An Epiphany

As I have mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I am already the longest member of the Ateneo Swim Team, having joined way back when I was in the fourth grade. My ten-year membership consists of the first 8 being consecutive membership years; I took a seemingly permanent hiatus from the sport during my college freshman year and returned the year after. Scandal and my behavior aside, my year off really allowed me to put things in perspective.

Had it not been for that, I would not have experienced such joys freshman year has to offer. I got to know my blockmates well. I was able to focus on my academics and I even served in the Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral. Though I had a difficult time adjusting to a schedule which did not include dry-land or swim training, the endeavors I pursued truly reinforced one thing which I have denied for so long--that I was really a born, bred, water-fed swimmer and athlete among other things. But like I said, I enjoyed my year off because it gave me time to think things through.

What I am really thankful for was the fact that I was able to enjoy my English and Literature block. R-31 (our section) was truly an experience which I will never forget. I cannot put in to words how much the R-31 experience meant to me. It was an adventure, to say the least. Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be the happiest days in my week simply because I would get to experience R-31 for two straight hours. Every moment of it was truly priceless...

Take your mark!

She Grew on Me

Ever had that moment when someone suddenly starts looking so attractive? You've known her for quite some time and have not really minded her so much until one morning she's all that you think about. Well, that is a bit extreme but when you see her, you cannot help but be struck by how lovely she is. Then you start asking yourself why you haven't noticed it before. Was it her new hairdo? Have her eyes always been that alluring? Has her smile always been that radiant? The questions you ask yourself just keep going on and on.

Though we have not been formally introduced, I have "known" this girl since I was a high school senior. I would always hear her name every time one of my classmates would start talking about his love life. Just an aside, it just so happened that that classmate of mine talked about her immensely during the build up toward our graduation ball. I could only assume why. Anyway, I first met her when we were classmates in Science 10 during the first semester of my sophomore year. To be honest, she didn't strike me as attractive mainly because she wasn't my type. But she is pretty and I could see why my high school classmate was head-over-heels in love with her. Yet, she really didn't tickle my fancy.

We have been classmates a few more times after Sci 10 but it is only now that I actually found her attractive. She still isn't my type but in spite of that, I always find it difficult to not look at her and admire her beauty in all of our three common classes. She really did grow on me, you know.

But of course, I will not do anything about it. Last time I looked, she is sort of committed to someone and I have no desire of pursuing a relationship with anyone as of the moment.

But still, she is just so lovely...

Take your mark!

Oh How the Years Go by

All through the changes the soul never dies. We fight. We laugh. We cry. As the years go by...

2010 will mark my 11th year as a member of the Ateneo Swim team, making me the longest and oldest member of the team. Every time I think about it, I am always shocked by how fast every thing transpired. Using the cliche of all cliches, it feels as if it was only yesterday that I got accepted in the varsity as a 9 year old kid in the fourth grade. I remembered that day vividly. In a pool of about 30 aspirants, I was the only who got accepted in my batch thanks in part to one of the seventh graders who knew me due to our affiliation with our subdivision's swim team. Okay, so I wasn't actually a snotty-nosed green-horn since I already had a lot of experience--competition, training and all that--but it was rather intimidating since I was the youngest in the team. Adding that to the fact that I didn't have a batchmate during that time really gave me extreme bouts of inferiority complex and loneliness. As lonely as I was, I was eventually welcomed by my older teammates and some of them eventually became very good friends. Yeah, it's really tough being the only new kid on the block but when you have the sort of teammates I did, it wasn't at all bad.

Well, that is actually the whole point of this blog. I have this sort of curse growing up that I never had a batchmate or someone with the same age in any of the teams I represented. Well, that is not exactly true since I did have teammates who are also my batchmates but none of them lasted as long as I had. It really saddens me every time I think about it but what can I do? They made their own decisions and I made mine. What could I do if my decision and theirs did not reconcile.

It gives me comfort that unlike in high school, I will not be the only one leaving the team after graduation. That means a lot to me.

However, I am still the only one graduating who is at this certain level in swimming. But that is another tale.

Take your mark!

I won't say I'm in Love

For some stupid reason, I've been listening to this song more often than I used to. On an estimate, I would say that I listen to this song 5-10 times a day. Weird isn't it? I am not talking about my taste in genre of course. I have an eclectic taste, in my defense. I am talking about why I am so stuck to this song. And what is more, I actually do not get sick of it. Hmmm..Why is that?

