is how to "inspire ourselves [and our teammates] to greatness when nothing less will do." Witness the conversation between two great South African leaders--Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar--and listen to their views on leadership and inspiring your teammates to be better than what they think they can be. 

"We Need Inspiration"

The Full Conversation of Two Great SA leaders.

Take Your Mark!

Finding God in Swimming

Religion is one of the few things which I simply do not have the patience or diligence to understand. Having been brought up a Roman Catholic and receiving a catholic education my entire life, I still find myself wrestling with certain aspects of my religion. While I am not entirely a devout man, I fervently  believe in God; every time I swim, I could feel His presence. 

Quoting Eric Liddell from the movie Chariots of Fire, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." Minus the running part, that is exactly how I feel. Whenever I swim fast, I can almost see God smiling with delight and glee. After all, He made a swimmer. It is only right that I glorify Him through the blessing which He has given me. Yet, I feel His presence and pleasure not just when I swim fast but rather when I am simply in the pool, swimming.

Whenever I push off the wall for a sprint-endurance set, the sound of rushing water filling my ears, I could hear Him whispering, telling me to swim faster and use every ounce of my strength to get my target times. During the split second wherein I am suspended in the air after launching myself off the starting block, the calm I feel is His presence slowly washing away the anxieties I feel and replacing them with competitive fire. When I am so fatigued in the 200 meters butterfly, I hear His soothing yet commanding voice telling me to hold on and continue fighting, tooth and nail, to reach the wall. Whenever I look over the time panels and find out that I did not get my best time, I can feel His comforting arm drape over my shoulders as if telling me that I need not be too hard on myself; I swam, fought and raced with every bit of grit I had and for Him that is already something to be proud of.

On more than one occasion, I have doubted my religion. In fact, with everything that is happening around my community, I am afraid that I am losing my religion. Yet, as I grapple with the doubts and reservations I have, my faith in God is adamant. He has been with me as I swam competitively for 12 years. I am sure that even after hanging up my LZR Racers and Fast Skins, He will always be with me, silently pushing me to keep on swimming fast or at least try to swim fast again.

Finding God in all things has been one of the lessons I learned way back in grade school which I have always carried with me. It is only appropriate that I found God in swimming.

Take Your Mark!

How to Win a Swimming Championship

The biggest frustration I ever had in my swimming career was not being able to hoist up a swimming championship in the UAAP seniors division the way I twice did in the juniors.  While the sweet second place my teammates and I landed in 2009 will be with me forever, winning that elusive championship could have been the pinnacle of my on-again, off-again relationship with swimming. But that is for another time. This entry will be about something else--something any swim team could find useful in their quest for aquatic supremacy. 

Winning a championship requires what I like to call "collective individualism" or in the words of my former coach, "team success through individual excellence". Simply put, every member of the team needs to work on being an exceptional swimmer in his own right to the very best of his abilities. Everyone needs to adapt a confident attitude which will foster this aura of being intimidating instead of being intimidated. Most of all, each and every member of the team needs to be confident in his own swimming prowess so that no one will be too reliant on the elite swimmers. 

But how does one do these things, you ask? Below are three points which may be helpful.

1. Train the way you compete.

The fault of many swimmers these days is that they tend to take the importance of training too lightly. It is quite disturbing that most swimmers resist pushing their limits whenever a set seems too difficult to accomplish. Instead of accepting a new challenge, they cower away and mediocrely swim the set just to finish it. Their excuse: there's always tomorrow...

Guys, there is no tomorrow--not if you want to be the best that you can be! Besides, there is no point in attending training if you do not have any intention of simulating how you will be competing. Why do we train, in the first place? We train because we want to get faster; the only way to get faster is by making fast-ness natural to us. What better venue to make ourselves naturally fast than practices--the place wherein we are allowed to make mistakes and test new techniques or stroke mechanics until we come close to perfect with regard to it.

Train the way you compete, fellas. Treat your trainings as an aquatic laboratory of sorts. Envision how you intend to compete and try it out when you train. If you plan on performing long underwater dolphins during the meet, do exactly that in every set of the training if it is applicable. If you plan executing a flip turn during the back-to-breast transition, practice that consistently. If you plan on using a track-start before you dive, track-start during training so that you are absolutely comfortable in that position come the meet. If you plan on wearing a swimming cap, by all mean, wear a swim cap in training!

As the age old saying goes, "practice makes perfect." The thing is, you have to ask yourself what it is your are perfecting in practice. Are you perfecting your slacker skills by cutting corners and taking it easy? Or are your honing your competitive skills by perfecting every aspect of your swim while training?

2. Swim while everyone else is resting!
While others rest, prepare. Need I say more?

One of the things I used to lament back then was how late my teammates started training seriously to prepare for the UAAP. I am honestly astounded that they expect to be in top form with only three to four months left before the meet that I almost scoffed at their misplaced confidence. While some of them actually do regain and surpass their peak performances with such a small window of preparation, most seem confused as to why they put up such disappointing borderline embarrassing times. Many a time I just kept my mouth shut; how could they be so obtuse to not know what they did wrong?

As I mentioned in one of my earlier articles, the competition does not start or end with the meet. Competition is 24/7! It is true that off-season trainings are not as intense as the ones during the season, they do serve a purpose of maintaining stroke integrity and keeping swimmers as fit as possible. I am not saying that you should continue the rough trainings; by all means, any swimmer is entitled to a well-deserved rest after a grueling season. What I am saying is that you might want to take advantage of this period to get ahead of the game, so to speak. Especially when you are playing catch up against competition which is faster and far more trained that you, use this downtime to close the distance separating you from the them.  

3. Fight (Swim) like a Champion!
We all remember the Pacquiao-Marquez fight a few weeks ago and how controversial the decision was. Regardless of how the pundits and would-be experts analyze the fight, the mere fact that the challenger was not at all challenging the champion was Marquez's downfall. Sure, he gave Pacquiao a hard time and might have even won the fight had me knocked him down once. But the fact is, he was not launching an all out assault on the champion. And he dare say that he ought to be champion when he was not acting like one?

Fellas, to be a champion you have to act like a champion and not just talk like one. Swim like a champion by being an aggressive competitor in training and in meets. Never back down from anything no matter how daunting workouts are or how fast your competitors are reputed to be. Challenge yourself and your teammates everyday to be the best swimmers that you can possibly be.

So you see, it all boils down to every member of the team doing his part exceptionally. In contrast to club swimming, varsity swimming is much more complicated since not everyone can just join a team and compete. There are certain academic requirements which have to be met for any athlete to be part of any team as most of us know well. Hence, varsity teams do not have the luxury of simply recruiting all the top talents and dominating the field since said talents need to prove their worth--and more importantly earn their keep--in the classrooms as well as the in the pool.

However, keep in mind that regardless of how the recruits fare academically, you can be certain that they will perform splendidly once they plunge in the pool and amass team points crucial for the championship. You ought to do the same, don't you think? 

Winning a championship in swimming starts with the swimmer. You and your teammates have to believe that you are more than capable of winning the championship. Beyond believing, you guys have to be willing to put in the requisite amount of work a champion is called to deliver. Believe adamantly and swim exceptionally--it is as simple as that.

Take Your Mark! 

5 Things Varsity Swimmers Need to Know & Understand

Ever since I entered college, I noticed that most swimmers younger than myself (as well as a certain number of senior swimmers) seemed to have developed amnesia with regard to the fundamental responsibilities of a swimmer. Well, amnesia may not be the right word to describe it since I do not think most of them were ever told that such responsibilities existed. But I did hope that they would have deduced such realities after a few years of swimming varsity. 

In either case, I think it is time that young swimmers are reminded of the things below. It would be such a pity if you guys do not put to memory and, more importantly, understand them. Trust me--these five things will help in the long run.

1. Not all the time should the Student come before the Athlete.

We have heard it all before in Coach Carter. "These kids are student-athletes. Student comes first," as Samuel L. Jackson eloquently phrased it. I am not disputing this. It is the obligation of every varsity swimmer--or athlete for that matter--to prioritize his education over his athletics. After all, turning professional is not an option for a Filipino swimmer for obvious reasons.

