Written by Ridzwan Rahim
(First ever swim in history from Pulau Redang to Pulau Lang Tengah — 10km)
SO here we are. After four years, we finally come to the last leg of Terengganu Four Swims.
This final swim is from Pulau Redang to Pulau Lang Tengah. It is 10km—the minimum distance required for a marathon swim.
My earlier swims were 17km and 25km long. It was my intention from the start of the project to tackle the harder swims first.
Now even though this one looked short by comparison, my team and I did not assume it would be the easiest. This was because we had been wrong in the past.
Our estimates for this one were 6-8 hours of swimming over a distance of 13-15km. In fact—and I never shared this with anyone—should the sea go crazy again this time, I was prepared to swim up to 20km—twice the course distance.
But I don’t think there was ever any doubt within our team that we would finish this Terengganu Four Swims challenge. We were buoyed by everything good and bad that we experienced in the previous swims. Our confidence level was at an all-time high.
To mark this special occasion, I did several things different. First, I invited a special guest to be one of my observers: Tania Bugo from Sarawak.
Sarawak is a traditional swim powerhouse and Tania was one of the best to ever come from the state. At Sukma (Malaysia Games) 1990, she blitzed her way to a record 13 gold medals at the pool as a 14-year-old.
I was in school and remember vividly reading about her exploits in the newspaper, and just being absolutely awed. I could not swim and was afraid of deep water.
Years later, through the twists and turns of life, we met at a private open water swim event that Tania and her husband Nick were organising at their Sematan Palm Beach Resort in Lundu, Sarawak.
And last weekend, to have Tania on our boat, watching me swim the final swim of the biggest project of my life, was just beyond my wildest dreams.
The second thing I did differently this time was to invite two media representatives to join us on the boat and see for themselves what goes on during a solo swim.
Graig from Twentytwo13 had been our supporter from our very first swim in 2021 across the Perhentian Channel. I became friends with him because of this project. Shannon from Singapore’s The Straits Times was my colleague back when we were both writing feature stories for the New Straits Times.
In this project, we do not simply bring anyone. Whoever comes on the boat with us needs to be seaworthy. Graig and Shannon both fit the bill.
I was keen to see how a media rep might treat our story. Previously, we never brought any media people along. I just sent them our media releases and high-resolution photos and videos produced by my team.
Last but not least, for this special occasion, I had a small group from my squad, MySwim Coaching, join me for a 2.5km night swim from Besut to Pulau Rhu. Most were swimming at night for the first time, and it seems they have caught the bug.
THE SOLO SWIM
The plan was to start swimming at 2am from the west side of Redang and head to Summer Bay Resort Lang Tengah. Last year, during a recce for this swim, Pie and I identified a small beach called Sunset Beach, or Pasir Mak Kepit, for the swim start.
What we did not consider however was that the beach is a turtle sanctuary protected under the law. A few days before departing for Besut, it occurred to me check with the Fisheries Department (operator of the Marine Parks). True enough, we were not cleared to use the beach to start our night swim.
For the first time in this project, I did not have access to a beach to start my swim.
Rather than seeing it as an obstacle, I decided this was an opportunity to try the alternate way under the MSF rules to start a swim—by touching and releasing from part of a natural shore which, in this case, is a rock face in the west side of Redang.
My concern was if the waves were strong that night, I might get slammed against the barnacle-covered rocks and hurt myself.
But all such concerns disappeared the moment we got on our escort vessels and motored to Redang to start our swim. The air was gentle. The sea was as flat as a lake. Our boat skippers were pleased and singing. We had never encountered that condition before in our previous swims.
It was a beautiful night for a swim.
We arrived early. Once we identified a suitable rock face for the starting point, the team asked if I would like to bring the start earlier. I said yes.
Yoshi soon started the countdown. At 1.30am, I pushed away from the rock and began swimming.
The swim was easy for the most part. Swimming at about 60 strokes per minute, I found myself cutting through the water with minimal effort.
Other than starting from a rock, I also tried sighting off of the escort vessel, as opposed to having my kayaker Pie next to me. Sighting off of a kayak is easy. I wanted to know what it’s like to not have a kayaker as a guide. Some parts of the world do not allow kayakers for solo marathon swims.
