Isaac came in second!!

Took leave to see Isaac in action.

He was the finals of the swimming carnival. Not because he qualified in the trials but by default because there were too few swimmers in the backstroke event to hold a trial.

He was excited and nervous and kept close to me. I had brought paper, calculator and guidebook, hoping to use the waiting time before his event to do some trip planning.

I did not factor in the entertainment factor.

Around me were parents who were not just there to cheer their sons on, but who were dead serious about the whole thing. I saw one family - mother and father and son all wearing the same tee-shirt that proclaimed: Bryan Lim at the back. Now that's support for you. Another boy was wearing a professional warm-up suit etc. I saw one father ticking off his son, shaking a finger to bring home the point: You know why he pulled ahead of you?? Because of how you dived from the starter's blocks. I told you so many times NOT to... blah, blah, blah... and the son, wet from the pool, listened intently and nodded. It was all so serious. KH told me that during the heats he saw one elderly grandfather bellowing at the swimming grandson, his voice echoing through the swimming complex. "SWIM! FASTER!! SWIM YOUR BLOODY GUTS OUT! COME ONNNNNNN!!" he bellowed. His face was beet red and KH thought he was going to stroke out.

I felt most negligent as a parent after seeing all this. I just told Isaac: Oi, just do your best okay?

I had no illusions: my son was not likely to finish numero uno, scrawny little guy that he is. But I was happy that he was taking part, feeling the heat of competition and just getting the whole experience of competing.

The P2 event was the funniest. The little guys lined up and jumped in when the horn blew. But it was a false start so the whistle was blown sharply to stop the race. No one heard. At least, no one in the pool heard. And if they did, they didn't care! They were swimming hell-bent for leather. The spectators, parents, teachers, boys all yelled and gestured at the swimmers to STOP, STOP NOW... no use, the boys kept going on all cylinders! The lifeguard even lowered the line of buoys in the middle of the pool. But no, nothing was stopping them. They swam all the way to the finish! Hee...

After waiting, Isaac's event came up. He was the smallest of the lot. The other P5 swimmers who big strapping boys. Isaac looked like half their size. He sat there in the sun, waiting for his event to be called. I have picture of him making the sign of the cross in prayer!

There were 6 swimmers. The four winners were the big strappy boys. I later learnt that they were national swimmers - ah so!!

Isaac and the other scrawny guy were the last two of the lot. The gap was more than half the length of the pool. I noticed that his stroke was odd - he was competing in the backstroke but his legs were going frog-style and instead of swimming one arm cleaving through the water at a time, he was going with BOTH arms over and under! I don't know what kind of a stroke that is but it is nothing recognisable. It was a parental slap-the-forehead moment. Sigh.

Still, he was not last - he came in second-last!

Initially, he looked depressed when he came up to me after the race, but I gave him a hug, reminded him that he did his best and I was proud of that. Then I mentioned that he was 2nd last and his face brightened.

To cheer him up, we went to Borders where I got him a book and we had sushi for lunch.

Not bad for a 2nd-last placing eh?