download - IOA

MY OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
By Mr Matthew KWOK (HKG)
It was roughly 19 years ago that my mom decided that I should learn how to
swim. Her reason being that if we ever happened to be around a pool, we would
know how to swim. Then after eight months of bobbing up and down, my mom
met the swimming coach and immediately enrolled my older brother and I on the
swimming team. Little did we know that this decision would affect the rest of our
lives. My first lap across a 25 yard pool took 30 minutes. A far cry from any kind
of record!
So, at the age of 4 and a half, I started competing.... Or at least attempting to.
When the gun went off, I failed to jump in the water. Finally, my coach stepped
up behind me and tapped me into the water. That race was a considerable
improvement, as it only took 4 minutes. If only I could improve that much every
time! At that point, I wasn't all too excited about swimming. I would hide in the
bathrooms; forget to wake up for morning practice; I would even go so far as to
hide in the gutters of the pool; definitely not the model athlete.
This went on for a few years. The 1984 Olympics came and I was lucky
enough to attend a few water polo games and a swimming event. The Olympics
were still a dream. At the age of 12, fellow schoolmates and friends would
ask me, "Oh you're a swimmer ... are you going to go to the Olympics?" Rather
than actually thinking about the possibilities, I would say, "Naw, maybe my
brother will."
My training became more intense and I began to take swimming a bit more
seriously. I started training with many world-class swimmers, and at the age of 13,
I was definitely the youngest. My road to the games had started. It was then
that I started to realise that I too could become a world-class swimmer.
In 1996, my older brother qualified for and competed at the Olympics in
Atlanta. I went to trials, and failed to qualify by a large margin. Rather than being
discouraged, I decided that I would train even harder than before.
The year after the games in Atlanta, I can remember waking up every morning
at 3.45 to drive 45 minutes to training. Our coach, at the time was very strict.
We were to be stretched and in the water promptly at 4.45. Training would last
until 7.00, whereby we would quickly dress for school, jump in the car, and drive
202