The Eel

I was fiddling with the settings of this blog and accidentally blocked it. Sorry everyone.

I'm not a huge Youtube dweller, but I admit there are some good instructional videos out there for me to learn (I found out how to 'insert the rear wheel of your bicycle' video there to be very helpful). However, I came across this one titled The World's Worst Olympic
Swimming Trial:

I didn't know what to expect when watching this video. I really thought that one of those guys would just be too slow or something. I just didn't expect this. In case you were too lazy to watch the video, it shows a swimmer named Eric Moussambani, who had to swim the heat alone when the other two swimmers were faulted. And he swam a horrible, inexperienced 100m ever. He was flailing, his techniques were straight out from the kampung style, and he could barely swim 100m. The whole thing gave me the chills.

No doubt most people would find this funny (he was nicknamed The Eel afterwards, even got himself a Wiki page). But I was simply moved with the perseverance he gave in the swim. I read that prior to competing in the Olympic, he had never seen a 50m pool. He taught himself to swim about 8 months before, and he practiced in the 20m pool of his city's hotel. I doubt I would have his guts to compete in the Olympic. I would feel many things - shame, inferiority complex, embarrassment - that would be enough to stop me from racing. But he walked in, wearing an outdated Speedos compared to his opponent's swimming suits. And he swam, completed the 100m even when it was too slow, even when the whole crowd was laughing.

Would you have done the same thing?

It makes me think that the only enemy you have to fight is your very own self. Once you get over the self-doubt and self-bashing, the rest would be, shall I say, smooth sailing.

warmup: 1x100m kicking drill
set: 1x200m, 2x400m, 1x100m
cooldown: 1x100m kicking drill

total time and distance: 45 minutes, 1.3km