Training for SAISA was tough.Although I was a swimmer in my previous school I had stopped training for nearly two years and in the time lost majority of the little stamina I had and staying out of the waters for so long had left my technique in smithereens. However I was determined to make the team and build on what I had. The first day of training was horrible I couldn’t keep up with any of the sets and  my lungs dying after only completing half of what was expected. Still I kept coming back for practice and with time and training things started getting better I was able to keep up with most of the sets and my endurance built up.After trials I didn’t really think that I would make the team but I managed to scrape through and off I was on my first SAISA.

This year’s competition was held in Kathmandu Nepal.The flight wasn’t the best with nearly all of our flights being delayed coupled with not so glamorous airplane food.Despite that the long hours spent in air and at the airport was the perfect opportunity for me to get to know everyone in my team especially those who were not in my age group.

Finally arriving in Nepal and being introduced to our lovely host who took care of us throughout the competition, we turned in for the night ready for the first day of competition.

On the first day of competition I had two events plus a relay in the evening.One thing that stood out to me was how supportive all the teams were,cheering for their own swimmers and those of other teams. My first event the 50 free but I wasn’t able to place in the top 12 which would have allowed me to get into finals. However the 100m back which I must say is my favorite event I placed 10th, which was huge for me. Fastforward into the finals in the evening I was able to secure my place however I couldn’t go past my seed time as I had done in the heats. In the 4*100 freestyle relay our team placed 4th . The day ended with the boys 4*100 free relay which the entire team collectively cheered their lungs out for. And we were elated when the team placed first with a SAISA record. It was such an amazing closure to the night.

 

Day 2 was the most strenuous day for me having to swim three events, which included the deadly 100m fly.Having only done a 100 fly twice before I was mortified when I had to step on the block . But after they said ‘go’ there was no turning back. Although I came last in my heat ( as expected) I was still proud of being able to complete the race and happy that I tried my best.Unexpectedly I also managed to place 10th in the 100 free while also improving my seed time.We also placed 4th in our IM relay as well.The day ended with youtube and m & ms back at our host’s house.

By day 3 my body was tired and ready to finish this.I only had one individual event , the 200m free which I gave all my energy for and I managed to place first in my heat and 12th overall.The night’s relay shivering and pumping ourselves up we were able to place fourth yet again.

The entire team was all nerves going into the closing ceremony later that evening. Tallying up the points from the morning session left us stuck in fourth just behind Lincoln school.After dinner we all faced the announcer ready to hear the results of 3 days of hard work. Despite our calculations OSC placed 3rd overall. The revelation surely ended this years SAISA on a high.