Swim Team

Jersey #1 joined a swim team for the summer.

I admit that I am proud.

I swam on a swim team my last two years of high school.  I also worked as a lifeguard those summers and also in college.  Swim team and life guarding were so much fun.  I have many great memories of those times.  I am excited that my own daughter is getting such an opportunity.

It almost happened by accident.  It started with a conversation with other Moms about swim lessons at the city pool.  One Mom mentioned her kids were going to join a swim team instead.  Another Mom told me about a swim team during the school year.  I was still planning for swim lessons for my kids for this summer.

Then, when I went to check out the website for the swim lessons, I realized that Jersey #1 had already completed all of the levels of lessons offered this summer.  The full program has additional levels, but it does not look like they are being offered right now.  She is already able to swim laps with freestyle (front crawl) and backstroke.  So, I started to wonder if I should sign her up for a swim team already.

There are a lot of swim teams in our town.  I have no clue where to start, or which to join.  There are multiple leagues, so not all of the teams compete against each other.  It was a bit overwhelming at first.  I remembered that the family of one of Jersey #1's AWANA friends swam on a swim team.  I emailed her Mom and asked which team they liked.  She gave me the team name and a link to their website.

As soon as I read the name of the team, I shook my head and laughed.  I was already familiar with this team.  My former boss, who I worked for before I had children until shortly after Jersey #2's heart surgery, was very active in this same team.  She has two sons, and the oldest was swimming on this team when I worked for her.  I remember her sharing stories about having to get up early on a Saturday for a swim meet, and such things.  Her oldest son is in college already, but her youngest son is still in high school, and still swims on this team.  I contacted her and mentioned I was looking into it.  What a small world.  It will be fun to see her again at practices and meets.

This team is going to keep us super busy.  They practice 5 days a week.  There are going to be times when they practice twice a day.  It will be interesting to see what meets are like.

Keeping the younger kids entertained at a pool, where they are not allowed to swim, is a challenge.  One day I brought school work.  One day, I let them bring books and electronics.  Each day, they remind me how much they enjoy swimming too.  I remind them how they are going to have swim lessons this summer.  There is a park near the pool, so I am thinking we will start going there during practice.

Jersey #1 is thrilled to be on the team.  She already has quite a few friends on the team, from AWANA and church.  She is not a very strong swimmer though.  She gets discouraged by how slow she is, compared to some of the other kids.  I had to tell her that I was a slow swimmer too.  Some of us love sports, but are just not naturally talented athletes.  The nice thing about individual sports like swimming, is that you are competing against your personal best.

It is easy to encourage her, because I can already see improvement in Jersey #1 just from the past week of practice.  She also appears to be hitting a growth spurt, because suddenly she is taller and thinner than before.  At the same time, her upper arm strength is improving.  I was amazed she can do push-ups.  

From the looks of things at practice, I am guessing she will swim backstroke.  That appears to be her strongest stroke right now.  We will have to see how things go when she learns the turns.