Swim For Hope Charity Weekend

Today was the Swim For Hope Charity event. Our Monday Tri-Swim Group pledged, collectively, to complete 2,900 laps. Our group initiated this as an interim training event, and also to do our bit and bid for charity. It was also strategised that we would recover some errant and missing swimmers over the weeks.

After watching online the first two hours and last two hours (before the male winner crossed the finish-line) of the Ironman championships in Kona, I was still sleepy and anticipated a challenging 50-lap swim. It was an exciting although relatively windless day in Kona, and Craig ‘Crowie’Alexander and Chrissy Wellington won their third and fourth Ironman triathlon world championship titles, respectively. The salient points were that Crowie broke the world record (previously held by Luc Van Lierde) by 12 seconds, and Chrissy accomplished her task after a bike fall barely a week ago. Their runner-up counterparts – Pete ‘PJ’ Jacobs and last year’s winner Mirinda ‘Rinny’ Carfrae – gave the eventual (and bookies' favourites) winners a run for their money, which is a whopping US$110,000 each for the champion’s purse. Singaporeans Choo Ling Er and Alvin Lee both successfully completed their foray to Kona in enviable times.

Back to our Sunday swimming soiree: About 30 swimmers showed up for the 10.30am flag-off. Clifford Lee (who eventually swam 110 laps of the Olympic-distance pool at SAFRA Tampines) was the first to break the water with the first wave of swimmers. The intention of the event was a fund-raiser for our Paralympians (who did a swim demonstration for us at midday, during our scheduled rest period) to have resources to participate in overseas events. I greeted Adam 'One-Armed Runner' - an accomplished endurance athlete - who is stoked as ever with charity events. 

Each swimmer swam one lap (50m) and switched to the lane on our left, and swam back. Volunteers would wrap two red rubberbands around our wrist; 10 red bands equaled one yellow band, which we exchanged for at a both. Each exchange gave us one coupon, upon which we wrote our contact details and entitled us to a lucky draw, and documented our swim. Many of the older swimmers were reminded of our secondary school days where we participated in the Pesta Sukan Swim, where 30 laps completed earned us the exact number of bands (with soft coloured tags) that was exchanged for a certificate of completion. Who would know decades later that we would do similarly for charity! Today's event raised S$20,000.

We, essentially, found our own private lanes electing to swim in lanes with fewer breast-strokers. Many of use found mild frustration swimming behind breast-strokers, which meant uncomfortable touching of other people’s feet. We learnt to switch lanes, and find our space and complete our commitment. We also found our graciousness to share space and accommodate those who reached fatigue, or were experiencing their first long-distance swim.

My supportive team-mates encouraged me to do another 10 laps over my 50 laps. I did do another 500m and completed 3K in what can be described as a fun, frothy, fruitful and friendly day; the Angry Birds head-gear were kind of suspect. There were no fruit during lunch, except chicken rice and Jo Lene's cheese-cake (which was polished off gratefully without preamble). Thanks everyone for making this a charitable day, and day of charity! Big shout out to Richard Leong and Dennis Quek (for his many underwater shots) for capturing the valuable pictorial moments.

Leadership Lessons: When was the last time you got into the deep end? How do you respond to a call for assistance? How far are you willing to stretch yourself physically, mentally and with your values? How often do you connect with the values of care, consideration, generosity of spirit, and a sense of community?

Photo-credit: Dennis Quek & Richard Leong

Stuffed Toys & Bird Caps: Leow Jo Lene

Angry Birds Models: Andy Foo & Jo Lene

Tomorrow: The Kona Experience for Spectator and Competitor

An Action Packed Week

'Swim 2.4 miles. Ride 112 miles. Run the marathon. Brag for life!' - JIM COLLINS, Co-founder of Ironman Triathlon


The Ironman Triathlon World Championships takes place this weekend in Kona, Hawaii. A new king and queen will be crowned on the Big Island, where the 226K-race comprising swim, ride and run was born in 1978. Ex-Navy Seals and their spouses asked the innocent question: ‘Who is the fittest? Swimmer, cyclist or runner?’

