How To Improve In Swimming - Irene Chong

Team athlete Irene is an accomplished swimmer having represented Malaysia in synchronized swimming in her earlier years. Here, she tells us how to improve in your swim by incorporating drills into your training. Read on and if you are unsure, drop us a question and we'll get Irene to put your doubts to rest...

My favorite sport in triathlon is swimming. Swimming is the one of the non-impact activity sports, which makes it good as a form of cross-training or recovery workout.  Swimming is harder to pick up compared to cycling and running. To improve swimming, technique is very important. I highly recommend that beginners stick to drills as much as possible early on. My suggestion of the drills:

1) Catch up

Push off the wall in a streamline and start your catch as you normally would. Leave the opposite hand fully extended, even during the recovery. Allow the recovering arm to “catch up” to the extended arm, touching hands before you begin the catch with the arm that was extended. Now, leave the opposite hand fully extended, even during the recovery. Allow the recovering arm to “catch up” to the extended arm, touching hands before you begin the catch with the arm that was extended.

Catching up. Learn more here

Catch up allows the athlete to work on the timing of their breath, a good rotation, and a steady kick. It isolates each arm but allows newer athletes to balance their stroke with less difficulty than they’d have with the opposite arm glued to their side. Catch Up Drill can help correct a short hand entry by forcing the athlete to extend their recovering arm further in an effort to touch their opposite hand.

2) Fingertip Drag Drill

This drill is swimming normal Freestyle while dragging your fingertips along the surface of the water on the recovery. Focus on a high elbow recovery, which ensures proper hand and elbow position at your hand entry. You should also check your body position during this drill, focusing on good side-to-side rotation.

 

Image from Youtube Video Here

An alternate version of this drill involves dragging the entire hand, wrist-deep, through the water. This helps build strength and speed of the arm recovery motion.

3) Closed Fist Swim

This is my favorite drill since it really helps develop a long, efficient stroke. By forming a tight fist around your thumb on the pull, you take your hand out of the equation and force your forearm to pick up the slack. If you've done the drill correctly, when you switch back to regular swimming, you should feel a noticeably more powerful pull. This helps increase the surface area of your arm that's pushing you forward through the water.

 

Learn more here

Drills can be very boring, so you can add some "toys" during the drill training, eg: paddle, fins, snorkel..... Enjoy the drill and stay tuned for the subsequent swimming improvement article to improve on the kick and also on pulling. 

Cross Training - A Cross Discussion

We have all heard the term “cross-training” bandied about whenever the topic of training comes up. What exactly is cross-training? Well, Wikipedia defines it as “an athlete training in sports other than the one that athlete competes in with a goal of improving overall performance”.

Now, the key words here are “other than the one that athlete competes in”. So if you take part in running races primarily, then any other sport/workout you indulge in qualifies as cross-training. However, if you’re a triathlete (competing in triathlon events), then basically swim-bike-run is your core sport and not considered cross-training. So, what do the team athletes indulge in for cross-training (if any)?

We talk to Deo and Eugene, who are primarily runners and Chan and Irene, who are triathletes, to get their viewpoints and what they think of this subject. Over a cup of coffee of course. (conversation color-separated for ease of reading)   

Eugene

Good afternoon fellas! Everybody all comfy and relaxed? How has the start of the year been for you?

Chan:    2014 has been an awesome one so far, I try to get my personal goals clear before I plan for my racing and training program. The upcoming Langkawi Ironman is my biggest event for this year, all the trainings basically gearing towards Ironman preparation. It has been almost a year after graduation, I find challenging to balance between working and sporting commitments.  

Irene:    2014 will be my awesome year. A lot of goal, dream and also PB to be achieve. Look forward n train hard to reach my goal, dream and PB.

Eugene: Yo guys! 2014 has been great so far, both on a personal level as well as the team mechanics. It looks to be a bright year ahead!

Deo: It has been great for me so far, being in the 2ndSkin team among these great athletes. Although I feel a little pressure to match up with their achievements, I’m taking this opportunity to learn as much from them. 

Deo

Today, we talk about cross-training. Why do you think cross-training is important for an athlete?

Chan:    I’m a man of many hobbies, likes and desires, when everything combined together, it makes a good cross training for one another. In my opinion, doing a single sport will build up the strength and power because the workouts are mainly focusing on one particular sport. However, the weakness underlies are those overpowered muscle groups will wear out fast. Cross training keeps the workout exciting and also improves overall fitness; we also get to meet different people from different sports.

