Swim Team Awards

Jersey #1 missed the last swim meet and the swim team awards this season, due to our travels.  

The last swim meet was a district meet, where swimmers were attempting to qualify for finals.  The top 3 swimmers would advance to the finals meet.  We were very confident that she was not at any risk of making the top 3.  We are certainly proud of her achievement all season, but she was just not that fast.  Yet.  I chatted with her about it, and she agreed that the Navajo Nation Mission Trip was much more important.

The end-of-season awards potluck was scheduled right at the start of our church camp week.  Once again, we chatted.  Jersey #1 is much better at prioritizing her time and activities than I am.  I try to do all things, ignoring limitations.  She is smarter about picking between two activities that fall on the same date, without any drama or guilt.  I am amazed by this.    She chose church camp, and was not concerned about missing the swim team potluck.

It turned out that we had friends on the swim team, who were also joining us at camp.  They decided to attend the end-of-season swim team potluck, and arrive at camp a day late.  They were kind enough to pick up Jersey #1's awards for her.

It was no surprise that the coaches gave each player some sort of award.  This season, it was a certificate that was titled in a way that described the swimmer.  Jersey #1 received the "I Can Do This" award certificate, due to her willingness and determination to swim more events during the meets, and to learn new skills, such as diving off the starting block and the butterfly stroke.  It was sweet that her coaches recognized her good attitude about such things.

It was a complete surprise to learn that Jersey #1 also earned a trophy for being the "Most Improved" swimmer in her division.

When announcing the award, the Head Coach explained that Jersey #1 was a swimmer who started the first week of practice looking like she was going to drown after 3 strokes.  By mid-season, she was winning heats during meets.  

It was a dramatic improvement, but I did not realize it at the time.  That trophy, and the Coach's comments, really opened my eyes to how hard Jersey #1 worked and how far she progressed during this one swim season.  It was awesome.

I am proud.

  

Swimming Videos

Much to my absolute shock, my 3-year old showed me that he can swim backstroke.

We were at the pool for Jersey #1's final swim team practice.  I was having Jersey #2 practice swimming backstroke, because she is preparing to swim in her first meet, a meet where family members can swim too.  Jersey #5 tells me, "I can swim on my back too."  And he was serious.

Not to be outdone, Jersey #4 showed me that she can swim backstroke, and she can swim on her front (doggie paddle).  We started at one end of the pool, and she swam approximately 18 meters on her own. She almost reached the end of the 25 meter lane.  She did this with backstroke and doggie paddle (on separate occasions, of course).  I had no idea she could swim that far.

I am completely amazed by the swimming progress of my children this summer.

I realize there are kids who learn to swim at very young ages.  But, I just never expected that of my own children.  I am seeing how spending a lot of time at the pool really helps develop swimming skills and comfort quickly.

Jersey #1 progressed at an alarming rate in just 2 months of swim team.  Her siblings really progressed too, because they had more opportunity to be in the water during some of her practices.  Jersey #2 and Jersey #3 picked up their swimming skills fast enough that I registered them for their first swim meet.  They will swim backstroke in a meet with Jersey #1's team, where family can swim as well.  It will be neat to see.  And, then, Jersey #4 and Jersey #5 both learned to swim on their own this summer.  I am just in awe.  I suppose this is one of those areas where it is a benefit to have older siblings in a sport, and all that extra time to practice and imitate them.

Jersey #2 has made a point to work on the skills that her big sister struggles with.  It started with the dive-starts.  Jersey #1 often dove into the pool knees first, because she was too nervous to bend her body to go head first into the water.  The night that she actually figured out how to go in hands/head first, Jersey #2 asked if she could try too.  Jersey #2 immediately entered head first,  on her first attempt.  She has not had any trouble going into the water knees first.  She was mighty proud of herself for that.

The next skill that Jersey #1 has been working on is flip turns.  I told her to practice doing front flips underwater, to practice.  Jersey #2 took that to heart, and started working on flips in the water.  She was mighty proud when she figured out how to flip herself, before her big sister learned that skill.

Then, she learned how to flip turn.  It happened to be the same night that Jersey #1 also learned to flip turn in practice, so she didn't get to show up her big sister fully.

