Please help! In a dilemma...

It was the first day of the dragonboat competition and my team (NUS) was all prepared to give a good fight. We had to go through the preliminary round first before getting into the finals and looking at our competitors from the particular heats event we were in, we knew that getting a first place was not a difficult task to do and were confident of securing a spot in the finals (Just as long as we are top three in the heats, we are able to qualify for the finals). While we were warming up for the race, our coach suddenly came over and called us to gather around him. He decided to abandon the initial plan of getting first for the heats and told us to get second placing instead. His reason was that we could get a better lane for the finals and this would pose as an advantage to us (Though minimal, the water conditions are different for every lane and this would be beneficial or problematic to the team depending on the lane they are in. For example, the water currents are stronger in lane 1 as compared to lane 2 and this means that the rowers in lane 1 need to expend more energy to paddle to overcome the stronger currents).

Although shocked at the sudden change of plans, we decided to adhere to our coach’s decision and ‘try’ to get second instead. We went down and raced but lo and behold, we were too fast for our competitors. They were lagging way behind and we slowed down for them to catch up with us. However, we were nearing the finishing line and seeing that our ‘closest’ rival was nowhere near us, we deliberately slowed down even more and some of us even stopped paddling just before the end, afraid that we would cross the finishing line first. We waited and immediately after our competitor crossed the line we followed suit and came in second.

Our actions were obvious to the spectators watching on shore and had caused quite abit of commotion. People began questioning our actions and motives. Our rivals were even more unforgiving in their comments. They said we were cocky and had no sense of sportsmanship. One of them even blogged about it and this is what he had to say:


And in today's race at Bedok Reservoir.... there was this particular women's team which actually slowed down (maybe they were really tired?) just before the last bouy to let the other incoming team went through first.No idea exactly what's the rationale for doing so - but this sheer act seriously puts down that incoming team, humiliating them. I seriously dont think they deserve this kinda 'treatment'. Sportsmanship is not just about playing fair, but also abt respecting your opponents by putting in your best. So when you stopped/ deliberately slowed down and let the others go past you ....... oh well...

His blog post had generated numerous responses and most agreed with what he said. Here are some of the comments given:

‘indeed. there were gasps and commotions from where i stood and watched. i was appalled too. given the kind of rep that womens team have.’

‘their actions have made a total mockery of the first position. if said team thinks their so damn fast that they can afford to be cocky enough to give up first spot, then shouldnt they be fast enough to overcome whatever disadvantages lane 3 poses?….. …..team of the year (and mayb president's team of the year this year) indeed! this is what nus is teaching their athletes to emulate’

‘i am appalled by how NUS actually slowed down like few metres before the finishing line. I wonder what teachings they circulate within the team. Certainly not admirable.’

My team was definitely not proud with what we had done. However, we kept quiet and tolerated the much talk about us because we knew if we spoke up we might infuriate even more people. Now people see us in a different light and dislike us even more. The conflict and tension between our opponents are even more profound these days.

If you were one of my teammates, what will you have done? Will you have listened to my coach and follow his decision or will you ignore him and just do the best you can for the race? My coach might be angry if you don’t listen to him in the end yet if you listened and get second for the race, people would start criticizing about you, which was what happened.

Furthermore, upon hearing those terrible comments thereafter, what will you have done? Ignore them and just move on? Or speak up to defend yourself? Note that if you speak up, you may still be shot down repeatedly and never-ending arguments will ensue. This would generate a even bigger conflict. So how?

This is a true scenario and up till now I’m still troubled by it whenever I think back, as the conflict is never really solved. Hopefully, I get to hear what solutions you guys have to offer and know what I should have done in this kind of situation.

Do we deserve the medals and trophies in the end??

P.S. Sorry for this long post as this problem requires a lot of explanations with the technical terms and all. If you still don’t understand some parts of the problem please let me know! I apologize for any inconvenience caused! Hah…