Deo:      Although I am not doing other sports other than running, I still feel it is important to cross-train. Just that in my terms, cross-training for runners is not just about doing other sports but also about running on different terrain, you know, trail vs road, elevation vs flat. I cross-train as much as I could firstly, to avoid boredom of doing the same routine or running the same terrain or surface. Secondly, I also do steps training whenever I could to strengthen my lower body. Thirdly, cross-train could help in preventing injuries, for instance running on trails and downhill consistently would improve balance and reduce ankle problems or possibilities of injuries. 

Chan

There is some school of thoughts that to get better at a sport, you should fully focus on it, as in practice makes perfect. Cross training is only applicable when you are injured or in rehabilitation mode. What are your thoughts on this?

Eugene: Some people do follow that principle. Some runners I know only run, and don’t partake in any other sport, workout or hit the gym. Even if they do get into the gym, the treadmill is the only thing they get on. My opinion is of the opposite spectrum, I believe that cross-training actually helps one to get better and it definitely irons out the weaknesses that an athlete may have, or muscle imbalances.

Irene:   Cross training is important for me as it help me to build my strength and also prevent injury. Cross training is my large toy room. I am very enjoy having training and meet up some old friends in there and share the knowledge together.

Deo:     Well, to some extent it is true because it is the only thing you can do when you’re down with injuries that prevents you from doing your core sports. However, cross-training is also a preventive tool to avoid injuries like what I mentioned earlier on how trail running could prevent ankle problems to runners. Going to gym is a must to any athlete to strengthen those core muscles, at least.  

Chan:   Cross training is actually an injury prevention move, because by strengthening the less used muscles which are comparatively less flexible and less strong, the chances for those muscles to get injured is lesser. As a multisport athlete, my training schedule is never boring by having cross training. In fact, my fitness gets better with lesser mileage.

What do you do for cross-training? I understand that for a triathlete, you already work on 3 different sports (or disciplines), is that enough for you?

Irene:    I start my cross training since 2004. Basically during the training I will more focus on building my overall body strength and also some preveting injury exercise, etc, weight training, basic core conditioning, stretching.

Chan:    My non triathlon races are my cross trainings. In year 2013, I’ve done multiple trail running races and adventure racing which involves long distance kayaking, midnight orienteering, mountain biking, high ropes, inline skating and caving. Adventure racing can really stretch the participants to the limit. Unlike a normal 2 hour triathlon races, I had to keep myself moving for more than 24 hours while struggling to stay awake. It was a great experience for me racing in other sports, every sport offers different kind of challenge, so it indirectly build up my confidence to stay competitive in all races that I do.  

Eugene: You can say that I am primarily a runner as 95% of the races I take part in are runs. Therefore, I qualify cycling and weight-training as part of the cross-training I do. For cycling, I work out mainly on the RPM bike in the gym, or on my bike trainer at home. Time is of the essence for me, so I like to keep my sessions short and hard.

Deo:     For me, as I’m still restricted to just running, my cross training definition is about going on different terrain. So, I mix road running and trail running into my schedule. I hope to take up cycling in this very near future, and maybe yoga?

Irene

Have you reaped or seen the benefits of your cross-training? Tell us your story.

Chan:    Due to my busy schedule, I have to squeeze in swim, bike and run to gain mileage for Ironman 2014. Cross training is one of the ways I can cut down mileage while keeping myself fit. For example, every time I run a 15km at lactate threshold pace, my quads and hamstring would be a little sore. So the next day I’ll probably do swimming to work out my upper body or go cycling which is less impact to the feet. To me, triathlon itself is already a cross training.

Eugene:               I’m a believer in cross-training. Late last year in 2013, I went through a bad period with tight lower back and hamstrings. I cut down on my running mileage to a bare minimum, between 10 – 15kms a week and no single run longer than 11km. I supplemented that with lots of time on the bike trainer and that helped to keep my fitness up but the pain down as I primarily utilized a different set of muscle group. With that, I still managed to cover 50kms at the year-ending MR25 Ultramarathon in Singapore on 15km running mileage a week.

For a pure runner, what do you think is the best cross-training sport/workout? Similarly, for a pure cyclist?