However, I have seen swimmers using the student-athlete excuse to chronically skip training. Kids, prioritizing academics over athletics does not mean forsaking your swimming obligations altogether. Prioritizing means striking a manageable balance between studying and swimming. The life of a student-athlete is hard to put it mildly. And while your coach, captain and/or teammates allow you certain latitude to skip training in order to study, please be reminded that you have voluntarily joined the team. Meaning to say, you accepted the difficult, complex and sacrifice-ridden life of a student-athlete in all its entirety; you embraced all of a varsity swimmer's responsibilities and obligations with open arms when you joined the team after passing try-outs. Let me stress it again; You joined to team voluntarily. No one forced or coerced you.

Except for certain unavoidable occasions, never use academics to skip team activities such as training and meets. Everyone, even the brightest, of your teammates is experiencing the same amount of difficulty you are going through so you have absolutely no right to complain or give excuses. And while you will have to skip athletic commitments for academic obligations, there will come a time wherein you ought to do the reverse. Whether it be cutting classes for meets, taking exams earlier or even load-reving from a class of the best teacher to the class of the terror teacher since the former coincides with training, you will have to see these through.

Boys and girls, sacrifices go both ways. So keep the student before the athlete alright; just do not be too uptight about it.

2. Listen to and RESPECT  your coach.

Integral to swimming success is your relationship with your coach and/or coaches. We all desire to have the perfect coach--one who is always understanding of our shortcomings and will never give sets we cannot accomplish. As lofty as such dreams are, we know that we rarely encounter such coaches. Often we get the composite coach--the combination of the dreaded one and the benevolent one in certain aspects of his personality. But of course, relationships with our coaches are dynamic.

In the team I came from, I am honestly astounded by how younger swimmers view our coaches. Most of the time, I had to restrain myself from coming down on numerous youngsters because their attitude  toward our coaches are downright disrespectful. While most of my teammates dismiss such attitudes as childish behaviors of, well, children, I cannot reconcile such things as gentlemanly, Atenean even. And let us not even begin to discuss the online social network bashing...

Guys, RESPECT ALL YOUR COACHES! You are allowed to have favorite coaches in as much as coaches are allowed to have favorite swimmers. That is a fact of any athlete's life. But respect your coaches indiscriminately nonetheless. You may not like them but you have to respect them, for their authority if not anything else. 

Keep in mind that your coaches (well most of them) only want what is best for you. They are hard on you because they believe that you can become a better person through sports.

Do not be scared if your coach comes down on you. Not too much anyway because that is a sign that he still wants to push you; that he still believes in you! Be scared when he ignores you completely. That is an indication of a total loss of confidence and trust. Believe me, I know.

However, if you really cannot swim for a coach you do not like and cannot bring yourself to respect in any way possible, find another one who you will swim for. There is nothing wrong about that. In fact, I highly recommend it. 

3. Never mind that no one watches your meets or even cares that you are a varsity swimmer.
Coming from a school whose administration, faculty and staff absolutely worships basketball and football as much as the student body, I understand completely why grade school, high school and college swimmers are very much frustrated when their achievements go unnoticed. Imagine swimming for your school for four grueling days trying to win a team championship by winning individual medals and breaking records without receiving so much as a thank you for your efforts regardless of the end result.  Would not you feel upset, frustrated even angry at that?  And when you hoist up your trophy at the end of the day, you do not even see the direct representatives of the student body--the varsity cheerleaders--because they are off at Araneta cheering for the basketball team full force. Get my point?  (For my opinions about the aforementioned, click Burst My Babble Part 1 and Burst My Babble Part 2)

In my years of swimming for my school, I have learned that while such a reality is dreadful, you are setting yourself for more than you can possibly imagine if you dwell on it too much. Lobby hard  and fight for the recognition you deserve and do it the right way. Other than that, just swim. Leave it out on the pool because at the end of the day, your achievements are only as important as what you make them regardless if your school recognizes your or not. 

For you grade schoolers, take it from me. Do not quit swimming to shift to the popular sports so that your peers will regard you as an athlete. You are an athlete, young man! And trust me, while your basketball batchmates bask in limelight now, their numbers will dwindle with every year level you progress since there are fewer and fewer leagues wherein basketball teams can play in high school and only the UAAP division in college. Only a few of them are good enough to make it to the UAAP Seniors Division so come college, the only league you will see these guys is the IAC (kind of like your Intrams in grade school). But if you stick it out with swimming, chances are you will still be enjoying the perks of a varsity member in college. (If you are wondering what some of the perks are, well, Ateneo College is co-ed!)

Here's another food for thought. While your basketball batchmates only play in one league be it PAYA, PRADA, PSBL and the like, you will be swimming in all of them! So technically, you are a member of at least two teams! How's that!

So keep swimming, young men. Keep staring at that emotionless black line and endure the proverbial chlorine-smell and tan lines. It will all be worth it in more ways that you will ever expect.

4. Competing does not start and end with the meet.
During my time as team captain for the college team, I cannot remember a time wherein I did not stress this. The competition does not start and end with the meet; it begins the moment you wake up everyday and will only end once you finally hang up your swimming gear. Competitive swimming is a consummate sport. The key to success is to keep swimming even when you are not swimming.

But how do you swim without swimming? Easy. By going the extra mile. Apply Magis in your sport! In my experiences, you accomplish a lot of your technique improvements and stroke corrections when you are not swimming. In every waking second, think about what will make you stronger, faster and better. Be as cerebral as you possibly can out of the pool because when you are racing, more often than not, your instincts take over. Also, take advantage of technology! Watch Youtube videos of the legends like Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe, Ryan Lochte, Grant Hackett, Kosuke Kitajima and other elite swimmers to learn from them and see what you can possibly adapt.  

Guys, never believe anyone who tells you that you need only to defeat your opponents during competitions. That is a total misconception. While the goal is to defeat your opponents during meets, the only way to do so is by defeating him in every aspect of the sport. It is true that you do not control what your rivals do but regardless, make sure that your goal is to outwork him in training by acting as if you are already competing. Outsmart him by eating the right food. Overpower him by religiously attending gym and land training sessions before pool workouts. But as creative and as unorthodox as possible!

5. Enjoy every second of swimming; have as much fun as you can.
Enjoy swimming as much as you can, young ones. Swim every swim as if it is your last and enjoy the company of your teammates as much as you possibly can. As amazing as life is, it is also unforgivingly unpredictable. So love swimming, even if she plays hard-to-get.

A word of warning though. As much as I advocate having fun, please keep them in the proper perspective and in line. When it is time to get serious, do not fool around. Focus your attention at the task at hand and have fun afterward, once you and your teammates finish the set. Surviving hellacious sets are always fun and entertaining to look back on. Especially when one of your teammates is a sport when he is the butt of all the innocent ribbing and jokes!

Boys and girls, I hope that these five things are clear enough. If you have any questions or concerns, never hesitate to leave a comment!

Take Your Mark!

Regaining Aquatic Fitness

Any former competitive swimmer can attest to spending as much time away from the pool once their careers are over. Most, especially those who have been swimming ever since they had baby teeth, have become too sick of being tan and proverbially smelling like chlorine that they literally put their suits and gear in a cardboard box and stow them away in the deepest recesses of their closets. Who could blame them? For ten plus years, they have swam lap after lap after lap twice a day, seven days a week preparing for competitions almost every other weekend. While some are given renumeration for their hardwork--athletic-scholarships in high school or college--the monotony of swimming makes it difficult to constantly be loyal to its responsibilities and obligations. Fast-forward a few months after retiring, you look at the mirror and see the physical changes your body has made. Gone are the washboard abs, barrel chest, chiseled shoulders, bulging biceps and V-shaped body. Replacing them are the dreaded fats you never had to deal with only a few months before. Then, you realize that you are at a crossroads of sorts. You can continue rebelling from what you have done for so long and slowly watch your swimmer's body disappear or you can reconcile with your sport and work your way back into shape.

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself in the same situation. While I generally did not mind my muscles turning into fat and my "V-ody" slowly disappearing--after all, I was retired--I realized just how difficult my future would be if I continue my post-swimming career foolishness. Cutting the long story short, I realized the many health risks I was setting myself up for and decided right then and there to do something about it. Without thinking twice, I took out my gear and headed to the pool to do some laps and gauge my current physical condition. After that painful morning, I created my personal swim program which would more or less get me back into shape. After my first week of said program, I can honestly say that I am on the right track.

