Task 1a: [v] Trained hard, backed out from competition

A few metres away from me, I could hear people cheering and I almost went into tears.

‘Are you all right?’ asked my coach.

'I’m fine’, I answered.

I felt extremely disappointed in myself and I have let everyone especially my coach down. I could not face reality and before, it never occurred to me that the reason I had backed out was because of the things I have done for the past 3 months.

When I received the news from my coach, Miss Wee that I was able to compete in a national swimming competition, I felt I should not let this opportunity slip pass me. Therefore, I trained hard everyday with her. I did not even give myself time for breaks because I did not find it important to me.

After 2 months of hard work, I could feel my muscles aching and there were also difficulties when I swim. However, I tried my best to persevere and allow myself no time to rest. Miss Wee was very impress with my determination but she felt that I had practice too hard. She encouraged me to seek a doctor because of my muscle ache and have a few days of rest but I never did. My only aim during that time was to win that medal and to make my coach, family and myself proud.

On the day of the competition, my muscles aches worsen into a piercing pain. It was extremely painful that I could not even stand up. I knew it was impossible for me to swim during the competition. When it was my turn to compete, the pain never went away. My coach told me that I need to backed out from the competition and even if I swim in such conditions, I would still have a high possibility of drowning. There was no other choice for me and so I backed out from the competition. Backing out from the competition was extremely suffering for me to handle. It seems that all my hard work was being wasted and I definitely regret being too enthusiastic. However, I have learnt a valuable lesson and hopefully an opportunity like this will happen again for me. Practice makes perfect but I guess it does not make perfect all the time.