Mystery Photo

What on earth is PJ doing, faithful blog readers? Leave your guess in the comments, and I'll update this entry with the answer next week. In the meantime, those who know the answer (that means YOU, Richard OW Morgan! and YOU, Ming!) please don't give it away.

The Answer:

Well, the first guess by Erin was the right one. I guess I can't fool her.

I'm going to be in a computer game: Athens 2004 for the PlayStation2, the official game of the 2004 Olympics. The company doing the digital effects for the game, Audio Motion, needed athletes to do motion capture for sequences in the game (this is the same company which did motion capture for movies like Gladiator, Enemy at the Gates, plus computer games like Michael Owen Football and the new Buffy game, to give a few examples). The company is based in the Oxford area, so they hired Oxford University Blues to do many of the sequences. For the swimming sequences, I got the call, and brought along three of my teammates.

We ended up doing a wide variety of sequences. I was the medal presenter for the Women's medal ceremonies; the Gold medal winner for the Men's medal ceremonies; the gymnastics coach; various judges, marshals and referees; and of course, a swimmer. For the swimming sequences we had to warm-up behind the blocks, get up on the blocks, and react to our results after the race. Ironically, the only thing I didn't do was actual swimming simulation: they don't know how to do motion capture for that, so they intend to hand-draw those sequences.

The picture you see above is the harness they created for the in-the-water sequences, when I finish my race and react to my result. However, the harness didn't work out properly- there was too much sideways movement- and after some experimenting, I ended up standing in the harness, with two assistants holding a pole to simulate the lane line, to do my sequences.

In addition they also took my photo, which they promised to digitise and add into the game as the male Singapore athlete.

I guess I found immortality in the Olympics after all- even if it wasn't quite the way I expected!

Why I keep doing what I do

There are mornings in the pool when I stagger out of bed to go to the pool and wonder why I'm still subjecting myself to this after almost twenty years of competitive swimming. Similarly, sometimes after I work so hard for the team and get nothing but complaints from one or two ungrateful team members that I wonder why I keep doing what I do.

Then there are days like yesterday, when it all comes together, and all your hard work pays off in a spectacular way. All the work we've had to do to get pool time, hire a coach, get people motivated, organise events, and so on, became worth it at Bath when the team pulled together and finished a stunning third to qualify for the final of the National Team Championships. We started slowly, with me having to drag the team together to do a team cheer, but momentum built. As it became clear we were in a close battle for third, and only eight points behind Cambridge in second, we began to realise that we had a fighting chance of actually making the final for the first time in over six years. The team rallied together, and we got up and outshouted and outcheered the other teams, making lots of noise and inspiring some fantastic swims from the team. We finished strongly, with a really good swim from the final relay to secure our place in the final.

As we laughed and joked in the minibus on the way back to Oxford, I turned to Roger (our coach) and said, "Y'know, it's days like these that remind me why I'm still doing this after all this time." He laughed, and agreed. It's a wonderful, wonderful feeling, and it's days like these I cherish and will remember for the rest of my life.

The thrill of victory. The satisfaction of a job well done. The camraderie of a close-knit team which fights for each other. The passion of an intense meet. The excitement of expectations for the rest of the season. The pride in knowing that this is a team I built and lead. Whether or not this turns out to be my last year doing this, I'm going to give this everything I've got and go out in a spectacular way.