Korean swimming pioneer passed away

I wish I knew more about Cho Oh-ryun and his accomplishments before he passed away. He apparently swam from Ulleungdo to Dokdo (which surely means it belongs to Korea) and other, notable distances.

Start your article with a hook

In the Korea Herald is an article about SCUBA diving in Korea and the title is "2nd best place to enjoy summer: under water".  I love to swim and dive; so much so that I have to wonder what could possibly rank higher.  In reading the article, I still wonder.  (Related: if this is their second best idea, what was their first?)

From the article:

She said diving contribute to a healthier lifestyle for expats for a number of reasons. First, she said diving is a very safe sport because you're not exposed to any possible injuries that often occur in sports we play on the ground.

"Diving underwater increases your cardio-vascular endurance and allows you to experience what it is like to move in a four-dimensional world like in space."

She said cardio-vascular endurance is the ability of the heart, blood vessels, blood and respiratory system to supply oxygen and fuel to muscles at a steady rate for a considerable length of time.

...

"Also, my love for the nature has driven me to learn more about it, and made me realize we, as divers, have so much to do to protect and preserve the marine life, which is surprisingly damaged a lot by old fishing methods, pollution on the land, deforestation, you name it. The more I dive, the more I want to get out there to make a difference, even if it's just by picking up garbage in the water."

  I need to make two snarky comments.  Again, I love SCUBA diving and feel it is a safe sport, but it needs significant training.  I think there are many who would question the relative safety of SCUBA compared to tennis, for example.  Still, it is not hard on your joints -unless you get the bends, in which case your joints fill with nitrogen bubbles and you could DIE!

"Maneuver in a four-dimensional world?"  Alright, including time, I guess there are four dimensions, but not many people maneuver in that fourth dimension.

Okay, snarkiness over.  I like the idea that diving will make people more aware of the environment and work to protect it.  I believe that is true.  On the other hand, I have doven with Korean divers and diving can be a way to get fresh sushi.  I remember diving in Koje Island and pointing out an octopus I saw under a rock.  I turned away, then looked back to see the octopus being stuffed into a bag.  Later, the diver's daughter ate the ring of tentacle on a stick like an eight-legged lollipop.

Here in Sokcho, I see men and women out harvesting the bounty of the ocean to such an extent that I can't believe they leave anything behind.

Good for him

Korea Herald article and photo.

Olympic Gold Medalist Bak Tae-hwan met with swimmer-with-a-disability*, Kim Sae-jin recently to offer support and coaching advice.

From the article:

Beijing Olympic gold medalist Park Tae-hwan, 20, has inspired a junior disabled swimmer.

Only recently did was it known that Park met Kim Sae-jin, 13, a junior swimmer with congenital dysplasia, on April 14 in a swimming pool in Gangnam, southern Seoul.

According to SK Telecom Sports, Park's swim team, the two swimmers met right after Kim's dream, which was a meeting with Park, also known as "Marine Boy," was conveyed to Park. Their meeting was filmed by MBC-TV. It will air on the "MBC Human Docu Sarang" program on May 15.

Kim went through hardships in life despites his age. He was born with a limb deformity and he was adopted when he was only five months old. Luckily, his supportive mother, Yang Jung-sook, 41, and his own willpower gave him the strength to lead a productive life.

The junior swimmer's hard work finally paid off; Kim won seven medals, including three gold medals, in Britain's National Junior Swimming League that took place in Sheffield in March.

Meeting with Park was dream come true for Kim. This promising swimmer always wished for three things; meeting Park Tae-hwan, participating in London Paralympics (Olympics for the disabled) and becoming a member of the national swimming team.

I have nothing but good things to say about this.

The more I read about Mr Bak though, the more I realize I'm old fashioned about sports.  I know amateur sports teams are taking on more blatant sponsorship deals every year, but I still don't like it.  What kind of name for a swim team is SK Telecom Sports? By the way, I would love to get back into coaching, so if SK Telecom wanted a Canada-trained coach/ ESL teacher, I might be available.

-----------

Around 15 years ago, Canadian sports groups changed the names for describing athletes with disabilities.  It was felt that " disabled swimmer", for example, with 'disabled' at the beginning, unduly emphasized the disability.  "Swimmer with a disability", puts the person first.  It's a good idea but around 14 years ago, I usually saw "SWAD" in competition programs and to call someone a SWAD seems little improvement.