The early predictions have been cast. Some believe that Chrissy Wellington will return with a vengeance and win her fourth victory in Kona; others believe that 70.3 world champion and last year’s Kona Queen, Mirinda ‘Rinny’ Carfare may repeat her win. The field is wide open for the Men’s race, although many predict that Andreas Raelert who was second last year (closely behind Macca’s two-peat feat) may win it – if he is injury-free. Others think that Crowie has a chance of a three-peat if his ride improves significantly, as he is a solid marathoner. Pete Jacobs, who had a good year in 70.3 races, may be carrying wild horse card, as he is a Triple Threat with the best marathon last October. The younger professionals will pit their wits against the more seasoned and race-savvy veterans of this glorious race.

Will this be another Aussie landslide year, like 2010? Macca has retired from Kona, and is focused on his delayed dream of earning a sure spot on the Australian Olympic triathlon team for London Olympics 2012.

All the best to our Singaporeans racing in Kona! We wish you a beautiful race, and may the Kona gods smile upon you in their fiery and windy ways.

My certificate for the Singapore Bay Run arrived today. This was, particularly, rewarding and memorable for I clocked my personal best half-marathon. It was not one of my easiest runs as I ran, intuitively for the race; I referred little to my watch. I went a little hard on the first 10K, as I realized with a near-PB. Overall, it was my third of four consecutive and memorable races in September. Another BQ is definitely in the design; next week’s TNF100 Duo will be my next challenge. I’ve not done this race yet, although I gave up my TNF100 Solo spot last year when I clocked a surprising 9:30 in the Sundown 84K evening race. 

I Love the 1980’s

Welcome to your life.

There's no turning back.

Even while we sleep.

We will find you

Acting on your best behaviour

Turn your back on Mother Nature

Everybody wants to rule the world.

‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’, Songs From the Big Chair, by Tears for Fears.

Before Oakleys – the sunnies made famous by sportspeople including Lance Armstrong – we had Phil Oakley, who sang Together in Electric Dreams. MTV was born – with bad haircuts, and erratic editing for musical videos - with memorable music. The Berlin Wall was still up, and the Cold War was still on. Perestroika was not a brand of vodka yet, and loomed in the distant future. This was the Enlightened Eighties with its signature bad mullets and awful, titan-like shoulder-pads in jackets.

The mid-1980’s was a time of reckoning for me. It was my rites of passage to manhood, where I adorn camouflage and khaki as my preferred choice of fashion sense; I enjoyed running around in jungles! What helped me through officer cadet school were the songs of the 1980’s, mainly the British Invasion. From Hard Rock to Punk to New Wave to British Pop – music held its allure for me because of Original Soundtracks (OST) recordings, and the rage of Top of the Pops. Every week, the countdown from the Other Side of the Pond indicated the listening audience’s fickle fiefdom tastes for radio-friendly music.

My favourite songs included: Forever Young (Alphaville), Eye in the Sky (Alan Parson’s Project), Square Rooms (Al Corley), St. Elmo’s Fire, Don’t You Want Me (Human League), Love is Love (Culture Club), Gloria (Laura Branigan), Rock Me Amadeus (Falco), Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears) Purple Rain (Prince), and songs by Blondie, Kim Wilde, and the extensive list goes on. In retrospect, I may have had a thing for blondes [sic].

The 1980’s were a decade of decadence and delight. There was none of the hallucinatory haze of the 1960’s except for a musical cloud that engulfed us. The films of this decade were also definitive; consider the fact Tron was made by Disney in 1982. Sports films included Chariots of Fire, Breaking Away and American Flyers. Runners sported shoes by Adidas and Nike. I watched the Aussie amphibious Ironman film called Coolangata Gold, and my first brush with the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon coverage by ABC Wide World of Sports. And the precursor of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia was a film called Neverending Story by the director…and song by Limahl.

Check out the hits on YouTube.com. I hope that you can rediscover some of these timeless gems that I continue to enjoy.

*****

It is with heavy hearts that we read and watch news related to the devastating Quake in Japan. The most troubling reports revolve around nuclear reactor leaks. This is an opportunity for anti-nuclear lobbyists and green groups to bash alternative energy resources. Despite the potential dilution of radiation from using seawater to cool the reactors, the radiation will still be dispersed over a larger area.

It is sad to hear that the Kona Ironman site was destroyed by tsunami waves. I hope that it will not affect the outcome of October’s World Championships. The most notorious footage is a guy (who lost a slipper) who captured on video (on YouTube) with ‘live’ commentary the massive waves hitting Kona’s road and shops. He was courageously stupid, however we got to watch the raw footage. Stupid is as stupid does?