Maybe because I really won't say that I am in love. Truth be told, I honestly do not know if I am in love with someone. Sure, I have a lot of crushes but there was around 2 or 3 I actually came close to courting. And speaking of those 2 or 3, I am ashamed to admit that I withdrew my pursuit just when "the water was actually boiling" if you know what I mean. I have always tried to convince myself that the reason why I "disengaged" was because I am already in love with someone. No . Change that. That I was still in love with someone...

And there it is, actually. I think I have answered my own questions by simply prattling on and on. It won't give my solace, this sudden revelation because it only reinforces one thing. I am still stuck on her...

So as the last line of the song goes, "At least out loud, I won't say I'm in love..." Well, for my case, not even...

Silence Please!

You know what really irritates me about going to the library this days? Not the actual going of course because I love going there and I am very proud of that fact. But these days, what really gets on my nerves are the inconsiderate students who do one of two things--or both for that matter! Either they hog up the electrical sockets with their gadgets OTHER THAN their laptops and/or ANSWERING THEIR FREAKING CELLPHONES!!! Come on! This is really just bellow the freaking belt, people! Jeez...

The Reality Behind it All

"Champions are made when no one is looking"

I first encountered this saying when I was a high school freshman. I was out with my dad one morning and I happened to see this line printed on one of those novelty mugs. I was so intrigued by it that I decided to use it as my main motivation in my swimming. I always thought it was more on the metaphorical sense dealing with the small things in swimming such as completing the sets when your coach is not looking. Little did I know that there is something literal about it too.

Winning our very first UAAP Juniors Championship was one of the happiest moments in my life. The whole thing was a culmination of a very tumultuous season and though most of us knew we were the strongest team on paper, the whole experience of lifting the championship trophy at the end of the four day competition was just so surreal. It was also a season filled with personal triumphs and milestones. But no matter how great our performance was, it was nothing more than a blimp in the radar screen when we got back to school.

As a matter fact, no one really knew that we won our first championship until it was announced three days after we won it. To top it all off, we were overshadowed by an even "bigger" championship (I guess you know what this means). It was all frustrating to all of us. And why shouldn't it be, right?

Depressing as it was, the only thought that gave me comfort then is the same one that gives me comfort now. Championships are only important to those who deem it so.

The Most Cliche of All Dear John's

"I'm sorry but I didn't mean to fall in love with someone else..."

Of all the break up lines that I have ever encountered, this has got to be the one which really strikes a nerve. What I have issues with is not the validity of the argument but rather the usage of it. I mean, here you are, thinking that everything is alright when suddenly, you are told that he or she didn't mean to fall in love with someone else...What the hell kind of an excuse is that? Fortunately enough, I have never encountered this excuse in any of my relationships (or lack thereof). But if I were given this alibi, damn, I would lay the smackdown!

All kidding aside, the issue I have with this line is the "I didn't mean..." part. I might be sounding like a hypocrite when I say this but for all the girls out there who intend to use this, guys would appreciate it if you use another excuse; somewhere along the lines of "it just didn't work out between us" or "it wasn't really meant to be". The "I didn't mean..." brings in the third party angle and more often than not, guys given this excuse react in the extremes--of extreme depression or of feral rage.

Yes, this post is really biased as it is solely written from a guys perspective. Hey, like I said, I might be sounding like a hypocrite but its just something I'd like to get off my chest...As most guys would like to do, I am sure.

Take your mark!

The Underwater Experience Begins

For the longest time, I have tried--and have constantly failed--to put up my very own blog. Usually, I pick up this strong urge to do so after browsing through some blogs of my friends but that urge usually dies down as quickly as comes to me. At least now, I actually made the effort of creating one! Oh yeah! So let the underwater experience begin!

A little introduction about the title of my blog is in order, I suppose. I have been a swimmer for more than a decade now and one of the many things which I always utilize in my Butterfly and Freestyle events is the underwater body dolphins. It is a technique which a swimmer uses coming off his dive as well as every turn wherein he stays beneath the surface of the water using dolphin kicks to propel him up to the swimming pool's 15 meter mark. To all those who are not really into swimming and are curious to see how this works, you can always go to Youtube and look for the races of Michael Phelps. The Greatest Swimmer in the World is the prime example of how this technique is done. But moving on, the reason why I chose this title is because the underwater dolphin is the probably the most underrated technique in swimming. Most swimmers are aware of it but very few use it. Putting it in to perspective, that is how I see myself. The subtlety of the underwater dolphin is pretty much synonymous with who I am. I don't think I can use the right words to explain this but I do hope that you'll stick around and read my future posts to find out what I mean.

Anyway, that's it for now. Until my next post!

Take your mark...