I do not want to divulge the specifics of my program but I will offer some advise which will help you craft your own program.

1. Know what you want and set your goal.

The last thing you want to do is to swim blind. Before you put on your suit and goggles, ask yourself what you are swimming for and why you are swimming again. Whether it is to lose weight, enjoy the water or mount a comeback to competitive swimming, the key is to know what you are after. When you do know it, set your goals. Be sure to make them SMART too (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, REALISTIC and TIME BOUND). Draw motivation from such goals because it is all on you this time around.

2. Remember what type of swimmer you were.

"Once a swimmer, always a swimmer," I always say. No matter how much you fight or run away from it, you will always be a swimmer. The sooner you embrace that fact, the faster you will regaining aquatic fitness. That said, remember the kind of swimmer that you were--in training and in competitions. Recall your strengths and weaknesses; were you more of kicker or a puller? Did you have excellent underwater techniques? Did you thrive breathing less or more? What was your stroke count in your specialty stroke or S1 and freestyle? 

If you kept a journal during your career, you might want to take it out and read through it to refresh your memory. Remembering what type of swimmer you were will help you determine what you need to work on which leads us to...

3. Gauge your current physical condition and reconcile it with what you used to do.

Before thinking of and putting your workout on paper, find out what type of condition you are in. Go to the pool and swim a normal competition style warm up. I suggest you do a 400-300-200-100 combination of swim-pull-kick-swim. After which, do some time trial sets for your 50 and 100 freestyle and S1. If you are daring, time your 100 and 200 IM as well. You will have a pretty good idea of where you are standing after that. 

While you swim, take note of the things you cannot do easily anymore. Once you dive in the pool, your movements are automatic no matter how much time you spend away. As automatic as some of your movements are, notice what you strain to do this time around. Be it your trunk rotation, catch, stroke recovery, tumble-turn or any specifics, keep them in mind. You will have to factor these in when you make your own workouts later.

4. Take it easy then work yourself up.


When I swam for the first time a couple of week ago, the worst mistake I made was thinking I could pick up where I left off. I knew from experience that I could not do that but the snob in me was too determined to convince myself that I was still capable of all the things I used to do. The result? Sore muscles all over and a pretty nasty headache.

No matter how much of an elite athlete you once were, keep in mind that you spent quite sometime away from the pool. As our coaches always said, even a day away from swimming makes it difficult to stay on track on the path to achieving your goals. What more if you are gone for more than a couple of months?

Take it easy your first time out. Get your comfort and water-feel back before even considering subjecting yourself to tough endurance and speed swims. Unless you are planning to jumpstart your path to competitive swimming, slowly and easy is the name of the game.

5. Do not shortchange yourself.


The difficulty about swimming alone--if you do train alone now--is that you rely solely on yourself. There is no coach to watch you on the pool deck nor do you have teammates to compete with or even have the comfort of someone suffering the same workout. That said, the temptations are greater. When you feel fatigue, an almost insatiable desire to no longer push yourself to finish the sets in. It will take great amounts of maturity and focus to rise above such temptations when you train alone.

The thing to remember is to never shortchange yourself. I will not tell you to cut down on your workouts; as a former athlete, you ought to understand well enough the consequences of such actions. But what I will tell you is to never settle for anything less than what you think and know you deserve. At the end of the day, the only fool you are kidding is yourself every time you give in to the temptation of slacking off. Which leads me to my last advice.

6. Always remember what you are swimming for.


Never forgot why you are swimming again and what you are swimming for this time around. Whether it be because you are mounting a comeback or losing a few pounds, always keep in mind your reasons every time you take the pool. Remember them especially when the temptation to quit is strong. It may be easier said than done but keep that fire alive and burning white-hot. That drive to accomplish whatever it is you set out to do will be your best friend during your quest to regain your aquatic fitness.

Keep track of your progress too. Write about it, keep it in mind, post it on your wall; do whatever it takes to record what you are going through. Trust me; this will be more helpful to you in more ways that you could possibly imagine during that long winding road to get back in shape.

I hope that this post can help all of you former swimmers wanting to return to the pool anytime soon. If you have any comments and suggestions about regaining that pool fitness, leave a comment and I'll get back at you as soon as I can.

On a personal note, I am on my second week of my own swimming program. It's been tough but I feel that I am on the right track. With the right amount of dedication, discipline and diligence, I think I will be able to make this work.

Take Your Mark!

Team USS: The First Member

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I might feature swimmers who are truly unsung swim stars. To be perfectly honest, I know a lot of swimmers who deserve the title more than I do (I just claimed it before anyone else did). After much debate, I have finally decided to feature someone who deserves recognition for his achievements! 

This student-athlete will be the first member of what I like to call Team Unsung Swim Stars or Team USS. Early next month, get to know this inaugural member and standout swimmer. Read about his swimming story, motivations and future goals. Learn his favorite swimming moment and what he aspires to be when he finally hangs up his suits. And, if he is willing to share them, discover things which he keeps personal. 

Check back in a couple of weeks to find out who the first member of Team USS is!

Take Your Mark!


To find out more about Team USS click on the properly labelled tab above or here.

Swimming FAQs

I have been around long enough to face all kinds of questions regarding swimming. When someone finds out that I am a swimmer, especially a new acquaintance, questions about swimming as well as being a swimmer always find their way in our conversations. Most are the general stuff while others involve certain myths which I could only shake my head in disbelief. It is understandable, of course. Swimming has yet to be the commercial sport akin to basketball and football. Therefore, very few understand the competitive nature of the sport which influences the behavior of swimmers the world over. Until swimming does become (hopefully) a sport recognized and understood by millions much like basketball, I will use this opportunity to answer some frequently asked questions about swimming and swimmers. 

1. How many laps do swimmers usually swim a day in to be as slim as they are?

    

In all my years, I have never really kept track of the number of laps I swam because I wanted to get slim or have the finely sculpted muscles flaunted by world-class swimmers. I kept track of the laps because I wanted to get better at my sport and be as fast as I could possibly be. To that end, swimmers usually swim anywhere from 3000 meters to 10,000 meters a day depending on which part of the season they are in. If they are preparing for a big meet say the UAAP, NCAA or National Championships, daily workouts would range from 8000 to 10,000 meters and will gradually go down to around 2500 to 3000 meters the closer the meets get. If it is the off-season, workouts are designed for stamina and stroke maintenance which would total anywhere from 2000 to 3000 meters. The slim bodies just comes as a by-product of all the hardwork and sacrifices they make in honing their crafts.  

*3000 meters = 120 laps in a 25 meter pool, 60 laps for 50 meter pool

*10,000 meters = 400 laps in a 25 meter pool, 200 laps for a 50 meter pool

2. If I am not really into competitive swimming but I wish to swim just to get fit, how many laps do you think I should be doing? How often do I swim too?

Swimming has been considered as the best cardiovascular exercise known to man; when you swim, every major muscle group of the body is completely utilized and worked on. In contrast to running, swimming is also the "safer" cardio exercise since there is no unnecessary stress on your knees or the soles of your feet when you swim. Moving on, slow and easy would be the basis of any suggestion regarding the number of laps you swim as well as how often you should swim. Start by swimming 20-30 laps of freestyle for three days a week. Once feel that it is becoming too easy for you and that you are starting to get comfortable in the water, increase the number of laps you do by 10. Keep on increasing the number until you can do 100 plus laps. 100 laps ought to be a manageable goal to anyone who does not have a competitive swimming background. 

3. When aiming for that magic 100, do you have to swim non-stop? 

No, you do not have to swim non-stop during you swims. You can opt to do that but trust me when I say that you are setting yourself up for unnecessary boredom. What I would recommend is doing what competitive swimmers usually do. Breakdown your targeted total laps into short, manageable sets which will give you enough time to catch your breath and rest. If your goal is to do 40 laps, break the 40 down into five sets of eight laps or 5x200 meters. That way, you get adequate amount of rest in between sets. It is up to you if you want to do speed or stroke variations. The most important thing to remember is to make it easy and simple for yourself. As I said before, swim your laps slow and easy.

