This happened in 1992. I was seated, typical Indian style, along the beach, watching friends swimming in the sea. I didn’t join them for one sole reason. I can’t swim. I can’t float. That was also the day when I said to myself, “you need to learn how to swim.”
Back in my hometown, there are public swimming pools and one can simply choose from four feet to an Olympic-size swimming pool. With its continual flow, the water is continually refreshed.
So, I found myself enrolled in swimming lessons for three months. It was not easy. One hour per week is devoted to learning this new skill. My schedule for swimming then was at 6AM. If you talk of province time, 6AM is way too early for a swim considering the pool water is really cold fresh water. One can even have a cold bottle of Coke or beer after placing it for a few minutes in the pool.
From floating to overcoming the fear of drowning, I finally learned how to swim. It culminated with me jumping into an 11-feet swimming pool and doing the crawl or free style toward the shallow end of the pool. I had to conquer my fear of depth.
Luckily for me, I had a good swimming instructor. He was one of the fast swimmers in our area and has competed in various swimming competitions. From him, I learned how to do the crawl, breaststroke, backstroke and just a little bit of the butterfly stroke. I learned to swim for safety reason and to just enjoy swimming whenever there’s a beach outing with friends. At least, I wouldn’t be sitting down along the beach again while watching them having a good time. I have never joined any swimming competition until last year.
Fast forward.
I recently finished another aquathlon, my third out of four aquathlon simulation races, dubbed as the 4th Sheer Will Aquathlon Cup (SWAC4), which was held two months ago, and a week before the Condura Skyway marathon.
The classic participants. There were only three females who joined in this category.
SWAC is a simulation race in preparation for upcoming aquathlon races. After a grueling marathon training, I almost backed out from joining SWAC4. Finishing a 25-kilometer run at a marathon pace the night before the race didn’t help either. Plus, not having enough sleep, I woke up so tired, sleepy, and with sore leg muscles.
Having fun posing for Photobongbong launch. L-R: Pepsi, Running Diva, Kelcy33, Flying Boar, Chelly, Joyce Morrison, and Digital Dash (Photos Courtesy of Bong Yu of Photobongbong, Argo, Planetrumania, Ace Balasador, and Nuttybunny)
Anyhow, I just couldn’t stop myself from being with a good bunch of Takbo.ph friends and fellow aquathletes. So, I raced under the classic category, 600m swim-5km run, and finished 9th overall and 2nd women’s division with a time of 47 minutes and 53 seconds.
600m 5k Classic Results
Name Moniker Swim Transition Run Total
1 Erick G: Rico99 _ 14:41:00 _ 0:47:00 _ 21:23:00 _ 36:51:00
2 Jason DR: Jasondelarama _ 14:54:00 _ 1:18:00 _ 21:29:00 _ 37:41:00
3 Vinci C: Cabcar _14:51:00 _ 0:31:00 _ 23:08:00 _ 38:30:00
4 Ian C: Onemelc _ 14:29:00 _ 1:11:00 _ 25:27:00 _ 41:07:00
5 Deo P: Bluesman _16:39:00 _ 0:25:00 _ 26:15:00 _ 43:19:00
6 Marvin O: Nuttybunny _ 15:02:00 _ 1:42:00 _ 27:58:00 _ 44:42:00
7 James D: Runma777 _ 15:58:00 _ 0:00:00 _ 31:10:00 _ 47:08:00
8 Girly G: Pepsi _ 7:50:00 _ 1:49:00 _ 28:05:00 _ 47:44:00
9 Roselle: Running Diva _ 22:34:00 _ 0:00:00 _ 25:19:00 _ 47:53:00
10 Mark H: Markhernz _ 23:02:00 _ 1:49:00 _ 25:02:00 _ 49:53:00
11 Jan B: Musang _ 20:09:00 _ 2:15:00 _ 28:23:00 _ 50:47:00
12 Rico V: Sheerwill _ 16:50:00 _ 1:07:00 _ 33:09:00 _ 51:06:00
13 Ross C: Ross _ 29:41:00 _ 2:08:00 _ 30:09:00 _ 61:58:00
14 Vic V: Hagibis _ 34:19:00 _ 2:16:00 _ 27:17:00 _ 63:52:00
15 RJ B: X59 _ 18:42:00 _- _ – _ – (He officiated the Lite category)
For a comprehensive race report, visit Sheerwill’s blog.
On hindsight, this [the aquathlon] must be the reason why I had my swimming lessons 18 years ago. Some things happen for a reason. Hhhmm. We sometimes couldn’t fathom it but it’s part of who we are and what we are into today. How about you? Have you experienced something similar?
Related links about SWAC
Rock Conquered: Aquathlon Challenge
Sheerwill Aquathlon Cup, 3/e
SNN: Special Report Corregidor Aquathlon
Half-iron Dreams
SWAC 4: All Natural Goodness
Sheerwill Aquathlon: 2nd Leg Level Up Na
We Are Such Losers
Running Diva PH 
hello you got a very nice blog…I'm jealose… I would like to invite you to visit mine too,I only invited few and selected people to visit and your one of them.It's http://www.sipedronasa.blogspot.com…you can check also some of it's pages(science and health, boxing, rocking pinoy, stop pinoy crab mentality-this is useful if your planning to go in UK…enjoy readingps. you can visit me in FACEBOOK..pedro komentaryo.. and be a family of sharing.
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Yeah, SWAC happens for a reason. To help friends for Corregidor Aquathlon, and now, Ateneo Aquathlon. See you at Ateneo 🙂
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Thank you Pedro for dropping by. I visited your site and you have a lot of things going on in your blog. Looking forward to a post about running.
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You're right Rico. SWAC inspired more runners from Takbo.ph to learn another skill and do their best during simulation races. A happy bunch of aquathletes.
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Hi Roselle! Enjoyed reading your latest posts. Some of my friends from my first running clinic in 2007 have done triathlons and invited me to try. Except, I don't know how to swim. You take care and stay happy.
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Hi Bong, it's not too late to learn how to swim. What's really stopping us from learning it, I realized later, is our fear. But once you've conquered it, in no time, you'll be able to swim. 😉 BTW, all of us can float once we get the hang of it. One of these days I wouldn't be surprised to see you swimming. Good luck on your triathlon. Did you watch the Winter Olympics there?
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