Teen swimmer on his first competitive swim competition
“I have been training all year for the challenge and was happy with my time, as I was 10 minutes quicker in the dam than I was while training,”
For Muhammed Yaaseen Allana, swimming is not a sport, but part of a fitness regime to help him stay active.
“I don’t swim to take part in competitions. For me, swimming is supposed to be relaxing and I do it more for fitness.”
Although he is not a competitive swimmer, 13-year-old Muhammed Yaaseen recently decided to take the plunge and compete in the Discovery Chelmsford Challenge.
“I took part in the challenge two years ago in the 500 metre fun swim division to see if I could do it,” he said.
After his swimming coach’s encouragement, he decided to take it a step further.
“I decided to do the one kilometre after my coach, Raj Ramautar, encouraged me to enter. He said I had the potential to do it.”
Determined to test his abilities in the open waters of Chelmsford Dam, Muhammed Yaaseen accepted the opportunity to swim the daunting challenge.
“It was a tough swim, as the water was muddy and I couldn’t see through it. There were also areas where it was cold and suddenly warm, but I swam with a friend and we encouraged each other the whole way.”
He finished the one kilometre in a time of 27:56.
“I have been training all year for the challenge and was happy with my time, as I was 10 minutes quicker in the dam than I was while training,” he said.
As part of his training for the event, Muhammed Yasseen regularly swam laps of one kilometre.
As he looks to the future, Muhammed Yaseen said while he was not into competitive swimming, he wanted to attempt a surf swim
“I am not a speed swimmer, but an endurance swimmer, so I want to try a surf swim one day as it involves stamina more than speed,” he concluded.