4. Do guy swimmers shave their legs and armpits on top of their heads? Will shaving those body parts really give you an advantage during a race?


I cannot really give a straight answer for this because it really depends on the swimmer. Some do shave or wax their excess body hair in as much as other do not. During my last two years in the UAAP, I finally decided to have my armpits and legs waxed. Since I was going to wear a Speedo LZR Racer full bodysuit in 2009 and an LZR Elite Jammer in 2010, I decided to go the whole nine yards and finally adhere to this "ancient" swimming ritual. What the hell? I thought told myself. As for the million dollar question if my waxing helped, well, I would like to believe that it did at the time. Though I cannot support this with hard, scientific facts I can attest to feeling a bit smoother in the water which I assume is an indication of lesser drag. So yeah, shaving or waxing helps. It probably will not lead to a drastic improvement of your best time; at most, maybe a few hundredths of a second. Psychologically, it should be helpful--a placebo, if you will.

5. Do all swimmers follow certain diets year-round? Or are most much like Michael Phelps with his alleged 10,000 calories a day diet?


In all my years of swimming, I have never met any swimmer who adheres to a strict diet. Most of my teammates eat like a disposal unit; place food in front of them and they will devour it without thinking twice. I even had a teammate who could eat a regular spaghetti meal after eating two pieces of chicken, five pieces of lumpiang shanghai, a cheeseburger and five cups of rice. And his stomach does not even get big even after eating all of that food! Truth is, I spent most of my glory years before sports nutrition became mainstream. It was only during the twilight years of my career that the advent of sports nutrition came about so I missed that ship, figuratively speaking. Going back to the question, I would say that swimmers these days consider what they eat more than my generation did. While some are indeed following Michael Phelps' prodigious appetite, I would not be surprised at all if most swimmers follow some sort of diet which will help them swim faster and last longer.

I sincerely hope that I sufficiently answered these swimming FAQs. If you have anymore questions about swimming or the life of a swimmer, feel free to leave a comment or two and ask away.

Take Your Mark!

Swimming & The Silver Screen: The Covenant

Click here to watch the trailer.

Synopsis: The Covenant is a supernatural action film involving the fictional Sons of Ipswitch. To their peers,  Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait), Pogue Perry (Taylor Kitsch), Reid Garwin (Toby Hemingway) and Tyler Simms (Chace Crawford) are merely best friends who treat each other as brothers. Hailing from old-rich families, the four attend Spencer Academy and are the standout swimmers in the varsity. What most do not know is that they are descendants of an ancient bloodline of warlocks who have limitless powers both unnatural and supernatural. Once they "Ascend" on their 18th birthday, they gain more potent magical abilities than what they already wield. However, use of these powers ages them rapidly, a terrible price they must pay if they overindulge in their extremely powerful and seductive magical abilities. When the last surviving descendant of the fifth family suddenly emerges and seeks vengeance, it is left to Caleb, the oldest and most powerful of the four to defend his brothers and ensure the survival and secrecy of their Covenant.

Review: Injecting my swimming review in this movie is pretty simple. As mentioned earlier, all four main characters as well as the antagonist are the elite swimmers of their school. While the crew uses actual swimmers as doubles, the swimming scenes, particularly the Caleb-Chase freestyle showdown is quite believable and realistic. If it were really Steven Strait and Sebastian Stan actually swimming in that scene then kudos to them. Their stroke mechanics and technique were convincing performances for elite swimmers they are supposedly portraying. However, the butterfly race of Taylor Kitsch is what irks me that most. When Taylor swims the fly, he takes his first stroke arms straight at the recovery phase. However, when the shot sis focused, Taylor has bent elbows when recovering. To the untrained eye, this difference is uncatchable. However, too bad for them, I was a butterflier so the differences stood out in my eyes.

The Verdict: I'll give this movie a C for giving swimming its due but failing to deliver a climax the audience deserves after a relatively good rising action. Minus the butterfly race, the time trial scene captured the intensity of an actual race complemented by believable swims of the two actors. As for the movie itself, well, it could have been better. The story suffers from numerous plot holes and was a bit anti-climatic with regard to its final warlock duel between Caleb and Chase. I expected to see all four brothers fight against their enemy in a fantastic magical battle of epic proportion. But, of course, it was not meant to be. However, the build up to the climax is truly worth seeing and more than compensates for its lackluster ending. 

Overall, The Covenant is one of those bad movies you might and most probably will add to your guilty pleasures list. It is a fast-paced, no brainer supernatural film you can enjoy for its simplicity and eye-candy actors and actresses.

The Chase Down

The Chase Down. This occurs when the anchoring swimmer makes up the huge lead the opposing team has built by littering chasing them down and getting to the wall first. It is common knowledge that in any freestyle relay, there exists two aces in the requisite four man team. Of the two, one is known to be an elite freestyler, the other a complete wild card. Usually, either of these two are the ones chasing down the opponents and delivering that decisively dramatic win.

During my career, I was blessed to be part of two dramatic relay teams. The first one happened when I was in high school, competing in the 4x100 medley relay. Down by a considerable margin after the backstroke and breaststroke, I proved to be fast enough to catch up and overtake the opposing UP and UST swimmers in the butterfly. Our freestyler extended the lead and ultimately delivered the win (Incidentally, that win was the final gold medal for the Ateneo High School in 2005--the year of our first UAAP championship. It was only fitting that we ended the meet with such a dramatic yet dominant victory.)

The second one happened during my junior year in college back in 2009. It was in the 4x50 meters freestyle relay. I swam the lead off leg followed by Chem Ocampo, Jan Formalejo then our captain Jonas Ramos. I won't go into detail anymore about what happened. No words could truly describe the intensity and drama of that race even after you watch it over a hundred times. That said, here's the video. Sit back, relax and take part of the drama!

Hope you enjoyed that as much as we did!

Take Your Mark!

Time Away the Right Way

Swimming is a repetitive sport; the only way one will improve and get faster is by swimming lap after lap after lap. While speed variation spices up the monotony of workouts, staring at the black line on the pool floor for four hours a day will eventually drive one to complete boredom. When I was younger, I loved staring at that black line while I trained. As I grew older, probably around the same time girls, guitars and movies started piquing my interest, the monotony of swimming slowly got to me. I no longer enjoyed the sound of rushing water through my swimming cap as I sprinted full clip. Nor did I look forward to the restless yet satisfying after-training feeling after a gruesomely long workout. I started hating the unmerciful and unattached black line which seemed to enjoy watching me tire up and miss my target times. Slowly, I made excuses not to attend training to do what I do not normally do when I did train for four hours. I played basketball, read, studied, hung out with my friends and everything else not associated with swimming. Then, I walked away, telling myself that swimming was no longer for me and that I had accomplished all that I can possibly accomplish. But I was in grade school then; in retrospect, all that I said back then were the ramblings and excuses of an immature and scared schoolboy suffering from an extreme bout of inferiority complex. I vowed never to return to looking at the black line but lo and behold, not even six months after, I am again swimming and competing like never before.

When I talk to swimmers these days, even those who picked up the sport three or four years ago, I always notice a sense of weariness in their tone whenever we discuss their swimming progress. Though their reasons are varied ranging from not making the UAAP team or being in disfavor with the coaches, the monotony of swimming is usually the most important reason they leave unsaid.

Young sirs and misses, it is understandable that after a while, your interest in swimming suddenly plateaus. What was once fun and exciting now becomes work, repetitive and ultimately, unappealing. While you stop and wonder aloud what has happened to your once unyielding motivation to swim, you also wonder how some of your teammates, particularly those in the elite team, still find the endurance to perform what you now deem as the most uninviting sport ever created. As you wrestle with that riddle, whatever motivation you have left plummets leading you to miss more trainings and eventually, quitting the sport altogether.

When you feel that your motivation is waning and are no longer too enthused to train twice a day, my advice is simple. Get some time away from the pool and everything else that goes with it. Skip training, watch a movie, go out with your girlfriend or boyfriend, play your Xbox of PS3; do anything and everything not related to swimming. Before you go to bed, do not think about swimming. Do not even look at your gym back or swimming gear for this might store something in your sub-conscious which might surface when you are dreaming. Do this for three to five days straights and I guarantee you that come the fifth day, you will find yourself in the pool deck once more.

