Blast from the Past

I was cruising around in Facebook when I saw that I'd been tagged in 10 photos.
Took a look and boy, did I get a blast of the past, courtesy of Amira.
The photo album was titled SWIMMING HISTORY and boy was it history. I think this was at Amira's 12th bday party at Merdeka Palace... That's me, Joy, Amira and Nadia.

Damai Triathlon haha. Me n sibs, Amira and PEiling.

MSSM in Ipoh, 2000... with all the girls at the hostel we were staying in...

Apparently this was in Sarawak Club though I have absolutely no recollection of it...

I dunno where this was.

I miss swimming. I forgot how much I enjoyed it.

Not just the fact that we werent sweaty and smelly at the end of each training session, but the fun, laughter, friendship and that great sense of belonging we all had being part of the team.

Especially the swimming meets. Kuching Age, Sarawak Age, National Age, MSSM and so on and so on...Where we'd meet with friends from other distrcts, states and catch up between our events. I never really rested in between events like I should've, I spent all my time talking and laughing and having fun with the others. Nothing compares to the atmosphere during comps, there's the warming up first thing in the morning everyone hates, the chocolates, energy drinks, reporting stands where everyone tries to psyche out their worst rival, the record breaking, the thrill that comes with doing your personal best time, the horrible disappointment when you fail to do your best, and that nasty sunburn that always comes after the end of each meet...

Then there were the training sessions..

Sitting in Mr Teo's van talking and laughing with Peiling, Yvonne, Melissa while the boys went about their business in the backseats. I remember once we were talking about farts and we were imitating our grandmother's farts. Mr Teo had this bright idea to record everything down in his phone ( cause I think we were really loud and annoying him) and play it back to us. Then there were also the trips we took to Damai where we had loads and loads of fun and the same amount of sand we would find in our suits during our showers.

Training in Stampark with a different circle of friends, under Xiao Pao Jiao Lian. Boy, those were the best times of my life too. I remember going to training at 5 in the morning nearly everyday and how cold and dark and scary it was. I was singing hymns everytime I got to the other side. And then Ivan claimed he spotted a little girl standing behind a banana tree waving at him and nobody showed up for training the next day.

I remember laughing and talking to Joy ( No doubt laughing about something her friend Davin had said- Buttzilla!- or quoting something from Spongebob, The Simpsons, Friends or some sort) so much one morning that the coach punished us. Made us run an extra 5 rounds and we didnt even know we were being punished, still laughing and talking. Made us to frog jumps and we STILL didnt know. Until finally he made us stay in a half-standing half-squatting position did we realized we were being punished. That didnt stop the laughter. How fit we were then. Without a care in the world.

I remember how we gossiped in the shower room, Madeleine, Joy, Stephanie, Nadia and me. Complaining and gossiping and laughing while we showered, changed, and got dressed. But then we hit, 15, 16 and had a new coach. People stopped coming so much. Exams were coming as well. Studies became more important, our future seemed more important now that it was nearer. Less people continued to come faithfully and I guess swimming just lost its fun. And then I stopped going too, and I've never looked back.

Now I'm looking back, and I'm reliving those years and times we had. So many memories, so many people. I wonder where they all are now, I wonder what they're all doing now. Its so hard to keep in touch. They used to be like my second family. They were people I saw everyday, sometimes even twice a day. Now we're so far apart, so distant.

I miss those times, those were the best years of my life. I would do anything to go back to that time. Anything.