Whew! The President Cup is done. As we heave a sigh of relief and sit back, we realise what an exhilarating weekend it has been. For the 58 swimmers of DSA Swim Club, their families and loved ones, for whom preparation had been on for months and months, it was the yearly ritual coming to an end. Now, they are more relaxed to celebrate the festive season that’s coming along.

The 33rd National Inter-Club Swimming Championship for the President Cup this year was a weekend like no other. A total of 1039 participants from all over the country representing various clubs participated for 3 days of intense competition. After Melaka last year, this year, it was held in the National Aquatic Centre, Bukit Jalil. Did the familiarity of the location improve performance for DSA, yes, it sure did!

The crowds of participants, anxious parents and coaches started pouring in a day earlier itself, when the public recreational pools were closed for allowing practise sessions. On the race-days, the activities started very early, as the first heats of the day started promptly at 8 am. The President Cup remains as the single most awaited event on the swimming club’s meet calendar with young swimmers looking forward to this opportunity to prove themselves. The young lot were really into it, with the under 10 age group of both girls and boys having up to 28 heats for some events. The amount of participation at that level was just mind-blowing. If all of these young boys and girls kept to their training in the years to come, the competitive swimming levels in the state and country has indeed a bright future. The atmosphere in the stadium was really abuzz with the constant flow of swimmers moving between their rest area in the stands and down to the pool; parents moving with food and refreshments making sure their wards are in the best state of mind for the next event and coaches were busy reminding their swimmers of tiny adjustments and techniques that could further enhance performance.

Our team, DSA Swim Club, this year saw more number of participants and the performance of each and every one of them has been heart-warming. The Club’s performance as a whole was commendable, not just with the increase in number of participants, but also in the team rankings at the end of the competition. From the 10th position last year DSA moved up to the 6th position overall, among the 35 clubs that participated, which in itself is a tremendous morale boost.

Some of the sterling performances this year include Yumi Okuzono, a 10 year old Japanese girl, small and diminutive, she captured everyone’s heart and everyone was on their feet cheering the lil’ girl in the yellow swim cap, curious about who she was, and where she came from. Yumi won a total of 4 golds and 4 silvers in this meet. She attributed the reason for her performance to the training and guidance by DSA coaches.

Sean Goh, is known as a calm, steady 13 year old with lengthy limbs, which enhance his superb swimming skills. With a total of 3 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze this year, he has come way ahead from his last year’s performance of 1 bronze. Sean, to his coaches is someone who has “give it all” attitude in every training session and that to them is the reason for his brilliant achievements last weekend.

Misa Okuzono, is a 8 year old with remarkable swimming skill for her age.  A timing of 34 seconds for her 50m fly event, and 1:19 for 100m fly has made her very happy. Misa’s main aim is to make the Japan Junior Olympics Cup qualifying time.

Georgene Wee is another swimmer who has improved a lot since the last year.  From a timing of 48 seconds in her 50m breaststroke last year, she clocked 39 seconds placing 3rd in the same event this year, which is remarkable and is a reflection of her dedicated training and passion. Georgene too, attributes her performance to training with her team mates and her coaches at DSA.

Chan Evon, a bright and cheerful 13 year old girl joined DSA squad in 2012. She has improved in all her events in this meet, which to her was unexpected. Initially she was very nervous and doubtful about her performance in the 100m free event, however, sound advice from her coach saw her improve from 1:10 to 1:05. This indeed is very laudable, and she is very thankful about that. Evon revealed that her father was the one who inspires her, especially in doing chin ups and inverted kicks in the gym. She aims to qualify for the state team in 2015.

On the whole, the meet brought out the best in everyone on the team not only on the competitive side but also a lot of fun and unforgettable moments to the swimmers. They are looking forward for the upcoming event (Pra-KL) which is scheduled at the end of January 2015. DSA Swim Team’s performance obtained a total of 249 points, with Yumi and Sean Goh gathering 86 and 63 points respectively to be the toppers. Contributions to the total also included Chan Evon with 11 points, Lee Jia Jing with 10 points and Georgene Wee with 9 points. Moving up to 6th position was a great step for the team and this was possible due to the hard work of each and every swimmer who participated, the support of the families and the dedication of the coaches who spared no effort in bringing out the best in everyone.

Hurrah and three cheers to everyone on the team to continue to work harder in training together and achieve more in the coming years!

• The official results with timings and placings can be downloaded here >> DSA Swim Team Result (President Cup 2014)
• The official results and timings of the Meet can be downloaded here >> 2014 President Cup Results

For all competitive swimmers, swim meets presents an opportunity to test their training and put to practise and refine the skills and techniques that they have been learning from their coaches. The main goal of participation in meets, as there may be many meets during the season, is to improve their timings. In Malaysia, there are around 5-6 meets which have participation from swim clubs around the country. One of the biggest and most watched and participated meet is the 33rd National Inter-Club Swimming Championships – President Cup.

With the all-important meet around the corner, we had a conversation with a few swimmers who have shown great commitment in training and also performed consistency throughout the year. They shared their preparation for meets in general, their rituals to stay focussed and their expectations from this meet. By sharing their experience, we look to boost our upcoming swimmers to a higher level confidence, and develop into intelligent, independent swimmers.

Here are 3 swimmers who gave us their view about the oncoming test of their abilities and their dreams and ambitions.