But of course, keep this time away within reason. Inform your coaches as much as possible. You do not have to tell them to truth but do not lie to them! That goes double with your teammates. It goes without saying that you do not do this in-season especially when you plan on taking five days off. In fact, taking time away should never cross your mind when you are preparing for the biggest and most important meet of the year. Do it during the off-season or right after said biggest meet. Take an extended rest holiday beyond the requisite rest period; prolong a week to two and spend the first resting and the second doing everything you have been deprived off during the season. Just do not get carried away. After all, you will be returning to the pool even if you tell yourself that you have no intention to. In my experience, what you say in front of people is totally different from what you say to yourself when you have lost all the motivation and reason to swim.

Every athlete needs a certain time away from his sport especially when the motivation is no longer there. If anything, time away puts things in perspective. Ultimately, this will allow you to re-ignite that burning passion to swim. In my case, before permanently retiring from competitive swimming last March, I walked away from the sport on two separate occasions. My reasons for quitting the first time are not the same as the second, to point a fact. However, what I can say is that the time I spent away from the pool--four months the first time, one year the second--made me realize just how much I loved the sport and how I was made to be swimmer. While it was difficult to swallow my pride and face the same crowd who I felt I betrayed when I hung my suits, not returning at all would have been a greater betrayal to myself. While the reintroduction was rough, I found that I was more passionate that time around. Like a long lost lover, I embraced swimming and fought hard not to let her go again. The result? Two years as an athletic scholar in high school and establishing new best times in college.

Young swimmers, everyone, even world-class swimmers go through the waning-of-motivation phase. They walk away but eventually, they find themselves returning more determined, inspired and motivated than ever. (Refer to my previous article if you want proof). So take some time off, by all means. Break out of your swimming-crazed schedule and try other things. Just remember to keep things within reason! As the ancient Greeks say, "everything in moderation."

Take Your Mark!

The Comeback Season

It seems that with the London 2012 Olympics drawing nearer and nearer, a lot of international swimming legends are mounting a comeback. Perhaps this is due to the banning of the supersuits which gained notoriety after the 2009 Swimming World Championships dubbed "The Plastic Wars"; swimming with the regulation textile jammers (knee-length suits), times are slower but the sport is back to its purest form. Therefore, the playing field has been leveled completely, making swimming inviting once more to former Olympic swimmers. I am sure that aside from the swimmers I will be mentioning, there are many other swimmers who are planning a comeback. But these swimmers are the ones rocking the swimming headlines and are the ones who I am personally looking forward to see.

1. Ian Thorpe - No other former international swimmer has made headlines when announcing his comeback other than Ian Thorpe. Retiring in 2006 citing his waning motivation for the sport, the Australian was arguably the best middle-distance swimmer in the modern era. To point a fact, he was the best swimmer in the world before Michael Phelps came along. From 1999-2004, no one could dethrone him in his pet event, the 400 meters freestyle. Few could forget his forays into long-distance swimming and his duels with compatriot and record holder Grant Hackett in the 800 meters freestyle during the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Seemingly inexperienced in the race, Thorpe bid his time during the first 700 meters then shifted to a higher gear in the last 100 meters, leaving the veteran long distance swimmer in his wake. His only specialty event wherein his competitors, specifically Peiter Van Dan Hoogenband and a young Michael Phelps, ever got close to him or in the case of Van Dan Hoogenband, actually beat him, was the 200 meters freestyle. Other than that, no swimmer could keep up with his closing laps once his employs to full effect his powerful 6 beat kicks.

With the bodysuit ban in effect, it will be a shame that we will not get to see Thorpe clad in his signature black full bodysuit. It is also more shameful that we won't get to see him swim the 400 freestyle since his focus is the 200 freestyle and a spot in the 4x100 meters freestyle relay. The thought, however, of witnessing a sequel to the Thorpe-Phelps showdown is entertaining especially when the likes of Ryan Locthe, Paul Biedermann, Peter Vanderkay and Park Taeh-Wan are among the fastest 200 meter freestylers today.

Click here to watch The Thorpedo's first international swimming competition in six years. He competed in the 100 IM during the Singapore grand prix.

Click here to watch Ian Thorpe's final world record swim in the 400 meters freestyle with a time of 3:40.08 during the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England. (It is a shame that this record had to go during the 2009 World Championships when Paul Biedermann broke it by 0.01 seconds wearing the infamous Arena X-glide full bodysuit).

2. Geoff Huegill - Swimmers these days do not know who Geoff "Skippy" Huegill is. During his prime, Huegill was one of the most dominant butterfliers in both the world and in Australia. He and compatriot Michael Klim have had a lot of duels in 100 meters butterfly in national and international meets. While Klim has won more swims during their duels, Huegill always gave him a run for his money especially during the first 50 meters. Unlike the 100, the 50 meters butterfly is Huegill's bread and butter. During his prime, he owned the event and even held the world record for a time.

Most do not know that Huegill began his comeback in 2009, during the era of the supersuits. While his motivations back then were simply to get back in shape after gaining over 40 kilograms after his last Olympic stint in 2004, Huegill has been improving leaps and bounds. Testament to his improvement was his gold medal performance in the 100 butterfly during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. What is more impressive is that his gold medal was the first gold medal of Australia during the games, winning it by breaking his personal best time of 52 seconds from the 2000 Sydney Olympics with a 51.69. (Click here to watch the video)

With a stellar performance in 2010 Commonwealth Games as well as having qualified for the 100 butterfly finals during the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, expect Huegill to be gracing the final of his signature event in the 2012 London Games. The gold medal maybe out of reach for Skippy since Michael Phelps has been the dominant swimmer in the 100 butterfly since 2007. However, it is possible for him to win the silver or bronze medals; Phelps aside, the field is quite close with the likes of Tyler Clary, Jason Dunford and compatriot Andrew Lauterstien in the mix. Let's not forget Serbian Milorad Cavic who, after finishing second to Phelps by the closest of margins in 2008 and 2009, is gunning for a rematch with the Baltimore Bulltet. But it would be a perfect ending if this comebacking veteran gets a podium finish in the 2012 London Games.

3. Brendan Hansen - Known for his outspoken demeanor on top of his powerful breaststroke, Brendan Hansen is back with a vengeance. One of the original members of the Texas Trio--an epically fast swimming stable of the Texas Longhorns Swim Team comprised of butterflier Ian Crocker, backstroker Aaron Piersol as well as Hansen, all former world records in their specialty events--Hansen's comeback has not received the proper amount of international attention as opposed to Thorpe and Huegill. Regardless, Hansen will perhaps bring about the renaissance of American breaststroke dominance (or so the experts predict it).

History has proven that the Olympics is a venue wherein Hansen has had his difficulties. During the US Olympic Trials in 2004, he convincingly gained a spot in the national team by setting world records in both the 100 and 200 meters breaststroke. With the expectations of an entire nation behind him, Hansen was nowhere near his world record times during the Olympics itself. He finished second in the 100 meters breaststroke behind Japan's Kosuke Kitajima and swimming to third in the 200. While earning a medal as part of the 4x100 medley relay team, Hansen placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

However, much like his Texas Trio partner Ian Crocker, the Swimming World Championships is where he has been dominating in the breaststroke. During the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Hansen produced a double gold performance in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He was also a member of the gold medal 4x100 meters medley relay team alongside Texas Trio teammates Crocker and Piersol as well as veteran freestyler Jason Lezak. During the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Hansen again won the 100 meters breaststroke as well finishing second in the 50.

Emphasizing that he is back for good, Hansen won the 100 and 200 meters breaststroke during the US National Championships. Though his times may not be near his personal bests (which are former world records), it is evident that he is on the right track and will no doubt be someone to be reckoned with come the US Olympic Trials and, if he plays his cards right, the London Olympics itself.

Click here to watch Brendan Hansen's world record swim in the 100 breast during the 2006 US National Championships.

Click here to watch Hansen's comeback victory in the 100 breast during the 2011 US National Championships.

