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I speak to lots of people on the Palm who put their business success down to dedication and hard work. I think we can all associate with that, especially in tough times. Less common are the people with the same degree of dedication and hard work in their private lives. Nicola Lee fits the bill with the kind of dedication that I find difficult to even imagine. She was one of the UK’s finest swimmers of her generation, and so it seems natural that she would make her family home on the World’s premier man-made island.
“From 10 years of age training was every day from 5:30 am to 7:30 am, then off to school and back again, and from 8:00pm till 10:00 pm. 4 hours a day, every day. I’m trying to find a nice way to say it, but I can’t. It sounds terrible. It was. I hated training, but I loved winning, the adrenalin - it was like a drug.”
There were other benefits too “Of course we used to fancy some of the guys, and as a teenager, spending half your day with them only dressed in their ‘Speedos’ was great!” as she laughs I’m sure she blushes a little bit. “ But it was also really tough. I’d get bruises, black eyes, all sorts of daft injuries, but I would be back every day.”
Even though she lives a couple of kilometers offshore, not everything makes sense. “Oh no, I don’t like swimming in the sea!” she laughs.“ You don’t know what’s in there. There are sting rays, barracuda, whale sharks and all sorts in there!” It seems like a contradiction to me, but then I never did understand these things. “If there was a nice 25 or 50 meter pool in Dubai then yes, I could swim up and down all day and really get back into things. In the UK they have a Masters circuit for over 35’s. It’s funny it's all the people that you used to compete against when you were a kid, and they all turn up now with husbands and kids, and lives - but I still love to beat them!”
I still can’t believe that she has chosen to live on one of the fronds but is really scared to swim in the sea-there must be a shark attack or something in the past? “No, got stung by a jelly fish once! I know it seems bizarre, but it is just one of those things!"
"It was Rogers job that first made us move here. He had been in Saudi before but it was the first time for me, and we had all the usual concerns about family and friends that we would miss. But now we are a little more settled in Dubai - it’s great. As for the Palm, we loved the island as soon as we saw it, and since we moved here we have gone further. We have bought a Water home on Palm Jebel Ali as a long term investment and we also have a shoreline apartment - so we are very committed to Dubai and the Palm in particular.”
We get back on to the dedication that rewarded her with a clutch of medals, awards and media recognition, “I think the thing that I didn’t realize at the time was not the commitment that I needed to show, but that my poor mum did. She also had to be up at 5 am every morning, and come to every meeting and competition. It was incredible. I taught our daughter to swim but I must say I am pleased she didn’t take it further - it would have killed me!”
Talking to her you can see that she still has a competitive edge, “I can’t watch swimming - I get all agitated and need to be in the pool. I know it’s terrible but I suppose it comes back to having that winning mentality drilled in to you for all those years. Even when I was young I’d specialize in the events that I knew other teams were weak at, to make sure I won as much as possible. Sounds really mercenary now, but I told you, winnings addictive and nobody want to do 200 meters butterfly!”
“It’s a shame that there is not more competitive swimming here. I’m sure I would get involved, and I will even suspend my fear of the sea to do the charity swim around the Burj Al Arab once a year, but only if I finish first!”
