‘Take your mark, beep’ after a leap, I felt a cold fresh sensation passing through my whole body, filling up every pore of mine, making me feel so powerful. No matter how chaotic my current life is, no matter what is happening outside this moment, I felt quiet and so safe here. Hey water, I haven’t been seeing you for a long time.
Water, something we can get in touch with every day, a necessity for us to live. When I was small, my dad sometimes helped me to bathe. He always found chances to spray water on my face to help me overcome the fear of water getting into my eyes and nose. My dad taught me to wipe away the water on my face from up to down so most of the water would be removed quickly. I did not like this part of my bath as I was afraid of water but dad always says this helps me to get ready for learning swimming later. ‘So swimming means something to do inside water, well, I don’t think I will like it’ I thought. At that time, I never thought that I would have such a close relationship with water, never thought the decision of learning to swim would make my life so different.
One day when I was around 3 years old, my parents took me to the swimming pool. I saw my dad with a string and two oval cup shape thing around his neck, I wonder what that was. Then, I saw him placing it on his eyes, and with a ‘splash’ he went into the water.
‘Oh, that thing can protect my eyes!’ he said. With excitement, I tried to grab my googles and put them on but I found nothing, I just had a swimming suit and a kicking board.
‘Come down!’ said my dad. After serval rounds of kicking water, I found swimming quite interesting, I became curious about what’s under the water's surface. I tried to put my head inside but, oops, my eyes felt so strained and I choked on the water.
My dad giggled, ‘breathe in with your mouth and breathe out with your nose, blow as much bubbles as you can but remember to do it slowly.’ I tried, thanks to my rhinitis allergy I had very early in my childhood, I knew how to blow through my nose the exact way you could breathe out in water. I succeeded and a number of bubbles rushed out of my nose. I was so delighted by the feeling of having the power to control water. Well then, swimming was not as difficult as I expected.
My dad then asked me to immerse my head into the water. I looked at him, staring at his ‘eyes protectors’. ‘You want this? These are goggles.’ he said as he pointed to them, and I nodded. ‘If you can put your head into the water for 10 seconds, I’ll buy you one, just close your eyes and breathe out.’ He then dived into the water in order to make me jealous and show me how fun it could be to see the world under water. ‘I NEED a pair GOGGLES!’ a voice kept repeating in my mind. I still remember how hard I tried, how deep I inhaled so as to stay for 10 seconds in the water. However, things did not turn out to be as easy as to be seen, the more I want to reach to 10, the more impatient I got and the faster I ran out of air.
Seeing my failure, my father placed me on the pool side. ‘Betty, success is not a one step process, it’s difficult to reach 10 all at once. Try it step by step, improving little by little is the key to success.’ ‘Okay daddy, let’s try five seconds first!’ I tried and tried but I couldn’t do it; I was so angry and frustrated. ‘I can’t do it, I won’t get the pair of goggles.’ I said in a grumpy tone while trying to climb and leave the pool. ‘Hey, stay at your place! You’ve only tried a few times, why are you giving up! Let’s do it again!’
Many people think my dad is very strict, most of my cousins are afraid of him. However, he is not always strict. Indeed, he was angry because he didn’t want me to give up that easily. He may have looked angry but just for a few seconds, then he would explain his thoughts to me instead of shouting. With the help and encouragement of my dad, the goal of 10 seconds under water was pursued slowly but surely. Most importantly, I got my goggles!
On the first day I decided to learn swimming, I learnt it is impossible to reach the sky in a single bound.
With my new pair of goggles, I started to explore the wonderful world underwater. At the age of six, I joined the test to enter a regular swimming team. The test was a nightmare, to swim alone in the lane for 50 meters in a deep swimming pool. But I knew every challenge is a stepping stone to achieving more, every step I made took me closer to success. After striving trough the test, I became a swimmer.
Starting from primary one, my life has been fully occupied with swimming. When other classmates rushed home to watch the ‘after school ICU’, I rushed to the swimming pool immediately after the bell rang. My love and passion for swimming grew and nurtured along with time, and water has become my friend. Sometimes, the programs were so tough that I got so tired and my muscles became fatigued. Sometimes, when I couldn’t fulfill the demand of my coach, I stayed after class until I could swim that specific time requirement. Sometimes, I felt so exhausted that I cried in my goggles and tears got trapped in it as if it was a fish tank. However, whenever I create a new record of my own, I know all of this effort was worth it.
Freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly, I mastered all four strokes. I won medals in the interschool competitions, became a member of the regional squad and join championships. I am really thankful that my parents gave me unlimited support throughout my swimming career, they appeared in every competition, videotaped my swimming and stood by my side throughout the way. I am really happy that I made friends who worked hard together and supported each other. We could be opponents in competitions but we are always teammates. Looking at them, I always know I am not alone. I gained SO much in the pool.
I am amazed to see my real self in water, so thankful that I found you, I never regret the decision of learning to swim. Hey water, thank you.