Swimming beats back pain
Faced with the choice of a lifetime of back pain, or painful surgery to fix it temporarily, Alec Stuart took a third path: he dived into swimming. That was 3½ years ago, when Stuart, now 50, discovered he had ruptured a disc in his back. He had suffered from back pain for most of his life.
Faced with the choice of a lifetime of back pain, or painful surgery to fix it temporarily, Alec Stuart took a third path: he dived into swimming. That was 3½ years ago, when Stuart, now 50, discovered he had ruptured a disc in his back. He had suffered from back pain for most of his life.
"Doctors suggested surgery, but I did some research and found out that 10 years after people have the surgery, the pain returns," says Stuart, who runs the Hong Kong-based design and architectural firm, Alexander Stuart Designs.
"You go through all that cost, drama and recovery from the operation and it makes no difference in the long term."
Stuart had a better idea: he started swimming. "I knew swimming would be good for one's back, and I always liked swimming," he says. But it was a painful process. He battled through the pain to do six laps in his first swim. Within eight months he was swimming 2km to 3km a day.
Next month he goes even further when he takes part in Clean Half, a 15km solo swim around the south of Hong Kong Island on October 11.
His transformation from student into a competitive swimmer has surprised everyone, including himself. "It was unthinkable, and it was quick. Within a month of swimming daily, I knew I would overcome my back problems.
Once I ran into a floating ladder and thought it was a shark
"There's a natural twisting motion in swimming which is good for the body. Swimming also helped me build my core and trunk to take the weight off my back, and support it."
Soon after joining the swim team of the local Tritons Triathlon club, Stuart started competing, and hasn't looked back. "It has been a revelation to me, as a person advancing into middle age, that I can compete, and not do badly, and that I can still improve," he says.
That I overcame the back pain and benefited from increased fitness. Also, the sense of being physically capable of much more than I thought. Running again seemed impossible - I was imagining the impact - but once I strengthened my back muscles, it has also been possible. What has surprised me most is the fellowship of triathletes and swimmers that I now consider my friends; the sense of community in open water swimming. That, and how much I love competition.
It's meditative; one stroke at a time. When I'm swimming, I don't think of anything but swimming. It's my focus. If you're swimming successfully, you really can't be thinking about work, your family, or any troubles. Swimming allows me to live in the moment.
Swimming - specifically, swimming in competitions - is empowering. If you feel good, and you're improving, that's motivating. It's upbeat and makes you happy. And that has beneficial knock-on effects - in work and in life.
I'd love to compete in the Bosphorus open water swim in Istanbul. The Bosphorus is a huge shipping channel, but they close the route to use it as the course. It's 6km. Hong Kong has some incredible open water races, and there's a growing subculture of open-water swimmers here. This weekend, a group will be doing a nine- to 10km swim. There are some wonderful places to swim on the south of the island.
You can't be afraid of sharks or things floating in the water. Once I ran into a floating ladder and thought it was a shark. It freaked me out. But you just have to relax and focus.
I'm predicting I'll complete it in five hours, but I'm hoping to do it in less.
I never went back.