4. Michael Klim - If ever there is a swimmer who embodied a versatile sprinter before and during the first years of the millennium, Michael Klim would be it. With his trademark skin head, "Klimy" was nearly unmatched in the 100 butterfly and was always among the top medal contenders in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle. Klim was the first man under 52 seconds in the 100 butterfly by setting the then world record of 51.81 in 1999. It stood for nearly four years before Andri Serdinov, Michael Phelps and finally Ian Crocker lowered it to 51.76, 51.46 and 50.98 respectively during the 1st heat of the semi-final, 2nd heat of the semi-final and final heat of the 100 butterfly during the 2003 World Championships.

In the 100 freestyle, Klim stood out among the competition by incorporating his signature underwater dolphins from the dive and off the turn in an effort to gain an advantage over his opponents. On top of his underwater technique, Klim employed a unique strategy when approaching the wall during the 100 free. In contrast to the traditional style of maintaining his six-beat kick all throughout the race, Klim would utilize body dolphins 15 meters away from the wall to facilitate a stronger finish. The technique looks awfully ridiculous but speaking from experience, the move is truly a handy technique since the body dolphins utilizes a different and less tired muscle group than the that of the flutter kicks.

Much like Brendan Hansen, Michael Klim has not enjoyed much success in the Olympics with respect to his individual events. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, many were expecting Klim to bring home gold in both the 100 freestyle and butterfly. Coming into the Olympics, Klim was the current world record holder in the 100 butterfly with a 51.81. Though qualifying second for the final heat and leading almost the entire race, Klim was upstaged by Lars Frolander who, almost out of nowhere, overtook Klim in the last 5 meters and out-touched the Australian. In the 100 freestyle, Klim finished 6th even after breaking the then world record during his relay leg. In the 2004 Olympics, Klim was part of the Australian 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relays helping his team place 6th and 2nd respectively.

In contrast to Hansen however, Klim has an Olympic moment which will forever be remembered in the history of swimming. Before 2000, no other country has won the 4x100 meters freestyle other than the USA. As such, the American team consisting of Anthony Ervin, Neil Walker, Jason Lezak and Gary Hall, Jr. were extremely confident coming into the event with Hall going as far as claiming that they will smash the Australians "like guitars". Needless to say, the team of Klim, Chris Fydler, Ashley Callus and Ian Thorpe upset the Americans through the record breaking swim of Klim in his opening 100 as well as an extremely epic chase down by the anchoring Ian Thorpe (click here to watch the race). With the gold medal and relay world record to boot, Klim led his teammates in playing air guitar in reference to Hall's pre-race jabs.

To be honest, I would not be so bold as to predict whether or not Michael Klim would qualify for the Australian Team for the 2012 Games. If he does, then I would get to see one of my swimming heroes in action once more. If he doesn't, well, at least he did something about his desire to accomplish all the things he left unfinished in the pool. But then again, I would like to see the old "Shave Down the Pool, Klimy" signs adorning the stands once more.

Take Your Mark!

Love & Swimming: For Helena, From Eric

For Helena, From Eric

We wake up every extremely early morning

With the cool breeze, the sun not yet shinning,

When rest and sleep are still inviting.

Some consider this ludicrous, others simply revolting.

Still we get up and get squared away

To prepare for what we do four hours a day

No exceptions, even during a holiday--

On that matter, we rarely have a say.

Often, the water we swim in is cold

Yet, without hesitations, we plunge in before we're told

Not simply to avoid a coaches' scold;

Experience and nature made us completely bold.

While some are motivated by glory,

As others are driven by duty,

My motivations to swim I discuss rarely

Since it involves a lovely, fair lady.

This lady I cannot begin to describe;

Hers is a beauty radiating both in-and outside.

She does not know, to her never have I confide

That I struggle with emotions I dare not unhide.

She has enchanted me, body, soul and heart.

Is it possible that I am a victim of Cupid's dart?

Yet, as I do nothing, it may end before it's start;

Lost she will be; the lady whose beauty shames art.

She was the reason why I got up every morning;

The only reason I cared about thinking.

While I am no longer competitively swimming,

She'll always be mine as I dream while sleeping.

____________________________________________________________________

Take Your Mark!

Swimming & The Silver Screen: The Guardian

The Guardian (watch trailer here)

Synopsis: Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves) and Ashton Kutcher (Dude, Where's My Car?) star in this drama about the United States Coast Guard's elite rescue swimmers. Costner plays Senior Chief Ben Randall, a highly decorated and seasoned rescue swimmer who, after a tragic mission, is assigned to be lead instructor in the USCG's Aviation Survival Technician Program (A School). It is in A-School where Randall encounters Jake Fischer (Kutcher), a former high school swimming standout who is easily the most promising candidate in the program. Despite Fischer's arrogant bravado, he too is running from a tragic past which, eventually, serves as a common ground between himself and his no non-sense instructor. After a rocky start, the two eventually get along with the mentor finally showing the student what it truly means to be a hero.

Review: Like Pride, swimming takes center stage. Granted, it is not the sport per se but swimming does get exposure in as much as it is a life saving skill. While the body doubles for Costner and Kutcher were easily spotted at times, the masking of such doubles were well done in a sense that you will only notice it if you look very closely or employ the freeze frame technique. However, the movie suffers from what I would like to call "Ambivalent Protagonists". While the story intends that the viewers follow the constant shifting of point-of-views between Randall and Fischer, you can never really tell who exactly to follow. It takes an incredible amount of effort to try to understand what the characters are going through; once the POV shifts, it is almost impossible to pick up the development when it returns. There are no moments wherein one can transition effortlessly from Randall to Fischer and vice versa.

The Verdict: I'll give The Guardian a grade of C. It makes a valiant effort to depict the trials and struggles experienced by USGC Rescue Swimmers as they put their lives on the line "so that others may live". The swimming scenes themselves were nicely done in a sense that the doubles were not mistakenly revealed to the audience (On a side note, US Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer Mark Gangloff makes an appearance in the film. However, I cannot seem to find him on-screen). For some reason, perhaps the lead actors or the concept itself, the movie has an unsettling allure about it which is very difficult to resist let alone ignore completely. As alluring as it is, the major fault of the movie is that it tries to tackle too much with very little resulting in the aforementioned "Ambivalent Protagonists". Perhaps it could have found the success it was gunning for if it were a television series akin to Friday Night Lives. This would provide the time needed to fully develop the complexity of Ben Randall and Jake Fischer. Regardless of its flaws, there is still something about The Guardian which entices someone to watch it at least twice. And it would not be surprising at all if the movie actually grows on you, Ambivalent Protagonists and all.

Next review: The Covenant (2005) starring Steven Strait, Laura Ramsey and Sebastian Stan. (Yes, there is a swimming scene here)

Take Your Mark!

Swimming & The Silver Screen: Pride (2007)

Pride (watch trailer) is a semi-biopic of charismatic swimming coach Jim Ellis.

Synopsis: Set in 1970s Philadelphia during the height of racial discrimination, Terrence Howard (Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes in Ironman) plays Jim Ellis, a fresh college graduate who finds himself struggling to find a teaching position despite his mathematics degree due to his being an African-American. Desperate and out of options, he takes a job at the local recreation center or "rec" assisting the grouchy but kind-hearted janitor Elston played by comedian Bernie Mac (Soul Men & Mr. 3000). Being a former competitive swimmer himself, Ellis cleans up the rec's swimming pool upon discovering its poorly maintained state. One day, a group of boys find that the rec's basketball hoop has been removed and soon discover that the rec center is closing down. Taking pity on the kids, Ellis allows them to swim inside on the condition that the kids do not fool around. When one of the elder boys takes Ellis' suggestion to "cup his hands when pulling so he'll swim faster" as an insult and challenges him to a race, Ellis nonchalantly outraces the boy, demonstrating his swimming prowess to the disbelief of the other kids. The kids quickly ask Ellis for some pointers and before anyone of them knew it, the Philadelphia Department of Recreation (PDR) Swim Team was born. After a rough first meet with an all-white swim team (coached by Tom Arnold) wherein PDR is soundly beaten and humiliated, the brash neophyte swimmers begin taking the sport seriously and dramatically improve under Ellis' stern but patient tutelage. Against all the odds, the kids eventually win the state championship by embodying PDR--Pride, Determination, Resilience.

