words are only words.

national schools canoeing championship 2007

WOW.

5 boats in the finals, up against nj's fleet of 12, rj's 7 boats and tough competition from last yr's 1st runner-up pj's 3 boats. hcanoe girls gave it our all and climbed up 2 places from last year.

we're back.

day 1 - heats: exhilarating. it was just our race, chiaming & i, nothing else mattered except lane 1, our lane. start within 10seconds - the horn goes. starting burst, we plunged our paddle and pulled. then lanes 2, 3, 4 were empty. but it was one thousand metres. the wind came from the right. we were in control, stroke by stroke. hearts pounding, we gained momentum & kept going. very straight, very steady. the checked flag at the endpoint was soon in sight. buildup. i heard my own familiar command, felt my partner's effort. GO. power, power, power. just one last long hard pull and we slapped water. looked to the right to see cj just cross the buoy, looked to the left to see teammates and snrs cheering on shore. straight finals! jubilation.

day 2 - semis: exciting. sophielo's race. the guys' races. watched with bated breath, though there were many guaranteed slots in the finals. the remaining 3 competitors in our event were determined too. countdown to the finals..

day 3 - finals: windy. showers with thunder. our race was put on hold. keep warm, keep warm. our snrs & jrs sheltered us. when the skies cleared we launched our boat again. this is it. aligning wasnt as smooth, wind, waves, drift. in a flash the race started, we were positioned between 2 nj boats. everyone charged ahead. direction, direction, kick, twist, pull. i kept my eyes on the next set of faraway buoys, the boat deviated, we rocked, we continued paddling. my heart was in my mouth, freakin' crap, control! but it was something we encountered before. i could feel chiaming fighting the waters with me, persevering. then we got it back. every stroke felt better and better, the way it should be. from my peripheral vision we were closing in on the boat on our left but they kept a safe distance from us. last burst. it was all out. nj, pj & tp had crossed the line, we were only in time to see rj finish their race. arms wanted to drop off, breathless like hell, was momentarily desensitized. everything was a blur from the moment we were helped out of our boat. hx's words drifted into mind, "Remember to control and focus on what you can. Not what your opponents are trying to do, because you can't control them." our race replayed mentally over & over again. i know i can tell hx i did all of the above & we lost to a worthy opponent who's faster. you're an awesome partner cm, no regrets!

cheered ourselves hoarse for teammates. t1, t2, k1, k2, k4, c1, c2. it was mind-blowing. at the end of the day we all strongly agreed that our team 2nd meant more than anything else. it was everyone's contribution that made this title so so so precious. our helpful juniors who were always efficiently carrying boats and equipment to & fro, then seniors & grandseniors' moral support... it was the HCANOE spirit. genuinely happy for the guys' impressive performance too.

i'm so damn proud to be a hwachong canoeist. (:

still remember the feeling of desperation when hx left one month ago, it was sheer desperation. time was running out, i was nowhere near ready for a competition. there was still an air of uncertainty for each race set, i couldnt find any reason to believe in myself or wad i was doing.. that's why kaiwen, fiona & huiwen's presence were so significant. thankyou so much assistant coaches.

a million thanks to bestfriend, lala, mary, gen, xp, weixing & yi-en! who sent me gd luck msgs on everyday of the competition. haha even nooblet wrote a postcard! of course thank you maine & wenqi, you girls rock my socks! (sorry slippers cannot rhyme. let me try, glitter my slipper? ahhhheck. oh who says i only write er3 stuff to rc.) mmm thanks to jialing too, for the encouraging smiles we exchanged while we were paddling around the start point for our race & sara who came back from australia & sonia & mandy & nette.. all the canoiests from sn (:

last but not the least must thank bf for his unwavering support all these while. for standing by me, through my moments of anxiety, stress & through the times i lack self-confidence. thanks dear for ur reassuring phone calls..

hmm wad a lengthy entry. i dont wanna be full-time mugger yet. i still wanna be part-time canoeist. i miss my teammates alr; yt, cm, mel, lihui, soph, yihang, sylvia, xinyi, xinhui, jac, jiaen, sophia, anyi, amdis..

/ hwachong canoing girls.. whoosh!

posted by YH @ 2:34 PM