Cross Bay Swim 2009 Nov. 2009

Rotary Club of Jomtien - Pattaya Thailand
 (CLICK image to go to official website)

My objectives was to complete the swim and place in the top half, raise at least 1,500 Baht in sponsorships. The cross-bay swim is a popular event in Pattaya organised by Pattaya's Rotary Club which the money raised would go to charity. Swimmers have the choice of swimming across the whole bay (3.5km) or half the bay (1.5 km). I decided to do the shorter 1.5 km because in previous years I did the 3.5 km and I was completely exhausted and this year I felt my fitness level weren't up to par therefore I made the logical choice of going for the shorter swim as I would still be part of the swim and I could help charity as well. however, I did set myself the goal of placing top half of the swimmers so I could push myself to the limits.

In the end, I manage to surprise myself and had placed quite high which mean't it was a very successful race. I placed in top 15 which compared to the amount of swimmers; I was top 5 %. At the same time I managed to also exceed my goal of raising 1,500 Baht; I raised an extra 1,000 more Baht (making a total of 2,500).

The body of the next Micheal Phelps
(before he took the drugs though)

Raising the amount of sponsorships I made was not an easy task for myself, and found it quite challenging as it tested my social skills, in term of asking for donation. I feel quite uncomfortable in doing so especially from strangers, and quite often I was very hesitant in to ask for donation, but I managed to overcome this obstacle and raised a significant amount of sponsorships.

I believe the the skills I used and improved upon would be beneficial in the future as I believe that in the future I would get involved in charity work and would require similar or the same skills used in this activity. through improvement of these skills I can now get more comfortable and less hesitant in asking for donations. In terms of swimming, I learn't if motivated enough and have the will power to succeed, it sometimes possible to surprise yourself. And not to mention the activity helped me keep a balanced life style as I did some previous training prior to the event which kept me quite healthy.