Eugene: For a long distance runner, I think cycling helps in terms of fitness as well as strengthening the heart, lungs and evens out the muscle imbalance in long distance runners. For sprinters and short distance runners, definitely weight-lifting for the explosiveness. Cyclists are a different story altogether. My opinion is running doesn’t really make a cyclist better, I’d say hit the gym and use the rowing machine or an elliptical trainer. Upper body workouts also recommended for long rides on the saddle.

Chan:    Lung training is a good workout for all sports. Once you get your VO2Max improve, a new PB is awaiting you. In addition, lung trainer is a small pocket size training tool, can be carried anywhere and can be done anytime.

Deo:      I always believe that triathlon is a sport that was introduced for reason. You can always put three different sports and called it triathlon but the most notable triathlon sports are swimming, cycling and running. So, I deeply believe that these three disciplines complement each other. And with many people taking yoga lessons these days, I started to feel that yoga could be a great cross-training ‘sport’ especially with the breathing technique as well as improving our balance.

Irene:    I would say core conditioning is very important for all the sport. Every session of cross training I will have at least 10min core training.

OK, last question peeps. How much time do you think one should spend on their primary sport vs cross-training? Give us a ratio.

Deo:      Going back to my road running vs trail running, the ratio would be 50:50. But, once I take up cycling, I plan to have 70:30 running to cycling ratio, at least.

Irene:    for me, as a triathlete vs cross training, the ratio be 90:10. I will have my cross trainingbtwice a week not more than 1 hour per seesion.

Eugene:  I’d say it depends on the individual and what their goals and targets are. If I were racing competitively, I’d look at a 80:20 ratio. If my main intentions are to maintain fitness and/or surpass personal bests, then I’d look at somewhere 60:40 to keep things mixed up and not plateau.

Chan:    Agree with Eugene. I think at competitive level, an athlete still need to focus on building up strength for their primary sport, cross training is something supplementary.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject. Have a good day everyone!

Irene:    Kamshahamida ^^

Chan:    Thanks =)

Deo:      Thanks!

Eugene:  Chow!

GRILLED AND SERVED - TEAM PRINCIPAL EUGENE

Team 2ndskin was formally established in Dec 2012 and it has been a whirlwind year for the team as we close in on our first 12 months as a unit. Along the way, we have interviewed all the team athletes one by one for you to get to know them better. As we draw a close to our first year and head on down towards 2014, let’s have a heart-to-heart chat with Team 2ndskin Principal Eugene and see what he has to say about the team….

Good morning, Eugene. We normally start off our athlete profile with some background. Let’s do the same for you. Tell us your story.

Good morning! I’m not sure exactly where to start, but here goes. I have a loving wife and 2 beautiful daughters who I come home to every day. I hold a 9-6 job in a dynamic and fast-paced industry that keeps me on my toes all the time. Being ambitious and fueled by passion, I run the 2ndskin brand together with my awesome buddy Jason and at the same time, I’m a strategic partner/owner in a retail brick & mortar bike store. If that wasn’t enough to fill my plate, I’m also the Team Principal of Team 2ndskin, a group of committed and passionate athletes who have become like family to me. I also indulge in quite a bit of running and cycling (more out of passion and fitness rather than competition) and I strive to keep myself fit as much as I can.

And we keep hearing excuses from people who say they don’t have time to exercise! How do you juggle your time with all your commitments?

I live on 2 principles - Prioritizing and Multi-tasking. My brain only gets to sleep when I sleep. I plan my day and what I need to accomplish when I go for my early morning runs/rides. Most of the time, I brain-storm business strategies or team directions during my workouts. I do the same on my drive to work, during lunch hour and on my drive home. Its mentally exhausting, but I love what I do, so it keeps me going.

At home, we don’t have any domestic help, so I take my fair share of household chores and squeeze in the family time. There’s honestly not much I can fit into 24 hours a day, so I make do and prioritize. It has worked so far for me.

Fitness is a way of life

You say you enjoy running and cycling. Tell us more about that. Have you been running / cycling all your life?

No I’ve not. It has been a pretty recent indulgence. I won’t go so far as to say that I have been an athletic person from young, I was always a bit on the chubbier side (for a better term!) all my life. I did represent my school in handball and was always active in intra-school sports. Most people don’t know this, but I ran my first half marathon at PBIM in 1995 at the age of 16. My passion in life has always been football and I played some competitive football during my university years. However, in 2003 and 2005 I injured my knee playing football and I underwent surgery twice to my left knee, a major one too (reconstruction of the ACL). After the 2^nd surgery, the orthopedic surgeon advised me to give up multi-directional movement sports (football, squash, tennis, badminton, etc). After rehabilitation, I decided to take up running and cycling for fitness and I have not looked back since.

