Kyle's Swim Tournaments

Kyle's Swim Tournaments

2 Sundays ago, he competed in his first ever Inter-club Swim Meet organised by Keppel Club. It was a hasty, last minute decision and there wasn't even time for any training except on the day before the competition. He went for the trial and was in even though he has never trained with the group. We decided that it would be good for exposure and confidence-building.

On the day of the competition, he was very reluctant and got cold feet at one point. He said that he did not want to participate and was 'stressed'. We were not pleased with his attitude which was filled with negativity. Throughout the whole wait and even when it was time to warm up, he was not serious and only thought of playing. I was not sure if it was done purposely to play down his nervousness but it sure did get on my nerves seeing this complacency in him. Needless to say he did not do well against the participants who were poised to win. He managed to clock 1 min for his 50m backstroke and 1.02 for his 50m butterfly. Still it was a good experience for him.

The following week was another competition organised by Sengkang West which I had completely forgotten. This time round, he had a chance to training on 3 occasions with his swimming buddy, Justin, before the event as it was September school holidays.

However, in the morning when he woke up, he complained of a headache and claimed that he wasn't feeling well. We suspected that it might be due to him catching a chill in the night or it could be that he played tennis in the rain the day before. We told him that if he was still feeling unwell when we reached, he will not compete. Miraculously when he reached there and saw his friends, his headache was gone and he even went for warm-ups happily and strutted around the whole place in only his trunks.

His events were backstroke 50m, butterfly 50m and freestyle 100m. He did a fantastic job during his 1st event and came in 3rd missing 2nd place by a mere 1 second as he swerved at one point and touched the rope. Nonetheless, it was an accomplishment for him as he was competing with boys 1-2 years older than him, bigger than him and taller than him! He was smiling from ear to ear when he went up to receive his medal. He was also most cooperative when I took his pictures, posing for me ever so happily ( a far cry from his normal self when he would refused to look into the camera!).

The 2nd event was the Butterfly 50m. He fared badly against the other boys whose strokes were powerful and super fast! For his last event 100m Freestyle, he came in 3rd in his race with 7 other boys. He forgot to do his tumble-turn at the end of 50m and actually paused for a while! I was so worried that he might have forgotten that it was a 100m race. I felt that it was a pity that quite a bit of time was wasted else he would probably do better. Overall best timing of the few races, he did not make it to top 3. But that didn't dampen his spirits as he had already clinched a Bronze and gained invaluable experience.

Oh and he did fall sick that night after the exciting morning event and an evening of pure fun and play with his cousins! He woke up the next morning with a throat infection.

My sensitive girl

It was a Tuesday night and we had nothing on in the evening so I suggested going to Swensons for dinner. The only problem was that Kyle was having a bit of sore throat and I had warned him that he can only eat baked rice or pasta as he had a swim competition that weekend. As predicted he made a huge fuss about wanting to eat his chicken tenders.

My girl cheerfully opted to eat cream sauce pasta while the boy went on and on about how he loves the chicken tenders, how juicy it is and how his throat is ok. It got on our nerves and I conceded by saying that I will order one and he can only have 2 pieces. Then he went on about why Meryl can get to eat more and he can have only 2 pieces and that mummy is so unfair.

He just couldn't get it when I told him that Meryl wasn't even asking for chicken tenders and the sole reason why I even ordered it in the first place was because I couldn't bear to see him so disappointed. In the end I put my foot down and decided to ban him from it totally.

He didn't get to eat any except for a small bite that my hubby gave him. I kept 1 piece for Meryl. Instead of eating it, she gave it to her brother. I asked her why. This was her reply.

'I want to make Kor Kor happy.'

Then she whispered to me this, 'Mummy, I give it not because I don't like it. I actually love to eat it too but I think Kor Kor really wants to eat it so I give it to him to make him happy.'

I only wish my son can understand how thoughtful his sister is towards him and extend to her the same treatment.