11th May 2016
First Official Swim Training
Upon conclusion of our team’s morning meeting at the Sports Hub Sports Library, we headed straight to Oxley Bizhub 2 where the office of Fishlike International, exclusive coaching academy for Total Immersion freestyle swimming, is located so we could witness Swim Expo Asia’s ambassadors, Wai Yee’s and Ivni’s first official swim training conducted by the owner of Fishlike International who is also a certified Total Immersion master coach, Tang Siew Kwan or he is also affectionately called by some, Fish Tang.
Mr Tang drove Wai Yee and Ivni to the training pool after their drumming lesson. The weather was scorching hot in the afternoon. After everyone has changed to their swim suit, we headed to the pool for a photo. Wai Yee and Ivni started their training with a light swim. Thereafter, they did some laps across the pool. Mr Tang was observing their techniques as Wai Yee and Ivni have not been swimming for quite a while thus there were moments when Ivni and Wai Yee struggled half way through their laps.
My Tang’s main focus was to perfect Wai Yee’s and Ivni’s technique so that Ivni and Wai Yee will be able to swim more effectively in the pool without using much strength and with less struggle.
Mr Tang’s lesson focus was on the Total Immersion’s freestyle techniques. After observing how Ivni and Wai Yee swam in freestyle, Mr Tang headed down to the pool for the training session. They started off doing a skate and glide as it is a technique that helps them to start off their swim and start it off strongly. This technique enables them to make a great push when they start off their swim at a great distance using minimal strength. It was a challenge for Mr Tang as he had to handle both Ivni and Wai Yee while at the same time perfecting their technique. From our observation, Wai Yee and Ivni had a difficult time coordinating their hand and leg movement as it requires some time for both to adapt and making it a habit and store it in their muscle memory. After a few rounds of practice, Ivni and Wai Yee were able to slowly pick up the technique. In addition , the skate and glide is a technique that helps in buoyancy thus enabling one to float, streamline and swim without struggling.
It was a challenge for both swimmers as they had to absorb and get used to the techniques at an instant. Ivni told the group that it was a challenge to remember and combine all the steps together while coordinating the hand and leg movement. It took a while to master it. However, he shared that he would need constant practice in order to master the techniques perfectly.
After making a few swims, Ivni made a drastic progress towards the end of the training. His quote was, “Practice makes perfect.”. Ivni said it was a total new experience and he learnt something new through the techniques today.
Wai Yee said that it was a good experience though she is a good swimmer. She has to make it a habit to swim consistently using this technique as it will develop her muscle memory so that she is able to swim better and faster.
Ivni and Wai Yee trying out the technique under Mr Tang’s guidance
Both of them had a good time today even if the training had to stop early due to the heavy rain. Both of them had fun in the pool. Everyone was good to go after washing up. We had some curry puffs before we left the training pool. It was a productive, fun and tiring first training swim. After which, we were dropped off at Macpherson MRT station and we all went our separate ways.
This blog is written by Republic Polytechnic students, Amirul, Andi, Farhan, Irfan and Zul.