All Team 2ndskin members are very strong athletes in their individual ways. Do you feel that as the Team Principal, you need to be on par or better than them in their sport, to gain their respect?

I think it’s a misconception that the team leader needs to be better than the team members in terms of skill or capacity. I know I’m not better than any one of them (If I am, then they’d better buck up! LOL). My role is a strategic one. I plan, formalize and strategize what the team should do and achieve. I look at things in a high-level manner and I try my best to give the best to the team and try to make their achievements recognizable. I work with partners and sponsors and create engagement for the team. I know the team respects me for what I do and that is enough for me to carry this through. All said and done, I have to walk the talk too, so I definitely cannot lag too far behind in terms of training and competition, so I put in my fair share of training as well. I also take a lot of advice from the team athletes when it comes to training and nutrition and I must say it has served me very well!

The world is your playground. Have fun!

There’s a good mix of gender and age in the team. Did that come along naturally, or was that planned?

You can say that it was naturally planned. Haha.

My intention from the start when the plan to formalize Team 2ndskin took place was to have a group of people, who could reach out to the community and this group of athletes has to be easily embraced by the public. All of Team 2ndskin athletes have a story to tell; their backgrounds are diverse and their experiences different and their strengths individual. Put them together though, they are the Super Six.

That was the high-level mould. Delving deeper, we definitely needed several seasoned athletes and those who have experience on their side, to guide the younger athletes and upcoming ones. Therefore, it was practical to have a mix of younger team members with lots of potential to tap on, and seasoned team members who have lots of experience to learn from. Our youngest athlete is only 24 this year and our oldest is 36, so with an age gap of only 12 years, we’re not really experiencing the generation gap and the synergy within the team is very very good. I try to play a role as a mentor to the younger team members as well, and they know that they can come to me for guidance as well as advice in all aspects of life, not just sports.

In the last 12 months, do you think Team 2ndskin has progressed in the manner that you had envisioned it to?

Honestly, I think we have come a long way in the last 12 months. We have exceeded my initial expectations for the team, but we’re definitely not resting on our laurels. More and more people are recognizing the team now and that is a good thing. Since the start of the year, we have had increasing numbers of people who have asked the team for advice, tips and generally opinion on running, nutrition and gear and we welcome all queries and approach without any restrictions. We will endeavour to provide as accurate information to the best of our experience and knowledge at all times.

Look at Ee-Van, he is always sharing information, training tips and advice without restriction. People should value him for his efforts. Roy is a 2x stroke survivor who has gone on to finish a 160km ultra. How many ‘clean’ medical history runners can claim to have done 160km? Chan juggles heavy responsibility and commitment as a Navy Officer and keeps himself in tip-top condition year in year out. Annie is a role model for women in running and her achievements speak for itself. Steven is the most humble person I know, who has bags of experience behind him. He has done what others only dream of and has lots to share. Irene lives the life where many of us do not dare. She is putting her passion in sports ahead of her studies and she is committed to her dream to turn professional one day. My vision is to have this team of outstanding individuals inspire people to live a healthy and active lifestyle and that juggling a full time job, family commitments and passion for sports is very achievable.

This year we have accomplished several good initiatives. Project CARES was a success for both beneficiaries, Dignity For Children Foundation and NASAM. We will definitely continue with this for 2014 and hopefully beyond. We had an opportunity for direct engagement with runners at our support station at MWM as well as a fitness talk we conducted that was organized by Garmin Malaysia. Both were also well received and that was very encouraging.

2014 will be very challenging. Internally within the team, 2013 has been a bar that has been set to a level that we will want to surpass. Fingers crossed, we will.

Very encouraging indeed! Am sure it would not have been possible without support. Tell us about Team 2ndskin sponsors and partners. How has the relationship been with them?

