Dear Parents suddenly interested in sending your kids to swimming lessons after the Joseph Schooling win:
Butterfly stroke very shiong one. Start them on front crawl or breaststroke first.
Actually backstroke also very hard. I always don't know when to stop and langgar my head on the wall.
When I was younger, I used to swim in school events. I was a breaststroker. I didn't understand why I got odd looks when I said that back then.
I want to thank my mother for forcing us to go for swim lessons with Mr Saw, our coach. We three brothers swam for years with him. I started at age 9.
We came from a school of swimmers (no prizes for guessing which) and it was just part of life.
Only my younger brother went on to more competitive swimming. He was in school competitions and went on to be really good at water polo. He also looked better in Speedos than I did. His body was V-shaped one.
My youngest brother did sailing, and golf, and snowboarding. As you can see, I was not the sportsman of my family. I enjoyed the literary arts more, and logged six years of LDDS.
But I'm glad I can still swim. And if I ever end up in a sinking ship, I will know how to make a float out of my pajamas.
Those of you who have done the National Swimming Survival Award will know what I am talking about. I did the Bronze and Silver. Got too lazy to do the Gold.
I always wondered, what if the ship sank when I was not wearing my pajamas? What about people who don't wear pajamas to sleep? Questions of a kid trying to tread water with one arm for one minute.
[Image: Never-before-seen photo of me swimming in Lake Vänern near Mariestad, Sweden, May 2015. It was super cold in the water but my hosts said it is a fun thing to do after sitting in their personal sauna. My nether regions had no feeling for a while after that swim but it was indeed very refreshing.]