The king is dead, long live the king!

Now that Waterpia's rates have climbed beyond what I am willing to pay, I am happy to find that Aqua World has an extensive discount this month. I think that the 50% discount will put an adult ticket at around 12,000-15,000won, but I may be wrong.

The complex isn't as extensive as Waterpia's but it does have a good variety of pools.

To get there, take the same bus as for Waterpia; number 3 or 3-1. You need to ask the driver as (and I have never figured out why they don't just add a few more number) only some of the #3 buses go there.

Heros honoured

Bizarro Brian linked to an article in the Korea Times describing how "The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs designated four people who died while trying to save other people's lives despite danger as righteous deaths".

Two of the honoured died saving others who were drowning and one tried to save a drowning person but failed.

I was a lifeguard for nearly twenty years and a competitive swimmer before that. First, I can agree that these people were heroes: they attempted to save another at great risk to themselves. I do admire their courage and sacrifice.

On the other hand, I was taught, and, as an instructor, I teach, to "protect the most important person" - That important person being me, the prospective rescuer. If the rescue is too dangerous, then you are likely to need rescuing yourself - making two victims for the next person to attempt to help.

It's easy to say, "Stop and coldly evaluate your chances" but probably harder to put that advice into practise.

I think I have to admire these selfless people who lost their lives helping others, but I just wish Koreans could swim a little better.

Attention: All Sokcho readers!

I've received word that today is the last cheap day for locals at Waterpia!

Don't panic. This report is unconfirmed, although terrifying.

From the same source, it appears that Waterpia will offer a year-round 40% discount to locals, in place of the two cheap days a month. Such a discount, at current rates, would make entry to Waterpia about 20,000 won. Today, it is 9,000 won.

The above two photos are from visit Korea.

From Korea.net.

Help me get the best job in the world!

About two weeks ago, I applied for the best job in the world. The application took the form of a homemade video. I was rejected because the video needed to be 60.0 seconds or less and mine apparently was 60.1 or so long.

I applied again, it was accepted and you will find a link at the bottom of this post.

The "Best Job" is really a marketing tool by Tourism Queensland to promote their province, their coast and specifically Hamilton Island area. Officially, the duties include swimming and watching fish, cleaning your own pool, some diplomatic duties, promoting the island and making a video blog post every week. Really though, It's a excuse to attract interest to the area.

It is working. They have have hundred of thousands check their website and look into the application process. I think more than ten thousand have applied.

On March second, the selection panel will announce 50 short-listed candidates. At some point after that, the group will be narrowed to eleven; ten that Tourism Queensland select and one chosen by popular vote. These eleven will be flown to Australia for interviews and, well, hoop-jumping.

I think my video is good but I don't know if it is top-fifty good. I consider the selection process to be basically a lottery and I hope mine is good enough to make into the lottery bucket. It is the best I could make and I don't want to give excuses but my old computer and original version of Movie Maker were pushed to their limits. The newer version, free and down-loadable, of Movie Maker doesn't work on my computer: after a refurbishing and memory upgrade, some functionality were lost.

Anyway, I think that voting for the eleventh spot does not take place until after March second. Still, you could rate my video highly if you want. It sure couldn't hurt.

I also suggest looking at other application videos. There are twenty-six that I saw from Korea (evening of Feb 17 -five more days to apply); have a look and give them some love while you're at it.

Note, the videos are little slow loading. Please be patient -with mine, you're welcome to be impatient with the others!

My video.

Ashley's video (another entrant from Gangwon)

List of entrants from Korea.

Coincidentally, I see it on Yahoo Canada's home page: a news report with a video link (I think it'll work - it will pop-up, however)

Updated Feb 22: another Gangwon entrant is on the list. Choi.

Fantastic weekend

Friday, I swam in the ocean at Kyeongpo Beach, Saturday I chased salmon and today I soaked and took the waters at Waterpia with my son.

The big news is that Waterpia now has two Local's days, the first and third Sunday of each month (not peak months - July and August).

The bad news is that the price for locals is now 9,000won. That's not so bad. That's a bit more than Seorak Pines charges for local evey day but Seorak Pines, while entirely satisfactory, is not as extensive at Waterpia.