Alyssa Yong is one of our swimmers in Group 2 who has been representing the state of Kuala Lumpur in National Age Group Meet this year. Her preparation for this meet involves eating more food like potatoes, rice and pasta to store carbohydrates in her body so that she could perform well. As for training, she would swim more sessions but with lesser mileage and intensity. For the reason that she would have a better “feel” for the water, which is something all competitive swimmers seek to possess. In addition, she works out at the gym to stay active and alert. Alyssa’s expectation from this meet is improve on her personal best, also being among the top 8 in her age group. On race day, she would try to stay calm and listen to music.

Evon Chan is one of our swimmers in Group 1. As she is facing educational pressures, she has to balance her studies and swimming. Time management is a priority for her these few months and she tries to maintain the commitment to training in order to stay in the race. Her diet for meet preparation includes sweet potatoes as well, to stock up. Fitness-wise she does more stretching to keep her muscles flexible and relaxed all the time. Her expectation from this meet is to improve her personal best. To perform her best, she focuses on the winning feeling, which prompts her to push herself that extra bit.

Branson Wee is one of the most hard-working and dedicated swimmers from Group 1. Hitting the gym regularly is his route to stay in shape to prepare for the coming meet. He gives his maximum at each of the training sessions that he attends as the meet is around the corner. He stays away from unhealthy food like cotton candy, chips, fried chicken, McDonalds, and other fast foods as it contains high sodium and saturated fat. He prefers to eat foods with more carbohydrates like rice, pasta, banana and potatoes to be able to store energy to sustain longer performance levels for his race. Branson expects to improve his timing in this meet, as he aims to qualify as a state swimmer representing Kuala Lumpur by end of the year. Listening to heavy metal music while reading novels is his normal habit to stay focused on race days­­­­.As the team finish up the last few days of training, we are sure the adrenaline in most of them has started pumping already, the build-up is inevitable. As they get ready to stand up on the starting block, every swimmer will get his or her shot at the best performance they can give this year, here’s wishing them the best they can achieve.

33rd National Inter-Club Swimming Championships – President Cup, the biggest swimming event of the year for the swimming clubs all over Malaysia will be held at the National Aquatic Centre, Bukit Jalil this year on the 28th to 30th of November. As always, it’s a much awaited event, with local and outstation swimmers vying for the best timings to go further in their pursuit for state and national team spots. The competition is intense and it’s very essential to stay prepared and focused over the 3 days of competitive stress that is bound to wear down even the strongest.

As someone who has been through it and more, here are some of my handy tips which have helped me along the way.

1. Getting enough rest- You have been training consistently for a few months and when you are preparing for a meet, your coach will lower down the intensity and also the mileage. Your body needs time to adapt with the lower intensity so you need enough rest for the body to get used to the change in the training schedule.
2. Stand less – The legs are very important as it is your motorboat to get you faster to the finish, so it is important that you do not tire up your legs by standing for long. So do get a chair and sit down when you can.
3. Eat wisely and in moderation – You will have the tendency to over-eat during the week before race day because your body starts to feel fresh and you will have a better appetite. On race days in particular, do watch out on what you are taking in, because taking in too much sugar will not be good for your body. You may have a blood sugar rush and after 30 minutes it will drop drastically and it will most probably affect your race. The best way to counter this is to have an intake of slow release carbohydrates like quinoa, oats, sweet potatoes, lentils and muesli. These are effective carbs as they release slow energy which help you sustain your energy longer and thereby perform better.
4. Drink lots of fluids – Dehydration can lead to higher blood pressure and concentration of blood which makes circulation more difficult. A well hydrated body will produce a higher performance level by keeping the blood pressure within limits and having lesser stress on the heart. Therefore drink fluids at timely intervals to stay hydrated.
5. Self-talk and visualize– Talking to yourself may sound crazy and insane, but it is essential to mentally psyche yourself about your performance and talking to yourself is the best way to go about it. During competition times, most swimmers have excessive thinking due to all the excitement and can even have self-doubts. Self-talking and recalling videos of races you have watched earlier on the internet can help you remain calm while helping to push yourself for a better performance.
6. Where to focus – When the intensity and mileage of the training gets lesser, focus more on starting off the blocks, turning from the walls, finishing to the wall, number of strokes from the flag, number of underwater strokes from the start to the flag etc. When race day nears, you have to be sharp about the details as well. Sharpness in the details can improve performance in fractions of second which do matter at that level.
7. Prepare for emergencies – Have additional pair of essentials like goggles, swim cap, swimsuit etc., because you can never say when you might snap a goggle or rip a suit. Being prepared reduces the stress and tension should an emergency happen.
8. Enjoy the day – Last but not least is to enjoy your race! Though you may not know, participating in Meets are the most exciting and fun events to be in! You get to meet new friends from everywhere, get to exchange team shirts, compare training schedules and finer points and you also get to race with faster swimmers! There is absolutely no excuse you should have not enjoy your race-day!

The writer is a National swimming record holder and currently a swim teacher/squad coach at DSA.

The MBPJ Swim Gala organised by the Stingray Swimming Club was held this year on 27th September 2014. Our swimmers performed very well in the events and it was a great experience. Georgene Wee in the Girls(9-10 yrs) group was undoubtedly a champion, winning 4 gold medals. Other gold medals came from Sean Woo Shang Min-Boys(9-10 yrs), Yu Hao Wong-Boys(11-12 yrs), Shen Han Tan-Boys (15-18 yrs) and George Wee-Men (36-55 yrs). The official standing and timings are as follows