I am a forward thinker, so I am already considering the idea of putting all 5 kids on the swim team next summer.  I may try them out in practice in May, and see how they do, and which ones take to it.  But, I have stars in my eyes about the idea that they could all participate in a sport at the same time....and at the same location.  That is a big deal when there are multiple kids in activities in the same family.  We will see what the future brings.

Swimmer

When Jersey #1 was only 7 months old, I enrolled her in a parent/infant swimming class.  It was held in a therapy pool, which was nice and warm.  She loved it.

My Mom teased me, saying that I just could not wait to get my child signed up for activities.  

There was some truth to that.  I love sports and activities.

Jersey #1 is real social like her mother, and she always seems to enjoy the sports and activities too.

Unfortunately, as much as I love to play sports, I am not a natural athlete.  I am the player with "heart" (but not talent).  

After watching Jersey #1 participate in gymnastics, dance, soccer, and various other activities, I joked that she got her athletic prowess from her mother.  She really enjoyed herself, but she was not a natural athlete.  She does not run very fast, she is not very flexible or coordinated, and she is not bursting with energy.

When she first joined this competitive swim team, she was quite a beginner swimmer.  Her dive-start included her entering the water knees first.  She finished each race in last place.  It was a struggle for her to swim continuously during practice.  

I always encourage her to do her best, and to keep working to improve herself and not worry about how fast the other swimmers were swimming.  I remind her that everyone is blessed with strengths, but we are not all blessed with the same strengths.  It is good to be challenged and humbled, and to not always be great at everything we do.  We also talked about how important it was to remain active to be healthy and fit.  She enjoyed swimming and was really improving quickly.

Her competitive nature came alive the day she told me she was going to try to swim fast enough so that she did not finish in last place.  She reached that goal, and finished second-to-last in most of her events.  She was thrilled with that accomplishment.  I was thrilled right along with her.  She put her mind to something, and accomplished it.

A week later, she informed me that she was going to swim the individual medley event.  I was surprised.  I told her that event included swimming the butterfly stroke.  She nodded in agreement.  I asked, "Can you swim the fly?"  She nodded yes, and gave me a sly smile.  I could not contain my surprise,

"When did you learn to swim the fly?  I have taken you to every swim lesson you have ever had, and you  were not taught the butterfly stroke yet."

Jersey #1 just laughed at my surprise and my comment.  She explained that she had been practicing the dolphin kick during swim team practice, and was getting quite good at it.  She then just had to learn how to pull her arms up out of the water, in rhythm with the kick.  It all made sense to her, but it left me speechless.

Sure enough, she swam the butterfly in that meet.

      

And then there was talk about moving her up a lane in practice.  The way the swim team works, the kids practice in a specific lane, with a specific coach, based on swimming ability.  They compete in meets  based on age category.  Jersey #1 was in the 2nd lane for practice, and the coach of the 3rd lane thought it was time to move her up now that she could swim the fly.

And then, she finally figured out how to dive start from the side of the pool...

And then, she won first place in her heat for the 50 Freestyle.  She even swam faster than another swimmer on her team who had much more experience.  It was quite a shock to me, as well as to that other swimmer.  

She moved up to the next lane in practice, even though there were only a few weeks left of the swim season.  Jersey #1 was quite pleased and started working even harder.

The following meet, the head coach caught sight of her swimming, and went running over to the side of the pool near her lane.  I overheard his conversation with her new lane coach.

Head Coach:  "Is that Jersey #1?"

Lane Coach:  (with a chuckle) "Yes."

Head Coach:  "She can swim the fly?"  (He could not contain his excitement at this discovery).

Lane Coach:  "Yes.  And, I just got her in my lane this week and haven't even started working on her fly yet."  They both looked at each other with huge smiles on their faces.  They were seeing stars.  

Their conversation ended right there, as the head coach followed Jersey #1 up and down the pool, as she swam her event.  He cheered her on the entire time, and then praised her highly at the end.

I was taking pictures nearby.  Her Lane Coach approached me and explained that she moved Jersey #1 up a lane for practices because she thought she needed more of a challenge.  I was speechless.  All I could say was that she has really come a long way, in such a short amount of time.