Olympics (2)

In the previous post, I mentioned that I had judged debates at the camp. One of the possible topics for debate was, "The Olympics do more harm than good" and the students discussed the pros and cons of the event. As a Canadian, memories of the '76 Olympics in Montreal still rankle. Canada is still paying for the stadium, we were the first host country to fail to win a gold and... well, some other first for a negative thing. I love the idea of the Olympics but I understand that others might not.

When I was of an age to really follow the Olympics, Canada was a swimming powerhouse. To allow myself a bit of namedropping, I met Alex Baumann at a few meets and was briefly courted by his coach, the amazing Dr. Tihanyi. At Camp Chikopi, I met Sandy Goss and Mark Tewksbury, both Olympic medalists. I never met Victor Davis, but idolized him as my best stroke was breaststroke. Baumann, Davis and Tewksbury won gold at the Olympics in the same decade and it is hard to recall that Canada hadn't won a gold in swimming since 1912, when Hodgson dominated distance freestyle in a similar way that Phelps is dominating everything now.

I am happy that Canada has finally managed to pick up a few medals; four in a day. If they keep this up, maybe Canadians won't feel so humiliated.

I am so amazed with Phelps' record of 8 gold. The way I see it, competitors in a relatively new sport can manage to dominate the field. That is, swimming is not quite as venerable a sport as track is, but has a longer history than competitive canoeing and kayaking. One would expect track athletes to be tightly focused on one event only and swimmers on two or three and the canoeing events to be a free-for-all.

Canada has a 41 year old kayaker at the Olympics - I don't think you'll find anyone near his age in track events. It is simply too old to be competitive.

I am impressed but not that surprised that Spitz won seven gold while swimming as a sport was maturing. I am knocked-on-the-floor shocked that someone could beat that record thirty years later.

I have to suspect that my knowledge of swimming is becoming obselete - I watched Bak Tae-hwan's 400m Free several times (it was the only thing on) and many of the swimmers seemed to glide on one arm while they breathed. To me, with my background, that looks like bad technique. If Olympic gold medalists are doing it, I can admit that it is me that is out of touch.

How did I not think of this?

I am not much of a chess player but thought (I suppose, as any teenager does on any subject) that I knew everything there was to know about silly sports in the water.

This looks cool - well, for a few moves..

Wonderful Warm Weather Weekend

On Saturday, Kwandongwife worked, so KwandongAlex and I went to Sokcho Beach. The sun was warm but occasionally a cool wind chill us. We got our feet wet but mostly played in the sand and chased and fed pigeons. A few people were playing in the water where the waves broke and seemed to be having fun but no one was swimming.Today (Sunday the 20th) was cheap day at Waterpia for Sokcho residents so the little guy and I spent several hours there. It was nice to use the outdoor pools without worrying about the cold. I think you won't notice in the photo (although you are welcome to try - click to enlarge) but the mountain behind us is still snow capped.
I can't remember which morning I took this picture but with such a busy schedule it's important to start with a good breakfast. I just wish he didn't look like a monk praying before a shrine!

Should athletes be muzzled?

I am still sick and so awake at four am. On CNN I watched part of Chasing the Dream, a report about preparing for the Beijing Olympics. I only saw the last few minutes but the report questioned whether the athletes might use the opportunity to make political statements or the like concerning human rights in China.

Although not the caliber of athlete to attend the Olympics, I (and everyone, really) is of the caliber to imagine, to think about being part of the Olympics. I, and most my age, clearly remember the boycott of the 1980 Olympics. An acquaintance, Kevyn Stafford, qualified for Moscow in the 200 Butterfly (a swimming event) but was unable to go when Canada boycotted those games. Remarkably, she did attend the '92 Olympics in Barcelona for Kayaking.

As a young athlete, I felt outrage that politics would interfere with the hopes and dreams of these athletes who very often have only one shot at competing in the Olympics. I seem to recall that the average age for female swimmers at the Olympics was around 20 while the age for men was a little higher and the range was a little wider. Stafford was an exception; for most, there is no second chance.

Of course, even if countries attend, the athletes could still inject political commentary of their own. I do not remember but have read how some black American athletes gave the Black Power salute on the medals podium. Chasing the Dream gave some other examples that I can not recall.

Many nations are considering requiring their athletes to not speak out at the Olympics. I think that's a little upsetting but even more were the remarks of the world's most famous Olympic swimmer, Mark Spitz. He said, and I only saw a few minutes of the show so I don't know how he feels about the subject, that most athletes would keep their mouths shut for commercial contract reasons. According to Spitz, most American athletes of Olympic caliber have contracts with various businesses and the contracts usually include clauses covering public speaking.

