Career Lessons from Swimming Among Thousands: My First Sun Moon Lake Challenge

This time I was fortunate enough to participate in the Sun Moon Lake Thousand Swimming Competition on September 27th, which was assisted by the Miaoli County Zhonggang River Swimming Association due to the recommendation of my former colleagues. Recording my experience and understanding this time, on the one hand, it will be part of my own wonderful memories; on the other hand, it can also be used as a reference for people like me who are participating in this kind of event for the first time. If you just want to see my experience, please read "Experiences".

Preparation

I remember that I started registering for this competition in May, mainly because there were only a few thousand people participating in this event, so it was easy to fill up. Because we hit the water at 8:30 and have to arrive at the venue around 7:30, those of us who didn’t stay at Sun Moon Lake the day before had to set off from Zhunan at 5 in the morning. Sure enough, none of the nearly forty people in our group were late.

What do you need to prepare for your first participation?

• Buoy: You must bring a buoy, and the conference has special regulations for buoys. My buoy was borrowed from somewhere by a colleague of mine. I will often mention this piece of equipment that is almost unknown to swimmers in subsequent articles, and it will be the key to this competition.
• Health Insurance Card: This is necessary to confirm your identity.
• Waterproof Harness: Because the landing point is far away from the tour bus, your glasses, mobile phone, and change of clothes must be put in the waterproof harness when swimming together. Remember to buy a strap with a thick and soft rope, because after you enter the water, the rope of the strap will follow your movements and start to rub your shoulders like a jigsaw. Suppose you move one meter with your right hand, and he will rub your shoulder like this three thousand times in three kilometers!
• Sunscreen lotion: Don’t use it if the weather is bad, but if the weather is good, you have to imagine that you will be exposed to the sun for more than an hour, so sunscreen is a must.
• No need to bring a towel: The organizer will give you a souvenir towel after landing, so you don’t need to carry a towel when swimming. Anyway, it is difficult for your waterproof bag to be completely drip-proof.
• No need to bring water: I was originally worried that I would become thirsty after exercising for more than an hour, but I was really worried. The green water of Sun Moon Lake can make you drink until you are full. And there is a floating island for you to rest in the middle of Sun Moon Lake. If you are really thirsty, you can go up and drink free drinks.
• Go to the toilet first: Don’t worry about what you drink in, but be careful about what comes out. Although the people entering the water don’t know each other, you still have to be a little bit civic-minded in Sun Moon Lake.

Experience

One Kilometer: Human Wall and Survival "Volume"

The day of the race was windy and sunny, and Sun Moon Lake, which I had seen many times, was still very beautiful. There were floating islands neatly lined up on the track that day and reached the pier on the other side. I couldn't help but take a few more photos before entering the water. But when I got into the water, my happy traveling mood disappeared instantly. What I saw in front of me was a wall of thousands of people. This was not a competition at all, it was just a group of dumplings floating in the water. Because everyone's speed was different at the beginning, I needed to spend a lot of brainpower to judge which area was advancing faster, and then find a gap where I could break through.

During this process, many people's buoys became tangled together. Originally, buoys were used for people to lie down and rest. As a result, in order to understand the buoy lines, they had to kick their legs and float on the water while untying the buoys. Obviously there is no progress, but it is more tiring than sprinting. Then there are too many people doing breaststroke and kicking each other, which is really terrible.

To use a workplace metaphor, this first mile is the "volume". You may have learned martial arts in college or graduate school and want to show off your talents in the workplace. But unfortunately, there is a wall of people right in front of you. Instead of swimming forward hard to bump into people, it is better to carefully look for opportunities in the crowd to get forward. At this time, it is not about sprinting on the field, but about finding an exit; in the workplace, it is not about showing ideals, but about seizing opportunities and survival. Also try to be careful not to tangle yourself with an opponent you shouldn't be tangled with.

Two Kilometers: Direction and “Host Strategy” of Peers

After the second kilometer, we started swimming. Although there were still a lot of people, we were able to really swim. The difficulty at this time is direction. Because the waves on Sun Moon Lake are relatively large, it is easy to lose direction. In addition, the visibility of the water in Sun Moon Lake is only 0.6 meters, so I could not confirm the direction in the water. I often start swimming happily for a few minutes, only to find that I am swimming backwards!