I kept saying that she was really strong-minded.  She has such determination to keep working diligently in practice, and giving her best, to improve her times.  Considering she is a pretty compliant child, and not strong-willed, I have been impressed with the strength of her determination with swim team.  

Another swim team parent pointed out to me that Jersey #1 was also showing great physical strength.  She was training her muscles, and developing the body of a swimmer.  Her strokes looked good, and her body was streamlined in the pool.  I had not really considered that she had such physical ability.  I was thinking she was just putting her mind to doing something, and so she was accomplishing it.

During last weekend's meet, she won 1st place in her heat, for 3 separate events.  She was so proud of herself that she was walking on air!  

She had a moment of disappointment when she realized she was in heat 2, and that the faster swimmers are placed in heat 1 even before the meet begins.  So, she was the fastest swimmer in heat 2, but not the fastest swimmer in those events.  

Then, I reminded her that in 2 months time, she has gone from being the last place swimmer in heat 2, to being the first place swimmer in heat 2!  That is quite an accomplishment for such a short amount of time.  As she ran through that math, she swelled with pride all over again.   

That other swim team parent approached her during that meet and praised her highly for the way she swam an event.  That parent was a former swimmer, and she really had a lot of complements about Jersey #1's form, speed, and ability.  I stood there with my jaw dropped open, and Jersey #1 was quite stunned too.  Those were some serious compliments being bestowed upon my daughter.

That was when I realized that I could no longer joke that my daughter has the athletic prowess of her mother.

Apparently, my daughter actually has some athletic prowess.  

She is a swimmer.

She has passion, determination, and physical ability.

She is an athlete.

She has found her sport.

And, she trains to win.

   

This is Summer

For some strange reason, I thought that the two weeks that we had swim lessons on the calendar would be more relaxed and slower paced than our previous summer schedule.  

I was very wrong.

We are super busy, and very active still.  It is just that the kids pretty much wear swim suits all day and most of our activities involve getting wet.  Swim team practice, swim lessons, and recreational swimming with friends fill our days.  Some days include lunch at the park, or gymnastics class.  

And, we call this SUMMER!

Swim Lessons

The younger 4 kids started a 2-week session of swim lessons yesterday.  They had a blast.  They are all eager to progress in swimming, especially now that big sister, Jersey #1, is getting a lot of attention for the way she is progressing on the swim team.  

I usually like putting the kids in swim lessons.  It is nice to see how much they learn in those 2 weeks.  Last summer, we did not pursue lessons, and just bought a family swim pass to the city pools instead.  This summer, I wanted to return them to on session of lessons, and see how their swim skills measure up.  

I was nervous about Jersey #5.  He loves to swim.  He is fearless.  He can't swim, but that doesn't stop him from letting go and sinking underwater anyway.  Repeatedly.  Two summers ago, he and I did a parent/tot swim class together.  He was too insecure for the preschool class, even with his sister, Jersey #4, in the same class.  She completed the preschool class without him.  Technically, I should have enrolled him in the preschool class this summer.  But, I was concerned that he would not cooperate.  The preschool class spends a lot of time on the ledge of the pool, entering the water individually with the lifeguard instructor's assistance.  I was afraid my fearless, water-loving 3-year old would just continue to dive into the water, instead of waiting on the ledge.

Last Spring, I noticed he could stand in the 3-foot section of the pool.  That gave me the idea to enroll him in the first level of the child swim lessons class.  When I went to register the kids, the lifeguard pointed out that the preschool class was for ages 3-5.  I told him that Jersey #5 was really large for his age, and fearless in the water, so I thought it was best to start him in Level 1 instead.  The lifeguard thought that was a fine plan.  I was nervous to see if Jersey #5 would cooperate.  I had visions of him crying, or ignoring the lifeguards, or refusing to participate.