I presume the same is true for Canadian athletes and those of other countries as well.

I have great sympathy for these young people, signing their first contract (or having their parents sign on their behalf?) and having their ability to make idealistic statements limited thereby.

As a high school student, I was upset by the politics in the Olympics. Now that I am older, and feel that I actually know less than I thought I did back then, I can see the reasoning and leverage the Olympics offers.

Swimming at Bracebridge Falls

My first attempt with Jump Cut. Prepare yourself for a thrillride (well, it was somewhat thrilling for me) and try to ignore my friend\'s cheesy narration.

"Recess" at the pool

The Joongang Daily has a weekly question and answer column that aims to explain cultural, and other, differences between Korea and the rest of the world.

This week's question is about rest periods or recesses at Korean pools. "

Swimmers in the water were asked, or so it seemed, to get out of the pool every hour or so, and the pool remained completely empty for a while. This seemed to repeat all afternoon."

This person must have spent a lot of time just sitting around watching the pool.

I've noticed the same thing. I guess it's fine if you arrive just as the rest period ends but it's darn annoying if you arrive fifteen minutes before it starts. Swim for fifteen minutes, get into a rhythm, then bam! Get out and sit around. Why?
The answer the Joongang gives is the same I've heard at many pools here.

...the recess is for health and safety reasons. A brief rest also can help prevent hypothermia among young children, who tend to stay for a prolonged period of time at play, and also prevent accidental drowning.

"Accidental drowning" Well, I might be curious about the 'accidental' part but I know that some (most of the ones I've visited, but that really isn't a significant number for the country)pools don't have lifeguards on deck much of the time. They sit in the lifeguard office most of the time, so far as I can tell. They are unlikely to be around during a 'deliberate' drowning and need to have the patrons rest because they aren't watching the patrons most of the time.

As for preventing hypothermia, I don't know. It was never an issue in Canadian pools but Koreans are delicate when it comes to hypothermia; witness the occurrence of fandeath here.

Again, if you arrive at exactly the right time, it's no problem. If you start swimming just before rest period, you can't convince the guards that you don't need a rest just yet. Actually, if I want to get a few more laps in, I just flip turn at the wall so they can't talk to me. I pretend I don't know what they're doing for a while.

While I was on vacation in Canada this summer, three or four people died from water-related accidents relatively near my home (nearby towns and districts, not neighbors). I hope to get some actually stats about watersafety here and from home to compare more than anecdotes from the two countries. Drownings don't make the news here so, for all I know, Koreans could have safe, boring swims interrupted every hour for a rest with hardly an accident to be found. Well, I'll be looking and hope to post on the subject in September.

There is at least one good swimmer in Korea

I recently wrote a post titled "why Koreans aren't good swimmers'. I was mostly commenting on how strange it was that Naksan Beach would have a festival titled, "Sea of Fear". To me, that's as reasonable as Air Canada showing "Snakes on a Plane" or "United 93", etc, on a flight.

Anyway, I got called on it. A commenter wondered why I would say such a thing.

I replied that in informal polling, around 10% or fewer of my students could swim and mentioned some personal observations I had made based on time at various pools and beaches in the country. I even made the bold claim that I had not yet met a Korean who was my equal as a swimmer.

I can still stand by those words as I have not met this man nor any of this teammates but Park Tae-hwan is pretty damn fast! Congratulations go out to him and Korea on their first gold in swimming at an international event. 3:45.72 for 400metres of freestyle is fantastic.

Braving the Bracebridge falls (2)

Playing in the current at Bracebridge Bay Falls

Maybe this is why Koreans aren't good swimmers

Welcome to the 'Sea of Fear Festival'. (Naksan Beach, if you do want to go.)

A good day/ lost and found

Today wasn't exactly a special day but it was the first one I was comfortable and caring for Kwandongalex wasn't a chore.
That sounds terrible. On previous days, the little guy was pretty uncomfortable in the heat and we felt trapped in the apartment, avoiding the sun. The apartment doesn't take long to close in.

I took him to Hae-su Pia, a health club and sauna with "yu-a" pools on the roof. I don't know what Yu-a means, but one pool was perfect. It was chest deep for my son and just deep enough that I could lay out and maneuver easily to stay near the little guy.

Here, I got a staff member to take a picture. I don't know why he chose to tilt the camera.


