how's that for a palace?!!

Talking with Minister Azalina

The competition and training pools

Early morning on the Bund

Mayhem at the markets

One of the many Temples in Shanghai

Such intricate detail!

World Short Course 2006

     

   How better to prepare for a competition than to stay in a bona fide palace (by name at least)!!? Our campaign for World Short Course 2006 in Shanghai began with a staging camp in Kuala Lumpur, and residence at the Palace of the Golden Horses. With endless gardens, a river, majestic hallways, and of course golden horses, it was probably as close to a palace as any of us will ever see (except of course if I’d taken Prince Albert out on a date back in 2004…)

   We were testing out the hotel and the swimming complex near by (which was fabulous) as Swimming Australia plans to use KL as the staging camp location for both World University Games in 2007, and the Olympics in 2008. Suffice to say the team gave it all two thumbs up!

   At training one day in KL, the Minister for Sport, Minister Azalina, dropped in for a good old fashioned Aussie G’day. She took the time to chat with a couple of the swimmers, and spoke to a few of us girls about how she’s excited to promote women’s sport in Malaysia. She was excited to see so many women cruising around in their swimming suits, without a concern in the world. She said she was doing a great deal of research into the Muslim faith and it’s views on women in sport, and was confident that she would see an increase in female participation leading into the Olympics and beyond. It was pretty exciting to chat with her and to hear her confidence, passion, and intellect shining through. I hope it all goes well!

   We spent some time at the markets in KL, bargaining down prices from the obviously grossly overpriced “foreigner” prices on items. One of the coached on the team was so excellent at the process that he bargained down a $200 watch and got it for $10!! Clearly not authentic, but it looked awesome!

   We headed out to Shanghai, and on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel I reckon every one of our faces was glued to the windows. We were astounded at the density of population. There must have been a sky scaping apartment building every ten meters or so! I couldn’t believe how closely packed the buildings in the city were, and how far the city seemed to extend. And Shanghai has several million people LESS than Beijing! To put things in perspective, near on the whole east coast of Australia could fit into Shanghai! Amazing.

   We cruised around Shanghai, rested up, and got ready to race. I must say, I was slightly disappointed at the standard of the competition complex. Perhaps it was simply that it didn’t live up to my expectations, but I had figured the complex and pool would be impeccable considering they have the Olympics coming up in 2 years. But instead the water was cloudy, the air was chlorinated, and the warm-up pool was only 5 lanes with ropes separating the lanes. Far from the standard we experience at home for competitions. But we had to get up and race, regardless. The conditions were the same for everyone, so the playing field was equal. I had my first swim on a major team in the 4x100 freestyle relay. I only swam in the heats, but it was exciting to get up and go! we qualified for the finals, and the girls went on to swim a silver medal. Good work girls!! My 50 freestyle was on the second last day. I got myself up and ready to go, swam a solid heat, and qualified for the semi-final. I has some errors in the heat swim that I was confident I could correct for my semi swim, but alas the errors got the better of me and I finished with a 10^th place finish. I spent the next 24 hours cheering my lungs out for my teammates. Sometimes things don’t go just how we hope them to go, but I believe there is a lesson to be learned in every situation, and I’ve taken time to analyse the season, the race, and my approach. I reckon sometimes we learn more when things don’t go to plan, than we do when we excel!

   I enjoyed two days in Shanghai on holiday before heading home to beautiful Sydney. I walked the Bund (a major attraction in the old city) early in the morning and watched the locals dancing and doing Tai Chi. I visited the Jade Budda Temple, and several other temples with gorgeous statues of gods and Budda. I took after the locals, lit incense, said prayers, and soaked in the serene environments of the temples. The most serene to me was the Confucian temple, possibly because there were so few people there! The markets were a joyful experience, though exhausting! They offered everything from toe rings to golf clubs, at a fraction of the price to be found elsewhere. I purchased dvd’s for 80 cents, but even more impressive, a teammate of mine got a full set of Nike golf clubs for $200!!

   Overall, it was a good experience. And experience that opened my eyes culturally and also taught me some good lessons for my future swimming career.

   I have 5 months until the Pan Pacific Championships in Canada in August, and in that time I’ll be working on my errors from racing! I’m heading back over to the Florida Keys to work with the coach that guided me through the season leading into Olympic trials 2004. I’m excited to swim under the summer sun, and hopefully we’ll experience similar results to the past!!

 

   Believe in the power of your dreams!