Oceanman 10 KM 2023

I don’t know what got me into doing this 10 Km swim but maybe I felt, its high time I do something crazy again before I cannot ( always so pessimistic isn’t it).  Way before signing up, I had done 2 times of 10 Km swims at home ground Sentosa Island.  To speak the truth, completion is not a problem ( ahem) but within a specific time, that is something.  For all Oceanman 10KM, the swim must be done in 4 hr 30 min, to be considered as completed the race.  Usually there is a half way 3 hour bench mark at the 6km point, this is where organisers will fish out the “slow” bunch.

Safety Counts

I guess the reason for the tight time cut off is because swimming is a potentially more dangerous sport than anything on the roads.  Any point of black out might potentially cause drowning.  Thus, I believe the full Oceanman is for those swimmers who have at least some sort of experience and endurance level in open water swim to be able to take part.

I was never good with swimming, I am not sure whether it has to do with my physique being rather short and inflexible.  I always felt most swimmers should have a certain height and to be faster the taller the better.  Took some classes when I was young but never really pursued it futher after my university days.

But that being said, I always felt that swimming is a good relaxing, less impact sport than running.  Somehow you will feel good and relaxed after a good swim.

Oceanman Dubai

Most of the Singaporeans swimmers will go for Oceanman races around the region, but for my case, I felt since I was already travelling far for the marathons, might as well go for the swim too.  Experience the sea in a different country.  Therefore, my first Oceanman was in Cyprus in 2022, this year its Dubai as it is en route to the New York Marathon, and just so happen the timing fits.

Originally, I thought of just doing the 5 KM, but under some encouragement from the organiser and also my fellow mentor, Richard koh, I decided to give the 10 Km a short although I know it is quite tough.

The trainings were mostly in pool and I had a customised program from Richard.  Believe me, training for a “marathon”swim for a noob like me is really no joke and given the short span of training time.  Very soon 2 weeks into the program, my neck and shoulders start to feel the strain.  This is especially for my left side.  I am a left hander and somehow I put too much emphasis on my sports on the left side of my body.

The race sign up is on their website.  The cost is the same for the 10KM, its 120 Eur and I chose the option to purchase an Oceaman Tee shirt.

Race location

Originally , they wanted to do the race at Umm Sequim Beach 2 but till the very last minute they change the venue to another part of the stretch of beach further to the west on google it was called Sunset beach,maybe because it is near to the Sunset Mall.

I arrived Dubai five days earlier from my race, and I had ample time to rest and get used to the place. The good thing is that the weather is similar to Singapore and it was not really that cold.  However, I did not realise that their Subway was actually not very conveniently located, most of the stations are far from the main points of interest and popular destinations.  If you are taking the bus, it is very important that you have the RTA card else you will not be able to board the bus as they do not have a cash option for payment.

The race is in a loop format, so one round is 5km, looking from the map, I did not find that its could pose much difficulty and I could not really gauge the weather and current.

When I reach the race pack collection on the day before the race, I realise that the place was really quite windy, I was quite worried whether the current will be strong.

Race Day

This time round I stayed at a hostel which was quite far from the race venue, but later I realised that the hostel was quite noisy being a shared dorm, the toilet had to be shared among a 7 other people which was not that conducive.  I decided to move to a hotel nearer to the race site and close to the airport because I had an early day flight after the race.

The race starts at 8am , woke up about 6 am, went down to the hotel cafe and had a quick breakfast before heading to the race site.  The place was not that sunny as yet but being a Sunday, there were already many beach goers.  The start point was more impressive than the Cyprus one with a large balloon arc from Red Bull and also real bannered Start and End point.  There were a few vendors around the site to give out drinks and museli bar.  There were no proper bag drop, so basically everyone just left their bags around the tentages provided.  Some of the swimmers did not even bring many items along just their swim gear. I guess I over packed, I even brought some showering items in case I wanna have a change of clothes, but later I realise that there were no bathing facilities around.

The race pack is just a simple drawstring bag with the swim cap and time chip.  There was a nice cooling finisher tee included in the pack too.

Race Proper

I was already feeling a bit nervous when the race started.  I really hope to be able to finish, the organiser said that as long as we can swim 6 Km within 3 hours,they will allow us to continue the race.  This was one comforting information to have.

The race started on the dot at 8 am, the route is in the shape of a rectangle. so there was one length which was quite long and arduous.  I managed the first loop of 5 KM in quite a decent timing and did the 6 around 2 hour 45 minutes.  But I felt the strain and pain coming in after that and my left arm was really painful as I proceeded into my 7 km.  The weather started to be very hot and the sun was scorching. Bits by bits, the 10km swimmers were out of sight, and even the 5km swimmers are getting lesser.  I could only see a few 10 k ladies around me, I think there were only 5 of us left.

We were all struggling, then I could see the sweeper boat slowly driving up.  I thought, no way I am going to get out of the water, I waited a while holding on to the buoy and the lady behind me caught up.  I had a small chat with her before the boat caught up.  We both just insisted that we are definitely not giving up.  Good thing the boat just left us and went ahead to chase the 3 in front of us.  Both of us continued on, in our own struggling ways,  I ended up breast stroking a bit to rest my left arm and fall back on the free style again.

Final Countdown

In my heart I keep telling myself I am not here to give up. The boat turn back again for the both of us, but we were near to the arch for the finish. I used up my last bits to the finish and went ahead of her, when I reach the shore, my legs were all jellied and I was really sun burnt.  Seriously, I hardly have this feeling of just give up.  Even in those trails where it was like so difficult to go down hill ( I am very bad with descending), I somehow have this motivation and urge to finish.  But for the swim, it is really quite helpless and the hot sun is not helping much!  I finally finished at a time of 5:30 ish.  Something which I expected.  A lot of after thoughts from this race, I was just glad I can finish it although timing was a joke, it also meant a DNF at other Oceanman.  I guess from now I will concentrate on doing a proper 1:30-1:45 5 KM before I attempt anymore 10 Km unless it is for personal achievement.

Thank god I changed to a proper hotel , I managed to soak in the tub and relax a bit before my long flight back to Singapore.  The thought of my swimming friends like Richard, Jane all these fasties came to my mind also.  Not sure if I could break this bottleneck, but somehow, as I grew older, I realise being able to still do the sport at any kind of level is considered a blessing!