It was early 2011 that a couple of colleagues of mine, KK, Matt and I decided that we will no longer be shackled by our aquatically challenged predicament. That is the three of us can’t swim to save our lives. OK I can, but KK honestly can’t and Matt can only manage 5 metres because that’s the longest he can hold his breath. Jokes aside, they’re really hopeless in water while I really wanted to correct my breast stroke and learn freestyle.
We googled our way through the web and the first result was this swimming school in Sunway. We thought it was a good deal as its prices were like RM240 for 12 sessions, 1 session per week. This was far cheaper than anything else in the market, so we thought.
If you’re not a condo unit resident, then you’ll have to use the poolside changing room. As outsiders, we had no choice but to use it, much to our displeasure. It’s not a pretty sight, the floor is hardly swept or mopped, the only half the toilets are working, and a few stalls don’t have doors, the walls were begrimed, unexplainable ooze etc. No wonder the condo residents seldom use it.
Our swimming coach, whom I’ll refer to as Jim, is a 40 something year old and slightly on the heavy side. He always wears a collared t-shirt and a pair shorts, and he keeps them on throughout the session because he never enters the pool. Ever. Once, a light drizzle forced him to carry an umbrella around the pool area.
His assistants, hired students, do get into the pool with students, but at most there are only 2 assistants for a class of like 20. And they’re usually attending to the children, while struggling adults fend for themselves. If his assistants don’t coach you, you’ve to settle with Jim hollering from the poolside, “Do like this, not like that, You, you look tired, go to the side and blow bubbles.”
Ahhh bubbles, blowing them is the skill taught to kids to teach them how to control air intake underwater. Unfortunately, I’ve met a fellow student who was really battling the water, but instead of intensive in-the-water coaching, Jim only instructed him to blow bubbles, and concentrated on the other students. I think he wasted more than of half his sessions blowing bubbles.
Freestyle is hard, water always gets in your ears, and I can never get a proper breath. But it’s the fastest stroke to get from point A to B in the water. Without mastering the first two strokes, Jim actually asked me to try out butterfly and backstroke.
For total noobies, swimming greenhorns like my friends, Jim promised that they would at least learn how to swim the breast stroke and tread water. While they never got the hang of treading water, they at least learnt a little breaststroke or frog style, so it wasn’t a total waste of time and money.
Well, it was cheap, and we got what we paid for. In a nutshell, we did learn a thing or two, but I get that feeling that there’s something better out there.
Unfortunately, sometime in the middle of our 12 sessions, disaster hit the showers. The pipes in the public changing room were clogged. Remedial works to replace those pipes resulted in massive hacking to the walls. But instead of a quick fix, the renovation took weeks that left the walls exposed and half hacked. And worst of all, if the shower had water, the water was contaminated with sediment or dirt, so no matter how much we showered, we always ended up dirtier afterwards.
I’ve heard things about Sun-U Residences pool being itch inducing. I can confirm this, I’m allergic to lots of things, and I get an eczema rash as a result. The moment I enter the pool, I start scratching so I suspect it could be due to the plants found at the pool area perimeter or something. And I’m not allergic to other pools.
We googled our way through the web and the first result was this swimming school in Sunway. We thought it was a good deal as its prices were like RM240 for 12 sessions, 1 session per week. This was far cheaper than anything else in the market, so we thought.
Sunway Swimming School
The pool was located in Sun-U Residences, which is the hostel condo for the Sunway and Monash University students, so we knew we were in for an eye candy treat. The swimming pool is Olympic-sized but its depth ranges from 1 meter to 1.8 meters. On the shallow end there is an adjoining wade pool with steps to aid the hydrophobic.
If you’re not a condo unit resident, then you’ll have to use the poolside changing room. As outsiders, we had no choice but to use it, much to our displeasure. It’s not a pretty sight, the floor is hardly swept or mopped, the only half the toilets are working, and a few stalls don’t have doors, the walls were begrimed, unexplainable ooze etc. No wonder the condo residents seldom use it.
Our swimming coach, whom I’ll refer to as Jim, is a 40 something year old and slightly on the heavy side. He always wears a collared t-shirt and a pair shorts, and he keeps them on throughout the session because he never enters the pool. Ever. Once, a light drizzle forced him to carry an umbrella around the pool area.
His assistants, hired students, do get into the pool with students, but at most there are only 2 assistants for a class of like 20. And they’re usually attending to the children, while struggling adults fend for themselves. If his assistants don’t coach you, you’ve to settle with Jim hollering from the poolside, “Do like this, not like that, You, you look tired, go to the side and blow bubbles.”
Ahhh bubbles, blowing them is the skill taught to kids to teach them how to control air intake underwater. Unfortunately, I’ve met a fellow student who was really battling the water, but instead of intensive in-the-water coaching, Jim only instructed him to blow bubbles, and concentrated on the other students. I think he wasted more than of half his sessions blowing bubbles.
Learning the Strokes
In my first session, I jumped straight to learning freestyle, having learnt a passable breast stroke technique in the past, but I know my breast stroke is far from competition style.Freestyle is hard, water always gets in your ears, and I can never get a proper breath. But it’s the fastest stroke to get from point A to B in the water. Without mastering the first two strokes, Jim actually asked me to try out butterfly and backstroke.
For total noobies, swimming greenhorns like my friends, Jim promised that they would at least learn how to swim the breast stroke and tread water. While they never got the hang of treading water, they at least learnt a little breaststroke or frog style, so it wasn’t a total waste of time and money.
Well, it was cheap, and we got what we paid for. In a nutshell, we did learn a thing or two, but I get that feeling that there’s something better out there.
Three Discouraging Circumstances
One day, before our session started, a huge storm cloud was approaching Sunway, with accompanying lightning streaks. We were poolside, and we can clearly see it coming toward us, but Jim brushed it off. ‘Swim? Why not?’ Fearing death by electrocution, we headed back to the changing rooms. Minutes later, it rained cats and dogs, and this time Jim was forced to stop. No respect.Unfortunately, sometime in the middle of our 12 sessions, disaster hit the showers. The pipes in the public changing room were clogged. Remedial works to replace those pipes resulted in massive hacking to the walls. But instead of a quick fix, the renovation took weeks that left the walls exposed and half hacked. And worst of all, if the shower had water, the water was contaminated with sediment or dirt, so no matter how much we showered, we always ended up dirtier afterwards.
I’ve heard things about Sun-U Residences pool being itch inducing. I can confirm this, I’m allergic to lots of things, and I get an eczema rash as a result. The moment I enter the pool, I start scratching so I suspect it could be due to the plants found at the pool area perimeter or something. And I’m not allergic to other pools.
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