I am very grateful to our 3 main sponsors for 2013, Skechers Malaysia, Hammer Nutrition (Global Aerotech) and Garmin Malaysia (AECO Technologies) for believing in us and supporting us 110% all the time. When Team 2ndskin started out in Dec 2012, we were “nobodies”, so to speak. Skechers, Hammer and Garmin are all giants in their respective industry, with a long history of outstanding products, but they took the time to listen to us and they believed in our team vision and plan. Throughout the year, they have been behind us all the way and have never put pressure or unreasonable expectations on the team. Midway through 2013, we hooked up with a local setup, Kraftfit Compression who are also a bunch of passionate sports people and live the same dreams and visions as us. We are also proud to be associated with Kraftfit and hope to help them establish themselves as a brand to be reckoned with in the future.

I am lucky to come into contact with the people behind Skechers, Hammer, Garmin and Kraftfit in Malaysia, both on a working as well as personal level as they are some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. I take this opportunity to thank all Team 2ndskin sponsors for 2013 for the supply of excellent products and support as well as being a pillar of strength for the last 12 months.

Will they still be supporting Team 2ndskin for 2014?

Wouldn’t you like to know! For now, I’m keeping all potential partnerships and sponsorships for the team for 2014 under wraps. None of the team athletes know about next year’s plans yet so don’t even think about trying to pry information from them! I will definitely make an announcement come end Dec when we launch the 2014 plan.

Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.

Guess we will just have to wait for that! So what are your plans for Team 2ndskin for 2014?

I’m definitely looking at a higher level of engagement with the sports community for 2014, especially with beginners and those who have just started running / cycling / fitness as a lifestyle. The plan is to have several community programs organized by Team 2ndskin that will help beginners to the sport embrace the lifestyle and continue the momentum. This is definitely one of the ways the team can give a little back to the community. I have done something similar on a personal level and smaller scale with a group of runners who do 10km and were stepping up to the 21km distance. They have been very receptive and appreciative of advice and guidance I have given to them and I would like to take that to a larger level with the community, via Team 2ndskin.

On a more individual level with the team athletes, I am looking at assisting them to reach their potential and to achieve the goals they have set for themselves in 2014. There will be more one-to-one sessions that I will have to see which areas that I can help them with to the best of my capacity.

It looks like exciting times ahead in store for the team. What about yourself? What are your plans for 2014 outside of Team 2ndskin?

Yes it is! I am very excited for 2014 to kick off for Team 2ndskin and I believe the team will embrace the challenges ahead in a positive manner.

On a personal front, I would definitely like to spend more quality time with my family, take more breaks and smell the roses a little bit more. I also hope that 2ndskin as a brand keeps growing and will reach further shores and gain more prominence. I can definitely tell you that I have a big surprise in store for 2014, but it is too early to say anything right now. Will definitely share the news when the time is right!

Thank you very much for taking time out for this. Before we end this chat, is there anything else you want to share or say?

One last thing…. Jason, EV, Annie, Chan, Roy, Steven and Irene; I am very proud to know all of you and what you continuously do inspire me. Thank you all for being a part of this team. It is definitely my honour to walk down this road with each and every one of you. Let’s make 2014 memorable!

Racing In Skechers GoMeb

Irene is the Team's latest addition and represent Malaysia in triathlon. Here is her quick (she is fast on the swim, bike and run) review of the Skechers GoMeb.

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Racing In Skechers GoMeb aka GoSpeed

By Irene Chong.
My current (well, now ex) pair of racing shoes has been racing together with me for almost 2 years and we have gone through together more than 10 races in various countries during that period of time.  I have been using them in all my 10km-11km run leg of my triathlon races and even in training runs sometimes. With that kind of mileage and hard racing done, it was time to get it retired and pull on something new. I have been racing in a pair of Asics and now that I’m with Team 2ndskin, I was very enthusiastic to try out Skechers Performance range of shoes. J

I sent a picture of my old racing shoes to my Team Principal, Eugene (to show him how bad the condition my racing shoes already are… LOL), and thanks a lot to Eugene who managed to get me a pair of new shoes sponsored by Skechers (Thanks Skechers!!!) 3 days before I was due to go to Hong Kong for my race. I only had one chance to try on the shoes during my last session of training at the MSN track before I went off. However, even in that one session, I could feel that the shoes were meant to go fast and I immediately liked the feel of it.