Review: When I first watched Pride, the first thought that ran through my head was, "At last! A decent swimming movie!" I half expected that it would be like Coach Carter or Remember the Titans in a swimming pool but when the credits rolled, I was quite disappointed. Not at the story, let me make it clear. It was an underdog story first and foremost so the struggle-to-succeed tale was very much complementary to the turbulent 1970s setting. Not at the actors' performance, either. Terrence Howard gave a commendable performance though sometimes lacked the charisma Jim Ellis is known for. However, Howard's rolling thunder portrayal of Ellis was a breath of fresh air when Denzel Washington's larger than life Herman Boone of Remember the Titans as well as Samuel L. Jackson's authoritatively cool Coach Carter was becoming the status quo when portraying coaches. What I am disappointed at is how the swimming competitions and competitive swimming as a whole were depicted.

Some of the things which I had to shake my head in disbelief were the relays and the demeanor of the coaches. In the movie, the swimmers had to amass a certain number of team points through their individual events so that their team can qualify for the relays. Or should I say relay; the teams only swam the 4x50 freestyle relay. I would be so bold as to wager that maybe--just maybe--that was the case during the 1970s. But to someone who has swam more relays than individual events, that scenario is truly ludicrous. Other than the relays, the coaches', particularly Tom Arnold's, Bobby Knight-like antics were hilarious. Tom Arnold was barking orders and screaming like a madman as he followed his swimmer's races from the pool deck. That behavior would be helpful when your swimmer is racing distance but if he's sprinting, he can no more make out the gibberish you are saying than breathe underwater. Hollywood cinematography strikes again, I guess.

The Verdict: On a scale of A+ to F, I'll give this movie a solid B+ because it is purely about swimming. Nevermind the unrealistic rate of improvement the swimmers had or the barely passable stroke mechanics employed by these supposed elite swimmers on top of the two above. Swimming finally has some substantial screen time. Unlike most sports movies, Pride, sadly, does not make you want to pick up the sport when you step out of the cinema. (I remember feeling unenthused about attending 430 am training even after watching this). It does, however, leaves us with three qualities which every swimmer needs to embody in order to succeed--Pride, Determination, Resilience.

Next Swimming & The Silver Screen Movie Review: The Guardian

Take Your Mark!

Swimming in the Silver Screen

There are two things which I am very passionate about--swimming and movies. Swimming will always be my first love, the love not easily forgotten and will always part be of me. Movies, on the other hand, allows me to escape reality for a few hours and live in a world of fantasy and imagination.

However, I am quite astounded that both my passions have yet to mesh well together. I have yet to see a movie wherein swimming either as an important plot element or cameo has been given its due. Mostly, the real atmosphere of competitive swimming is compromised to give way to the dramatization common sports movies are known for. After all, competitive swimming lacks the aggression and physicality of basketball and football. That alone makes swimming not conducive for potential rivalries which will be settled in the arena--the common denominator among all the sports movies ever made. But of course, this does not stop producers from trying. And I am sorry to say that such attempts of making swimming a combative sport for the sake of movies by making swimming coaches act like basketball coaches, screaming and cursing in the "benches" is really awkward borderline hilarious.

As hilarious as these attempts may be, they are still laudable attempts. So, the next few posts after this one will be about the movies which have either been about or cameos swimming. Depending on how much movies I get to watch, I will review not less than five movies. Hopefully, you guys will watch them too and give your thoughts about them as well.

Watch out for my first swimming movie review on "Pride", starring Terrence Howard (Ironman) as legendary coach Jim Ellis.

Take Your Mark!

Burst My Babble Part 2

In part 1, I related just how difficult it was to swim for a relatively non-existent crowd. Here, I will share my thoughts and frustrations with the so-called force behind "One Big Fight."

Ever since I first saw these guys perform in their cool jackets to the cacophony of drum cadences, I yearned to be at the receiving end of such cheers. However, as I swam for my school through the years, I realized that my hopes would be in vain. In the twelve years I spent swimming for my school--seven of which in the UAAP--only once did the varsity cheerleaders attend any of our meets.

Their reasons for not going usually concern transportation, availability of members and/or prioritizing the UAAP basketball teams. Usually, I let it go. But now, I will use this opportunity to say what I have been keeping to myself with regard to these excuses.

Transportation is always a problem especially when our venue was moved from Rizal Memorial Stadium to Trace College in Los Banos, Laguna. I have always understood such concerns since it is indeed a hassle to drive all the way to Laguna hauling drums and equipment. But why should that be a problem? Is it really difficult to drive the miles and pay the tolls using personal vehicles and money to support us? Okay, shelling out personal money to fund activities for the school may seem to be a bit extreme. I get it. But is it so difficult to ask the offices for subsidies and/or reimbursements for such personal expenditures? I really don't see why the school wouldn't be willing to reimburse such expenses especially when they are incurred during the execution of varsity duties.

The availability of manpower is one of my favorite reasons, to be honest. You mean to tell me that of the more than 30 people we see hanging out in the benches, not one is available to cheer for us? I refuse to believe that. Also, I have always had an issue with this policy that we have to ask them to attend our meets and cheer for us. Do we owe it to them to be cheered? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't they owe it to us since their very existence as a varsity is hinged on the idea that they should cheer for all varsities without exception?

To be fair to them, no one has ever told me that they prioritize the UAAP basketball teams over other varsities. However, their conduct has always favored such an idea. In all my years, I have come to the realization that these cheerleaders will always attach themselves to UAAP basketball. After all, it is in basketball where school spirit is most alive and evident. And though I understand that these guys go where the crowds go, thus, where greatness is expected, I cannot fathom their absence when the Junior Tankers clinched a historic 7th straight UAAP Swimming Championship last September. Or why they were not present when the Lady Tankers fought tooth and nail to win their first championship back in 2008. Greatness happened then. Why were they not there? Strictly speaking from a swimmer's perspective, it is evident that they prioritize UAAP basketball.

So where does that leave us swimmers? Are we second-tier UAAP teams? Are we not worthy of your presence when we compete in our UAAP because it always coincides with the Final Four? Are the championships we won and the records we set pale in comparison to that of the basketball team's? I adamantly refuse to believe that! But do you believe that? I sincerely hope not.

Varsities have the greatest honor in representing their schools. For these cheerleaders, they represent both the good and bad facets of the student body and my alma mater--the enthusiasm and bias toward UAAP basketball and the apathy and ignorance toward every other sport during the first semester. My decade-long swimming career has made me numb to such realities. Yet, I can never reconcile why they conduct themselves as a varsity when they do not fulfill their duties and obligations. At the risk of sounding conceited, partial dedication to the duties of a varsity team does not make anyone a varsity in my eyes.

There is an old saying that goes like this, "People hate what they don't understand." Perhaps these cheerleaders can take this as a word of warning. Due to continued absences in meets, swimmers will soon come to resent your presence when you do show up. They wouldn't understand why you are there. In their eyes, you might become more of a nuisance than actual supporters. So please, act now and prevent this from happening. It will be a pitiful sight if two varsities do not get along or come on the brink of a serious disagreement.

Let me make something clear. We do not wish to see the grandeur put up during UAAP basketball games. We only want to see you at the stands. Plain and simple. We want you guys to be there cheering for us and giving us the will to muster that one big fight while we swim against imposing odds. We want to hear the thunderous drum cadences as we inch closer to the wall to bring home that decisive victory. But most of all, we want to earnestly dedicate our wins to the school by dedicating them to you--you, who directly represent the blue and white crowds that are suppose to be packing the stands.

Take your mark!

25 Reasons Why You Should Date A Swimmer

To all the girls out there, here are some compelling reasons why you should date a swimmer, even a retired one at that!