There were many awnings and we relaxed under them. Kwandongalex enjoyed running around on the no-slip decking but the exposed areas were HOT and he didn't know what to do. He would stand in place and cry until I ran over to rescue him and cool his feet in the pool.

Skindleshanks, if you and a little one want to hang out on the roof, call or email me - I've misplaced your contact info. My much-belated congratulations on the birth of you second child. I am ' brianetcetera (at) hotmail (dot) com '.


From the roof, I could dimly see Ulsan-bowi. Earlier in the week, it stood out clearly. This is the view I am used to during summers in Korea.
After swimming and relaxing by the pool, we went to E-mart. E-mart is air-conditioned and has a children's play area. There's not much for a toddler to do but I did mention and air-conditioning, right? Other parents had the same idea; there must have been twenty kids in the play area. Most were watching TV but the toddlers wandered amongst them, patting heads and staring curiously at books and older children.

Upon returning home, Kwandongalex played and slowly got tired. He went to sleep around 5:00pm. I predict that we will be visiting Expo Park around midnight.

Lost and Found

I forget things.
A lot.
Recently, I couldn't find my housekey. It turned out that my wife had picked it up and put it in her purse (we have matching keyrings). I was just grateful that it wasn't my failing memory this time.
Before we went to Canada, I left my hat in an in-law's car. It is a good Tilley hat (it's a Canadian thing- I love my Tilleys). It arrived by taek-bae today. It's good to have it back.

Even better, Air Canada found a checked bag they had misplaced and I will be getting it back, ah, sometime.
I had, in fact, prepared to rant about Air Canada losing the bag, even though part of the trouble was I did not properly check the ticket to see if there were two checked-bag tags. At the check-in counter, the attendant forgot to tag my second bag and I had a little trouble convincing AC that I did have, really, two bags. Anyway, they found it.

AC did me right on the flight home, as well. Kwandongwife returned to Korea before I did for work and I flew with the little guy. I had dreaded the flight but the flight attendants took good care of the two of us and were very helpful.

Back to work

I have a pretty simple job: teach Korean university students a little English. It's not an easy job, but it is short.

After a long summer vacation, I have just finished my first week of teaching the second semester. Today was the toughest. The engineering students, and I had three classes of them today, learn things in a more analytical way than language allows. At least, I sure hope they can learn something! Or that they have some reason for the blank stares they gave me today.

I am aware that the reason could be me. Still, on the first day, they should have some life in them.

Anyway, after work I relaxed with a visit to the local swimming hole. One of the advantages of living in a rural area is that there are a few places where one can really swim. The ocean beaches are out as the lifeguards get frightened when you are more than 5 m from shore. About halfway between my apartment and my university is a small dam and the upstream side is quite deep: 10 feet or so. 10 feet is a big deal on this river; most of it is naught but a foot deep. The deep stretch is long enough to allow a long swim. I went about 100 m upstream then swam back again. I'm blaming the current for being so tired after one lap. My swim-coaches would have laughed at a 200 metre swim. After, to explore, I switched my goggles for mask and snorkel and looked around. Two boys were collecting snails; after looking in their bag I kept going and found a freshwater crab. I think they're pretty rare; certainly it was the first I'd ever seen. It had a good warren of rocks to hide in so I couldn't watch it for too long.

In Yesterday's post, I wrote about learning about Korean politics. I think I've changed my mind. The relocation issue - Making a southern region the political capital- is pretty weird.
In the Korea Herald I learned that the conservative party (GNP) leader

" ... Chairwoman Park Geun-hye apologized again for her party's
approval of the capital relocation bill last year, saying it stemmed
from political calculation. "

Later I see:

" The conservative GNP held the majority when it steered the
bill through. Later, in the April general elections, it lost the majority
to the liberal Uri Party. "

So, when they were in power, relocation seemed a good idea. Now that they aren't, it's a bad idea. Of course they lost the election when they tried to impeach the president so bad decisions seem to chase them around relentlessly.

I am still trying to find a subject to write about. Will this blog be a diary that I, for some strange reason, share with the world? Will I be able to write about politics as if I have a clue? Will this blog simply be a way to create a writing style of my own? I've decided to stop worrying about this and write about whatever I feel like. After ten or so entries I hope I see a common thread and I'll make that my niche. I'll loose an arrow and wherever it lands, I'll make that my target.