Apparently, I had nothing to worry about.  He went over to the side of the pool with his class, and sat right down with the other kids (including his sister who is in the same class).  He was all smiles the entire time.  Any time that the instructor mentioned they would go underwater and hold their breath, Jersey #5 demonstrated by immediately submerging.  He listened well enough to keep hold of the wall when he was suppose to.  It was a good day in class.  I am impressed that I did not have to rescue him at all.  (I had to rescue Jersey #3 when he was in the Level 1 swim class, because he dove off the wall when the lifeguard was not looking).  

Jersey #4 enjoyed her Level 1 class too.  She is anxious to swim on her own.  She proved to me that same evening that she can dog paddle her way for about 8 yards.  When we go to recreation swim, she wants to swim without her life jacket now.

She held her breath for 6 seconds.

I am going to have to move Jersey #3 up a level.  It appears that he did not waste any time progressing, even though he did not do lessons last summer.  He is another fearless fish of a child.  He found his Level 2 class to be boring.  He already knew how to float like a turtle, and how to kick with the kickboard.  I had told him and Jersey #2 that if they would learn to front crawl or backstroke one 25 meter length of the pool, then they can join the swim team next summer.  Jersey #3 has taken that challenge to heart.  He can now swim one length, on his back.  I am hoping that moving him up to the Level 3 class will help him learn better form for his strokes.  

Jersey #2 is in the Level 3 class.  That seems like a good fit for her, but she is worried that her brother may pass her up.  I have a feeling she is going to have a tough time with that for many sports, because Jersey #3 is naturally athletic anyway.  

Jersey #2 is determined to learn how to swim a lap in the pool, even if the pool depth goes over her head.  I keep trying to convince her that since she can swim, she really can swim in any depth.  But, the 5 foot section of the pool scares her.  She is focusing her attention on learning the arm strokes and breathing for the front crawl, so I think she is going to progress real well this summer.

I took swim lessons as a child, and loved it.  My Dad wanted us to learn to swim properly, with good stroke technique.  I joined the high school swim team, my Junior year of high school.  I worked as a lifeguard in high school and college.  I am hoping that my kids will develop strong swimming skills, and enjoy swim teams and possibly lifeguarding too. 

Swimming in the Heat

Jersey #1 had a swim meet this week, in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the business week.

The Referee said, "Don't these parents have jobs?  How can they attend a swim meet in the middle of the  work day like that?"

He has a point.  And, he had to miss the meet.  Because he has a job.  And, I am very grateful for that.

My eyes were opened to the fact that we are part of a swim team with folks who have money to register multiple kids on the team, buy new team suits (goggles, caps, bags, shirts, etc), and enough flexibility for meets in the middle of the day, in the middle of the work week.  Plus, they often go out for a meal afterward.  We may be out of our league here.  

Aside from that, this is a great swim team, with the most encouraging coaches, and friendly families.  Jersey #1 has improved so much in the past month, that she did not even look like the same kid, compared to the first meet.  Her swimming strength and form is growing in leaps and bounds.  Her confidence is also growing.  She is really enjoying swim team.  

Her goal was to not come in last place.  This cracks me up, because she has the athletic prowess of her mother.  I always enjoyed playing sports, and I enjoy watching sporting events, but I never had much natural athletic talent.  Jersey #1 achieved her goal in 3 of her events.  She came in 5th place out of 6 lanes of swimmers.  She swam freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke.  She also swam on a freestyle relay (which came in last place).  

It was an extremely hot afternoon.  We borrowed a shade tent, and packed a cooler full of drinks and snacks.  

We still sweated uncontrollably.  The heat was too much.  Jersey #3 took a nap in the shade.  

I slathered the kids in sunscreen, but some of us still managed to turn pink.  Jersey #1 burned on her face.  She now has a nice white crescent on her forehead, where her swim cap protected some skin.

Thankfully, there was a baby pool nearby, separated from the main pool.  I allowed the younger 4 kids to get wet in the baby pool.  I sat in the shade and watched them, then stepped out on the main pool deck to watch Jersey #1 swim each of her events.  We didn't bring swimsuits for the younger kids, so they just got wet in their clothes.  It was quite a blessing to be able to let them get wet and cool off.

Good times in the summer heat!

A Day Like This

I am not entirely sure how it happened this way, but we have managed to jam-pack our summer days.  

