Swimmers need regular competition at Tal-Qroqq

2003 was a significant year for swimming in Malta as various national records were broken and three medals were won during the Games of the Small States of Europe. The general hope was that swimming would improve in view of such positive results.

Yet, this year has been somewhat dismal so far. Having no pool to train in for around four months (December-April) has definitely left its mark on the local swimmers.

Now, it seems the problems are not over. Since January, only one competition has been organised, which is definitely not enough, and with the end of the season not far away (June-July), there is little room for improvement.

Swimming is an extremely physical sport... no less than 22 hours of weekly training in the water is needed to maintain a certain standard.

National squad swimmers are doing their part and at 6 a.m. every day, one can find us swimming the length of the pool for several times to complete an average of 220 laps a day.

This, at times, may become very boring. But we gain a lot of satisfaction from results in races. However, without competition, how can one expect us to keep up the level of motivation?

Sometimes, we feel embarrassed when people ask how is our favourite sport getting along and we reply 'no idea because there have been no races this year'.

Indeed, no sport can progress without competition. It also provides experience that cannot be acquired otherwise. During competition, athletes can deal with the psychology and stress of the race and perhaps try out new tactics or even decide which races are more suited to their abilities.

Luckily, having spent the past eight years competing internationally, I personally have gained some experience but the young swimmers coming through will suffer without proper competition.

Unfortunately, competition dates at the National Pool are continuously being chalked off due to other functions like SkolaSport activities or waterpolo matches. It seems that our favourite sport is being sacrificed all the time.

We now expect that a racing schedule is sorted out and regular competitions are held until the end of the season.

Personally, I believe that if the situation does not improve, it will take several months for swimming in Malta to recover and proceed to a higher level.