I later thought of a clever method, which was to use the visibility of 0.6 meters to find a frog swimmer and swim parallel to him. Although the breaststroke is slower, he can see the front, so I swim with him in the slower freestyle (speed stroke). I kept swimming until I found another faster "host", and then I changed to another person to follow. This strategy is also used in cycling races, but it is to find someone to block the wind, and I use this strategy here purely to see the direction clearly.

Using a workplace metaphor, this represents “peers.” Peers are very important at this stage. They are both rivals and helpers on your path. Everyone moved together to the beat and helped each other confirm the direction of progress. Maybe some peers are a little slower. In the world of Sun Moon Lake, sometimes it is better to confirm the direction if you slow down and cooperate with them. But sometimes if your peers really can't keep up with your speed, you may have to take the initiative to find new companions to continue moving forward with you.

Three kilometers: the "sprint" between the original intention and the final arch

In fact, when we reached the last 500 meters, I could already see the big arch at the end. Only then can I safely start releasing the speed. Of course, there is still the problem of the wrong direction at this time, so you have to use a head-up frog to confirm the direction every six strokes or so. Because the exit shrinks until you reach the arch, you can see other players in the water and you can completely confirm the direction. Only then do you dare to swim confidently like a swimmer in a swimming pool, concentrating on your breathing until you reach the finish line.

To use a workplace metaphor, you are already at the top of a certain field at this time. At this time, you can only see your direction clearly, and then focus on your original intention as if you were focusing on breathing. If you had any dreams during your graduate school days and wanted to show off your skills, the last three kilometers is when you sprint at full speed without any scruples.

Tactics and Techniques

What is the difference between Sun Moon Lake and ordinary indoor swimming pools?

1. Get into the water: Because the competition results are calculated from 8:30, the earlier you get into the water and start swimming, the better your results will be. But that’s not the point. The point is that after taking a bunch of photos like me and entering the water, you will find a terrifying human wall in front of you. I worked very hard to get out of the wall after drilling for a kilometer.
2. Direction is more important than speed: Because there is no water channel line in Sun Moon Lake and the waves are very big. It's easy to swim in the wrong direction.
3. Make vigorous ventilation movements: My coach taught me since I was a child that I should stay close to the water surface when breathing and just breathe hard, so as to save time. But this is wrong in Sun Moon Lake, because the waves are very big, and if the ventilation movement is too small, you will drink the Sun Moon Water directly.
4. Balance and Utilization of Buoys: Buoys are the biggest difference between long swimming and swimming pools in Sun Moon Lake. This will obviously slow things down. From a physical point of view, if you can press the buoy under your body, you can make your entire body float. This method can not only reduce water resistance, but even eliminate the need for ventilation. But if I use speedstroke (freestyle), I find it difficult to balance. Other riders in our car got very good results using this method, and I believe they spent a lot of time practicing. But people who have never experienced it can easily overturn. Later, I discovered that although it was slow to push the buoy underneath and use frog legs to move forward, it was very labor-saving. Having said that, if you keep studying how to use the kickboard to win, you will lose the sporting significance of long swimming itself.

The following are more effective practical tactics based on my experience this time:

One kilometer stage:

• Get in front of the water: Try to find a way to squeeze in front. The order of launching is really important.
• Swim to the left: Because the launching points are all on the right, everyone naturally squeezes to the front and right. Theoretically, the left side is relatively empty, so it will be easier to find a gap in the wall and move forward.
• Make good use of buoy breaststroke: I suggest that during this extremely crowded period, you should use the buoy breaststroke method to move forward. Although it is slow, finding gaps in the water and staying safe are the most important things at this time.

Two kilometers stage:

• Find a breaststroke partner: If you are good at speed swimming like me, look for a breaststroke partner to swim with along the way. At this stage, "direction is more important than speed". Also, you cannot breathe next to the water, otherwise you will swallow a lot of Sun Moon Lake water.

Three kilometers stage:

• Head-up frog confirmation: When entering the sprint phase, if you swim in the sprint, you must use the head-up frog every ten meters to confirm the direction.
• Follow those who are going before you: It would be best if there is a player of comparable speed and experience who can swim with you. Otherwise, remember that direction always comes first.

(If you can use buoys to swim fast, I believe it will be very fast, but I can’t balance the practice myself, so I won’t comment too much.)