When I dropped by Skechers Store at Pavillion, I tried on a few models to see which ones suited me best. My team mates in Team 2ndskin had recommended me to try out the GoBionic Ride and GoSpeed/GoMeb. I tested them both and also the GoRun 2 as well as the GoRun Ride. I felt that the GoRun 2 and GoRun Ride would make very good training shoes for me (more on that next time!), but upon slipping on the GoSpeed, I knew they were the shoes for me. The GoSpeed (sounds cool and fast) fit me perfectly. It was very lightweight compared to my old racing shoes and also very flexible. I chose the red and yellow colour combo pair because i wanted my shoes to be easily spotted and seen in the transition area at triathlon races.

The first thing, besides the very light weight, that caught my attention in this shoe is the black plate (carbon-like) under the shoes at the sole area. I found out the carbon plate gave the shoes some stiffness and stability during my run. The inner of the shoes was very smooth and seamless and it helped me get in the shoes faster during transition in a race where every second counts. This pair of very breathable shoes also helped avoid my feet from sweating a lot especially when racing under hot sun with the heat coming up from the road! The best thing about the shoes is the perfect snug fit for my feet where there is no extra space within the shoe that allow my feet to move around, that can cause formation of 3-4 blisters during my race (which is a norm for me). 

Customized GoSpeed with quick laces for faster transition

One of the most important things that allow a triathlete to have a fast transition is the SHOE LACES. In all my years of racing, I have experienced many occasions fiddling with my shoe laces; therefore I am purely using quick laces for my racing shoes from now on. So, I customized my shoe laces (I know is a bit expensive for the shoe laces which cost me about RM80 for a set but it does make my shoes look cool n perfect!).

My shoes’ first battlefield was in Hong Kong at the Lantau ITU Triathlon Asian Cup. I experienced some blisters from the shoes but its not at the same location which I always experience with my old shoes. It was expected, as I only had 1 session of training to adapt to the shoes, so I didn’t realize where the possible hotspot could be. The forming of the blisters is just because of the rubbing from the shoes with the side of my feet in the last 3km of the race (and it wasn't that bad compared with my previous shoes, which I will start getting the blisters after 2km into the race).

Knowing then where the slight friction would occur, I applied some Vaseline at the inside of the shoe where it was rubbing my feet in HK before my race at Nusajaya International Triathlon  and I was free from any blisters for the first time in a race in 2 years! I was so very happy that I continued wearing my shoes and walking around while waiting for my prize presentation. All I can say is, I am very thankful to Skechers for providing me with an excellent pair of racing shoes that fit me exceptionally well and I am very comfortable racing in.

Now, I cannot wait to try on other pairs of Skechers Performance series shoes, especially for training runs, in hope that I will be able to perform better and improving my run timing. J

TEAM 2NDSKIN ATHLETE PROFILE – IRENE CHONG SEE WIN

The latest athlete to join Team 2ndskin is a young, energetic lady who is fully committed to her sport. Say hello to Irene Chong.

Irene in Team 2ndSkin Kit

Irene is a member of the national elite triathlon team and top female triathlete in the ITU category in Malaysia. She trains hard, swims like a dolphin and rides a road bike like a train. We get into her head to get some tips on how to be a top triathlete and what keeps her motivated in her choice of sport.

1. First up Irene, let us start with you telling us about yourself. Where are you from and what do you do now? Maybe you can also share some family background?

I'm from a Siew Bao town- Seremban. Currently I'm studying at University Malaya. In my family, I'm the only one crazy in sports. I have 3 younger sisters and 3 of them are all crazy in studies and I have 1 younger brother.

2. Which of your triathlon disciplines did you first start with – swimming, cycling or running? Tell us about it.

I ventured into my 1st triathlon at A'Famosa triathlon in 2007 as a relay swimmer. Then slowly I started to race in sprint category for 2 years before I started my first Olympic distance triathlon at PD international triathlon. I started swimming at 5 years old and my first swimming competition was when I was 7 years old. So since I was young I was already a mermaid!

3. Wow! You have been swimming since you were very young. Do you enjoy swimming? Some people find the sport boring in that you swim laps over and over again. How do you manage that?

I enjoy swimming very much. As I said I'm a mermaid since I was young, I like to be in the swimming pool. I feel the freedom when I swim, I can play around in the pool without fear that I will injury myself compared with other sports. I feel peaceful when I swim and i can clam my mind from the stress. Sometimes I will feel bored in swimming laps over and over again. When I have this feeling, I will find some swimming kaki (partner) to swim together or otherwise I will join my university swimming team for training together. I have team training 4 days a week and that will help me from getting bored too.

