The ripple of chlorinated water. The blast of the air horn. The swimmers shifting nervously on the sun-bleached benches, waiting to be called to the starting block. On a hot day in September that many more students spent indoors, the KGV Swimming Gala was taking place.
This year’s Swimming Gala was far from normal. Instead of congregating at Kowloon Tsai for a day of ear-splitting house chants and siu-mai-induced mania, competitors gathered instead at the KGV’s 25-meter pool for a socially distanced version of the event. Despite the unusual arrangements, though, there was no shortage of tenacity in KGV’s swimmers—both during the race and in the hours of training leading up to it. To learn more about the competitors’ experiences, we spoke with Vianca Ng and Blue Wong about their life as student swimmers.
“Swimming is pretty much my life at this point,” says Blue, who started swimming recreationally at three to face his fear of water, and then competitively at age seven. “Training everyday is pretty hell—sometimes you really don't want to get in the water. But part of being a swimmer is self-discipline; despite sometimes hating it, I'd still get in the water and swim.”
For Vianca, swimming is no less of a fixture in everyday life. “I usually train twice a day,” she says, “and the hardest part about morning training is waking up and diving into the cold pool.” Despite the exhausting regime, though, morning training gives her the much-needed mental clarity to start her school day. It’s also a form of stress relief: “Even though it gets tiring,” she reflects, “it allows me to forget about my other worries.”
The main challenge for both finalists? Balancing their frenetic school life with the packed schedule of swim training. “Managing your time between homework, training and a social life is something that a lot of swimmers fail at—especially me,” Blue says, and Vianca agrees, mentioning that she usually doesn’t have a lot of free time to relax or study.
So how do they feel about the Swim Gala being held in KGV? “I would say competing in the school pool was less exciting,” Vianca says, “especially since the year groups were split up.” For Blue, the school pool represented a shift in social pressure. “it's a bit more relaxing then swimming at a stadium where your coaches and other rivals are watching you,” he comments, “but at the same time I feel like it's sometimes more pressure as all of your schoolmates expect you to win.”
Both students were finalists in their respective races, but their grit and tenacity—and that of their fellow competitors—speaks volumes more than any accolade ever could. Although 2021’s Swimming Gala was a strange and different one, it was no less inspiring.
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