Swim [re]Cap

Oh, I am so behind on blogging.  I must catch up for the sake of you, dear reader, and for my next blog book.  Today has been a relatively wide open Saturday in terms of family activities, so I've spent the morning going though my mile-high digital stack of pictures.  I got through some swimming pictures, so I thought I'd post a recap of our summer swim team experience for your Saturday afternoon viewing pleasure.  I mean, if you're not at the pool right now, you may as well have a look at some great kids who were at the pool this summer!  Quick overview of our experience:

- Late spring: I still had 3 non-swimming kids (unless you count sort of gliding under the water and moving with random body motions)

- Late spring: Had enough of our crazy neighborhood pool (with it's lack of shallow area and abundance of glass-bottle beer-drinking swimmers and prohibition of swim diapers) and joined a nearby swim and tennis club

- Late spring: Forked over the money for my two non-swimming kids to spend their summer competing against able swimmers.

- Beginning of Summer: Spent every morning at the pool, watching my two non-swimmers become sort-of-swimmers during 6 And Under practices. Hi-Hat was allowed to "swim down" during practices so he could learn to actually swim...

 - Early Summer: Experienced the nail-biting drama of time trials, praying that my kids could make it 15 meters without me having to toss the camera to dive in and save them.  I didn't have to.

- Early Summer: Got over myself thinking that writing "Eat My Bubbles" in black sharpie on my kids' bare skin was weird and somewhat rude and went searching through my office supply drawer for markers.  For the sake of team spirit (honestly, it occurred to me that my kids would probably be last in their heats anyway, so nobody would actually be there to eat their bubbles...;)

- Early Summer: First swim meet.  Hi-Hat opted to sit out until he felt confident that he could swim the full length of the pool with other 7-8s.  Fancy experienced the thrill of earning swim ribbons and became completely hooked on the sport!  And, she successfully swam backstroke during a meet after having never tried it before.

- Summer: Discovered that meet nights run VERY long, and that summer storms only occur on nights when we are at a meet, causing excruciating delays and very late bedtimes.  And realized just how hot summer nights can be!

(thought it's not so bad once the sun goes down)

- Summer: Had Hi-Hat do a week of one-on-one lessons with one of his coaches, and by the end of the week he was swimming full laps no problem.  Also proved to be pretty good at butterfly!  Hi-Hat decided to participate in the third swim meet, swimming two events and feeling quite confident.  Nobody was eating his bubbles, but I was thrilled! :)

- Mid-Summer: Strokes are getting smoother, times are getting faster, and Fancy started winning her heats!  The lure of a tie-dyed ribbon increased her love of the sport! Hi-Hat increased to swimming three events.

(The face of a heat winner)

- Mid-Summer: Diving skills have not yet taken off, but we have two confident, capable swimmers!

- Mid-Summer: Summer evening storms cut a few meets short, so Hi-Hat never got to swim all 4 events like he wanted to, but Fancy accomplished her goal of winning all three of her heats during one meet.   

- Mid-Summer: Summer swim team season comes to an end, and we now have two great swimmers who have learned the lessons of overcoming anxieties and trying new things, practice and perserverence, and individual and team spirit.  I learned that my little kids are becoming bigger kids and am learning to have confidence in their abilities to do something on their own.  I appreciate how unique they each are - Fancy with her indominable spirit and drive to win, and Hi-Hat's cautious nature and his own growing confidence in his abilities to try and accomplish diffiuclt things. 

Go AQUABEARS!