1. We like it wet
2. We are used to wearing next to nothing in front of people
3. We are experts at putting on rubber and can do it fast
4. We know how to push it and work under HARD conditions
5. We believe practice makes perfect and will any time day or night
6. We are used to doing things till you cant go on any longer
7. Sprinters are fast and efficient. Distance swimmers can last a long time
8. We are always ready to dive in head first
9. We may get tired but never stop in the middle
10. We do it in the water
11. We start fast, stay strong, and finish hard
12. We are always wet and half naked
13. We are able to do it on our backs or our stomachs
14. We can do it fast or slow
15. We can do it 4 different ways
16. We know how to get dressed and undressed in no time
17. We are always improving our times
18. We are better when we put our hips into it
19. We have good endurance
20. We are not afraid of pain
21. We always finish what they start
22. We are always clean
23. We will flip for you in a second
24. The deeper we go the faster we get
25. We are always looking for the perfect stroke

Swimming Leadership

In every sport, every team always looks for a very good leader. A leader who everyone respects and has the ability to connect with his teammates, understanding them at a fundamental way. I do not pretend to understand or know the best qualities which make up a leader in a swim team. However, my experiences of being team captain has taught me a few things which made my job not as difficult as it should be.

To all the would-be leaders of their swim teams, sincerely hope that these points can be of help to you.

1. Know Yourself!
The most important quality of a leader is self-awareness; one's leadership style is hinged to one's personality. Knowing who you are and what makes you tick--your strengths and weaknesses--allows you to fashion your leadership style accordingly. In so doing, you will be yourself; you won't delude others into believing that you are someone you are not. Having good self-awareness creates credibility in the eyes of your teammates insofar as your character is concerned.

2. Know Your Teammates!
What good is a leader who does not have the faintest idea who his teammates are? How can he lead them if does not understand them? In the teams that I have been part of, very few of my team captains really saw to it that they knew my teammates and I beyond our nicknames. They respected and put up with our quirks and eccentricities to maintain team integrity. While we always had our disagreements, the respect between us swimmers and our captains was never put on jeopardy in any way. Our captains knew how we followed, simply put. This enabled them to lead us efficiently and effectively.

So know your teammates, guys. Understand them personally so it would be easier for you to motivate them. Find out where they are coming from so you can effectively communicate with the. It will be difficult but the benefits you will reap will be abundant in the end. '

3. Be Friendly with the Cliques; Don't be Part of Any!
In every team, there will always be cliques. Usually, there is the majority who influences and dominates the team. And of course, there is the minority which, for all intents and purposes, is the direct foil of the majority clique in every way. As much as cliques are almost mandatory in any team, captains do not have the luxury to be part of one. Impartiality when it comes to personal ties ensures that the leader is for and with his teammates. All of them. Not just a select few. That way, everyone will trust and respect you which, in turn, deters anyone from questioning or undermining your authority.

When my teammates elected me as captain, I was neither part nor intending to join any of the cliques within my team. To point a fact, I was pretty much on my own majority of the time though I occasionally yearned to be part of the team's inner social circles. While I did have a close group of friends within my team, I saw to it that I spent the same amount of time with each of my cliques and conducted myself in a manner conducive to be respected. It made things less difficult for me since everyone understood that my decisions did not favor a certain group of swimmers only. My teammates understood that my decisions were for the betterment of the entire team.

4. Be Better, Not Necessarily the Best!
Each team has its stars and superstars with the former being the faster, the latter being the fastest. As captain, you need not be the fastest or the superstar. Talent and swimming prowess alone does not determine the effectiveness of a leader. They are, however, an important driver to effective leadership in swimming. Simply put, you do not have to be fastest swimmer in the team or the most versatile. You do, however, ought to be one of the better swimmers; not the best but simply not the good either. This strengthens your credibility among his teammates especially when he intends to motivate them. After all, in sports, a lot of things are derived from and are hinged to one's athletic prowess including leadership.

I like to believe that when my teammates elected me, they greatly considered my skills as a swimmer as much as my character as my teammate. I was never the fastest nor greatest swimmer in all of the teams I joined and eventually led. But I was faster in the butterfly than most and was always among the faster freestylers . My teammates questioned how I handled things every now and again but never had they questioned my swimming skills or my complete dedication and devotion to them and the team. If I was to give my guess, perhaps this was why my teammates stuck it out with with my until my graduation. They allowed me to lead them because of my credibility in swimming as well as my integrity as a teammate.

5. In Every Occasion, Play Your Role!
In Filipino, my teacher calls this, "Astang Dalubhasa". In a sense, make your leadership qualities natural to you. Exude leadership even when you are not called to lead so that when you are, it is already part of you. This eliminates second guessing yourself because you act and react on instinct.

Leaders are often called to make the difficult decisions. In sports, captains are always asked to keep their teammates in line as well as motivating and inspiring the, to reach heights they never thought they could reach. As I said in number 2, motivation is easy when you know your teammates. But knowing them on a personal level may also hinder you from being stern when keeping them in line. Remember, the closeness of your relationship with your teammates should not restrain you from disciplining your teammates even if it means straining such ties. Friend or not, when a teammate commits an infraction against team rules, never hesitate to speak your mind and come down on them. Whether or not you use brutal honesty, constructive criticism or whatever disciplinary method, it is imperative to be the same disciplinarian-captain to every person in the your team. No exceptions.

If you will notice, credibility and integrity sums up swimming leadership. I have already given you guys five points on swimming leadership. But allow me just one more point; consider it a parting shot of sorts.

There is an age old saying that one must follow before he leads and one must lead as he follows. In my years as captain, I have learned something useful along those lines. When you are captain, lead your teammates by following your heart, your gut and what you think and feel is right. This is all anyone can ever ask from you, captain.

Take your mark!

Burst My Babble Part 1

A long time ago, probably when I was 12 years old, I came across a mug with a very poignant inscription which is very much related to sports as it is in life. "Champions are made when no one is looking," it said. While the message clearly refers to the intangible aspects which supplement and complement natural (or unnatural) athletic talent, my experiences in both high school and collegiate swimming made me realize that the quote may refer to something else.

I am quite certain that one of the common denominators of all the sporting events known to man is the athletes' desire to be watched by people who are "outsiders" to their sports. I say "outsiders" because these supporters are the ones who simply relish in witnessing the greatness achieved by an athlete regardless if they understood the fundamentals of the said sport. To them, such feats are beyond their comprehension which, in turn, amplifies the greatness of these achievements exponentially. I tell you, to be congratulated after winning a gold medal by someone who has never watched a swimming competition in his life, let alone understand the complexities of competitive swimming was more gratifying to me than the well-wishes of my teammates and coaches.

Last September, the Ateneo High School Swim Team won its seven straight UAAP Juniors Swimming Title. To my knowledge, this is the longest winning streak in the history of UAAP Swimming as well as the longest active winning history in the entire UAAP. It was truly a joyous moment for the Junior Tankers. However, I am thankful that none of them realized that they were celebrating to the same crowd my teammates and I celebrated to when we won the first of those championships back in 2005. This audience consisted of parents, some alumni, a few close friends and their college teammates. Nothing more.

Same thing happened when the Lady Tankers won their first ever UAAP Swimming Championship back in 2008. Everybody was ecstatic. But nobody, other than the usual group was there to witness it.

Even after four years of swimming in the UAAP in high school, I still expected to see the type of crowds present during Ateneo-La Salle basketball games at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum complete with cheerleaders and drums to boot when I swam in college. It was fool's hope, to say the least. Granted, having 18,000 people watch a swimming competition is unrealistic and downright impossible especially in a basketball-crazy nation such as the Philippines. But is it too much to ask to expect anywhere from 50-100 in the swimming pool stands? I would like to think it is not.

It was truly an honor and a wonderful privilege to have swum for my school for as long as I did. Yet, I can only imagine the heights we could have achieved and the prestige we could have won if we really saw the people we were representing other than the usual array of faces we have grown accustomed to.

I will let you in on a little secret. When I mounted the starting blocks during the final heats, I usually gaze upon the crowd for a moment and scan for unfamiliar faces sporting the blue and white. In my seven year UAAP career, I never saw a new face among the Ateneo supporters other than the parents and siblings of our rookies. In moments like those, I have to quickly remind myself that I am still representing my school and every person affiliated with it. Regardless if they are screaming at the Trace College Swimming Pool stands or at the Araneta Coliseum boxes, my swim will still be for them. Is it not ironic that I have to constantly remind myself of this?

In my experience, champions are indeed made when no one is looking. Literally. It is one of the saddest realities I had to face during my swimming years.

Take your mark!

(Part 2 of Burst My Babble will be up soon!)