The team placed a red light on the portside of the escort vessel to help me sight, and I adapted quickly.
At around 4am though, the sea became a little choppy and I had to work harder. My shoulders felt sore. It felt as though I was swimming with a parachute. After a couple of night swims in Terengganu, I’m beginning to see this pattern. According to Pie, it’s because the tides change between 4am-6am. Even with the challenging condition, the team said I was making good progress.
Shortly before 6am, the team informed me we had reached Pulau Lang Tengah and are about to round it to get to Summer Bay Resort on the other side.
We were in no rush. I asked for an extended break to allow Muslim members of the flotilla to perform their Subuh prayers.
With just another 1.4km to Summer Bay Resort, our photographer Aqil started to get a little anxious that we might finish the swim before sunrise. He was hoping to take some shots during that golden hour. So we decided to wait for another 30 minutes. I was doing nothing in the water, just bobbing around. The team decided this was a suitable time to do an interview.
All of a sudden, I vomitted.
I realised I had developed a gag reflex for seawater entering my mouth during feeding. Even a small amount would cause me to want to puke. I noticed this usually happened whenever I drank my favourite purple Gatorade. I think this gag reflex has its roots in the previous swim (Lang Tengah to Perhentian, March 2024) where the sea was rough and I was forced to tread higher in the water to prevent seawater from mixing with my Gatorade. I hope this is not permanent.
I did my interview, and continued swimming with no more incidents. With the rising sun for backdrop, Pie guided me to the beach. We must’ve taken about 30 minutes to reach Summer Bay Resort where the rest of the team members were waiting. The resort treated our team to a breakfast.
So Redang – Lang Tengah Solo Swim 2024 went according to plan. Here’s a list of the people I would like to thank. This swim would not have been possible without their support:
My team: Abdul Razak Abdul Aziz (team leader), Mohd Hafizuddin Amlin (kayaker), Shamsul Hamimi Ab Rahman (lead observer), Tsuyoshi Amzar Sawada (observer), Tania Bugo (observer), Muhammad Fajrul Hazreen Zainal (medic), Nicholus Law Kiun Hwa (feeder), Muhammad Aqil Azfar Khalili (photographer and videographer), Christine Ngh (event coorganiser), and support swimmers: Shauqie Aziz, Hakimi Radzi, Kenneth Chang, and Jo-Ee Gwee.
Supporters: Jeffrey Low, Sugania Vijayan, Mimi Tan, Mini Coach Maliq, Intan Jailani, Katarina Antusova and son Max.
Members of the media: Graig Martyn Nunis of Twentytwo13 and Shannon Teoh of The Straits Times.
Boat crew: Shamzur Azren Che Samaon, Mohd Nazuan Azharrudin, and Abdullah Mamat (skippers), and boat hands Muhammad Adam Harif Mohd Rasib, Muhammad Ibnur Sinar Jusoh, Muhammad Hairy, Muhammad Muhaimin, Mohd Amir Sharifuddin Jawahil, and Rosdi Asmawi.
Sponsors: Kem Damai Besut, Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia, EYECARE, Your Physio, and MySwim Coaching.
Coaches: Alyze Ooi of MySwim Coaching for the two-month intensive training programme and Angelia Ong of CBL Sports for the 5am swims.
Partners: Project Life Aquatic and INOS UMT.
Local authorities: the Terengganu Fire and Rescue Department; the Setiu, Pulau Redang, and Besut Royal Malaysian Police; the Setiu Malaysia Civil Defence Department; the Tok Bali chapter of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency; the Eastern Region Malaysia Marine Department; and the Department of Fisheries Malaysia (operator of Marine Park Centres).
My family: mom Fatihah Isahak; siblings Ridthauddin, Ruwaida, Syaimaa, Aiman, Adham; helper Bibik; in-laws Nik Suhaila, Sharizal, Azlin, Aida; my children Syakir, Zuhayr, Farhanah, Aufa; nieces and nephews Nurin, Aqif, Nuha, Aidan, Aryan.
And all family and friends who have supported me directly and indirectly through all and any part of this journey.
In memoriam: my late dad A. Rahim Abdullah and Coach Pedro Ordenes of Water World Swim San Francisco, both of whom passed away recently at the same age (80). 
Muhammad Aqil Azfar Khalili
