Call The Suit: Evening Swim Clinic With Sheila Taormina

Last night, 10 swimmers of Monday Tri Swim group had their practical session with Sheila. She led us through specific drills and simple assessments that focused on the swim techniques of the best swimmers in the world. This is a summary of what we learnt and experienced from the passionately talented, 1996 Olympics gold-medalist in the 200m swim relay held in Atlanta. We learnt by discovering for ourselves how our strokes felt against the water. It felt elusive and subtle at times, yet deliberate and obvious in other moments.

We warmed up with gentle front-crawl strokes, with Sheila verbally emphasizing the high elbow pull and engaging our lats (not shoulders). It was revelation when we felt how the correct muscles worked to propel us through our watery medium. 

Having a streamlined body after your (low) push-off (from the wall) is important. Shoulder flexibility is a skill to strive for as it offers us greater stability and range of motion.

Bands are good for building arm strength and enhancing your high elbow pull, however we need not trace a circular path on the recovery phase. Keep your wrist straight, and remember to salute!

We did pull-buoy drills, with one arm – not easy as it isolates the leading arm.

The finish of the high-elbow, arm pull activates our triceps and completes the continuum of propulsion.

We enjoyed making and seeing vortices (whirlpools) during our sculling session. The emphasis is to ‘feel’ the water on our palms, wrist and forearms. We were enthralled when we were successful in making these vortices during our 'pull' phase.

The Polo Boys? Our group underwater shot before we ended the class on a swimmer's high.

Group shot with our Coach. Big thanks to Wilson Ang for helping us out!

Photo-credits: Wilson Ang, Richard Leong & Sheila Taormina

Bids and Bidding Our Time

London will host the Olympics 2012. Last year, Singapore hosted the Youth Olympic Games, a bid that the small island republic won a few years ago for the inaugural fourth installment of the five-ring franchise. This is the third year that Singapore is hosting the F1 Night Race; I am also looking forward to my first concert with Linkin Park tonight (10.30pm-12.30am). It will be preceded by my first experience as a spectator in tonight’s finals.

Whatever the outcome (in a few days’ time) of my bid for Boston Marathon 2012, I am still optimistic to do a good time at the Singapore Marathon on 4 December. With the revised BQ times (minus five minutes across the board) for 2013, it just means that I will train systematically for continued progress. A wider margin of qualification enhances a marathoner’s chances of being accepted for the following year’s race.

Yesterday, at my fortnightly open-water swim session I received useful feedback from Matthew about my freestyle strokes. It appeared that my right arm tended to swing outwards instead of near my head. I attributed it to my previous injuries in that shoulder – caused by two falls (one where I was hit by a taxi) – which made it unstable during dynamic action. Later, Richard shared with me his recent improvements in his swim; he has done extensive research into this particular swim stroke. The salient points from his generous sharing were:


1)    Keep you arm relaxed throughout the lift.
2)    Reduce unnecessary muscle tension.
3)    Take advantage of the bough formed when you scull water as it is an air-pocket (we need not rotate our need much to breathe).
4)    You need not fully straighten your extending arm when you glide (tension again).
5)    Pull your arm to your hip, but not beyond (additional tension that wastes energy when your elbow extends fully).
6)  Inhale enough air, and exhale fully.


Some things just take more time to learn, and longer to master. However, once we learnt it ‘muscle memory’ locks it in permanently. The initial process of ensuring proper techniques and methods comprise the largest investment of our time. Given time and purposeful effort, we can develop our capabilities and competencies. 4-time Olympian and gold-medalist swimmer, Sheila Taormina will be in Singapore in mid-October to lead swim clinics so consider if you would like to do 1-on-1, or group sessions with her.

Leadership Lessons: How well do you bide your time? How often do you make a bidding for things that matter to you? How long can you wait before your patience is tested?

Methodical Monday

Sunday’s intended morning ride was a total washout, as it rained. Parts of the island flooded and caused massive inconvenience. The canals could not cope with the sudden burst of water and it overflowed. I welcomed the rain as my excuse to sleep in, as I had to fly to India to conduct a four-day leadership workshop. After four short, hard running sessions this week my legs enjoyed the rest and recuperation.

Congratulations Teo Hui Koon for completing Challenge Cairns 2011. He did it in a commendable time, considering it was a hard ride. 2-time Ironman World Champion, Macca won. Rebeccah Keats won in the female category.

I chalked in a few new runs, since I will be giving up my slot for Ironman Canada. The timing is not suitable and the costs are punitive. This will allow me to participate in smaller races, and allow me to focus on my swim and riding speed. My first open-water swim is this Saturday and I look forward to reviewing my technical skills. I then do a 10K race which includes some hilly terrain on Sunday. I hope that this race measures my readiness for a second BQ at the Gold Coast Marathon on 3 July.

Requests have been coming in to help runners run properly after injury. My physiotherapist friend asked that I speak to his patient who is recovering from injury; mainly, it is helping his patient run more naturally, than on his heels. It takes time to learn, and our body is highly intelligent. Just make sure it learns the right things. Proper techniques have their relevance.

Leadership Lessons: Stay true to your course. Be disciplined. Test your mettle. Be meticulous and methodical.