4. We hear that you represented Malaysia in synchronized swimming? Tell us about it.

Haha....about synchronized swimming!! I represented Malaysia in synchronized swimming in 2004. I went to the Doha Asian Games and World Cup in Japan in 2006. Synchronized swimming is not very popular in Malaysia and there are not much opportunity for competition in Malaysia. If want to go overseas for competition, we have to train really hard to fight for a place because normally the national association will only send 8 swimmers for team event while during that time we had 16 swimmers in the team. That simply means you must be really very good only you will get to go for competition.  I stopped indulging in this sport in 2007 and picked up triathlon in the same year.

Irene In Action. Photo belongs to Irene

5. And now, you’re a national triathlete with Malaysia’s elite triathlon team. Do you feel pressure every time you represent the country?

I love to enjoy the race and I like to finish. I always try to race with a big smile, so I wouldn't race with pressure (I don't want too). I don't care what people think about me but I will try my very best to race hard.

6. Tell us how a weekly training program for you looks like. Do you train every day? Which discipline do you focus on the most?

I have training everyday even on Sunday. I will focus more on swimming and running. Swimming is my stronger discipline but I still need to improve so that I can easily keep up with world ranked triathletes. Running is very important too as the running can make me win or lose the race, because running is the last discipline and most of the ITU triathletes run very fast.

Making Malaysia Proud. Photo from Irene

7. How do you keep yourself motivated in training day in day out? What keeps you going when training gets tough?

In my life, I met a very good mental teacher who taught me not to give up easily and hold on until the very last. I always remember this when I have hard time during my training. He told me that we will always experience hardship during the process but after finishing the process, I will get double or more reward from my hard work. That thought, is what keeps me going everytime.

8. If someone wants to take up the sport of triathlon, do you think a swimmer, cyclist or runner will have the most advantage in terms of improving at triathlon? Why?

In my opinion, a swimmer will have a little more advantage. This is because it is not easy to improve swimming if the technique is not right and is not easy to learn swimming, compared with running and cycling. But personally, as a swimmer, I have to work hard to improve my running ability.

IJM 10km. Irene first podium for Team 2ndSkin

9. What is your personal goal or target for 2014? What do you hope to achieve?
My personal goals for 2014 are:
1) Wellington World University Games, New Zealand in March
2) Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Great Britain in July
3) 17th Incheon Asian Games, Korea in September
I don't target any podium positions yet but all those "big" games are very important for me to get more experience and to learn more from the top ranked athletes to aid me in getting ready for 2015 Sea Games in Singapore.

10. If someone who has been doing triathlon for a while, comes up to you and says that he/she wants to improve his/her Olympic distance timing, what sort of advice would you give?

First, I think he/she has to improve their swim timing, try to come out from the swim with the lead group so that they have a group for him/her to cycle with, and work together on the bike. He/she has to improve on the running timing too as the running is the last discipline that can make a lot difference on the timing. Proper swimming techniques are important as swimming is all about resistance in water. Speed-work and interval running are also very good training techniques to improve speed.

11. Lastly, before we wrap things up, tell us a little bit about being the new girl on the block with Team 2ndskin. How are the other athletes and what are are your thoughts about the team?

I love and am very proud to be in the team. All the team members are so cool. We are ever willing to share our experience, motivate each other and also cheer for each other. Thanks a lot to our team sponsors - Skechers, Hammer Nutrition, Garmin, Kraftfit and 2ndskin for making us such a good team. I would like to stay on with the Team 2ndskin for 2014 and make the team proud, make the team's name rise and shine!!

With that, we come to a close and we wish Irene all the best in her next race which is the Asian Cup in Hong Kong.

Stay tuned for more Team 2ndskin updates.

Introducing Irene Chong for Team 2ndSkin

Team 2ndskin is proud to announce the latest member and team athlete under Team 2ndskin 2013 umbrella, Irene Chong!

Irene is an established triathlete and has represented Malaysia in numerous ITU sanctioned races around the region, most recently last weekend in Singapore where she came in the top ten in the elite category. She is also the FHL Sports Sentul Race Series race leader for the women's category and a well-known speedster on 2 wheels.

Irene specializes in the Olympic Distance in triathlon and is an accomplished swimmer. We will reveal more about her sporting prowess in her upcoming athlete profiling interview. :)

For now, lets welcome her into the fold and we wish her all the best in her upcoming races for the rest of this year!