For example, today:

Jersey #1 had her very first swim meet this morning.  She was suppose to report to the pool at 6:30am.  Why is swimming such an early morning activity?  Our family is not accustomed to going to bed early and waking up early.  We did it anyway.  I put the kids to bed early last night....almost right after dinner.  I closed up all the shades in the house, and tried to make it look like it was closer to night time.  That is no easy feat in the summer, when the days are longer.  

I packed up snacks and a blanket, so they were ready to load into the van.  I laid out clothes for the younger 3 kids, because I knew they would be too tired to put much effort into getting dressed.  I gathered all of the ingredients for a crockpot chili to be put on in the morning, so we would have a hearty meal waiting on us when we returned.  Lastly, I plugged in my camera to charge, and printed out directions to the pool, before going to bed early myself.

I woke up at 5am.  That is rare.  I do not intend to make it a habit.  I had plenty of time to shower and cook some breakfast items before I woke the kids.  One-by-one, the kids managed to crawl out of bed, get dressed to the shoes, brush teeth and comb hair.  As they were ready, I had them sit at the dining table and eat.  The slower kids got to put their breakfast in a baggie to eat in the van.  Jersey #1 and Jersey #5 really surprised me with their cheerful attitudes first thing the morning.  They were both obedient when I sent them to bed the night before, and fell asleep quickly, so I suspect they felt like they had gotten enough sleep. 

We made it to the pool, and found seating in the shade, near friends.  We unloaded our luggage, set up a chair, and prepared for a big morning of fun and competition.  Jersey #1 was pretty nervous.  She turns into a robot, with a serious expression, and goes through the motions.  I knew she would warm up as the meet went on.

She swam 3 events:  25M freestyle, 25M backstroke, and 25M breaststroke.  I was completely stunned by how much her strokes have improved in just the 1 month of swim team practice.  She has achieved levels of ability that were just not happening during summer swim lessons.  I am totally impressed with the coaches on this team.  Jersey #1 did great.

She took 8th place in Freestyle, 6th place in Backstroke, and 7th place in Breaststroke.  After every event, her coach ran up to her and cheered her on for completing the race with ease.  It was neat to see how they praised her.  She was nervous first.  She was troubled that she was often in last place for the heat.  But, she was proud of her accomplishment, especially after the coaches pointed it out.  

While Jersey #1 swam, her younger siblings ate.

As the meet was wrapping up, the coaches mentioned that the team has a tradition of going out for a meal afterward.  We went to a nearby pizza place.  Even though they ate breakfast, and snacked all morning, my children were also able to eat an entire large cheese pizza!

I managed to have 1 slice of pizza before my children consumed it all.  

The fellowship with the swimmers and parents was a lot of fun.  It is a great group of people.  We already knew a couple families.  I enjoyed some conversation with my former boss, whose youngest son swims on this team.  Plus, I re-met a lady who had been part of our homeschool co-op a couple years ago.  She has a daughter with the same name as Jersey #4.  Another friendly lady introduced herself to me, and I learned she is the Mom of two of the coaches, including Jersey #1's coach.  One month of practice, and one swim meet, and I am already a big fan of this team.  

On the way home, Jersey #1 asked if we could go bowling that afternoon.  Everyone was in good spirits, so we invited a friend and headed out to the bowling alley for a couple games through the Kids Bowl Free program.  I joined in on the fun, and we had a blast.

I am pretty sure that Jersey #4 is in for a major growth spurt.  In addition to asking for a 2nd bowl of spaghetti last night (which she never does), and also asked for a 2nd slice of pizza (which she seldom does).  Then, she fell asleep in the van on the way to bowling, AND started laying down to watch her ball complete its path...

Once we returned home, I started to tackle the laundry and dishes that have been piling up.  The kids helped feed the dogs, and unload the van.  Laundry managed to get washed and dried, but it is still sitting on the couch, waiting to be folded.

We ate crockpot chili for dinner.  The older 3 children ate twice as much as usual.  There are hardly any leftovers, which is so odd.

I gave the younger 4 kids a haircut.

The younger 3 kids took a bath.

I trimmed fingernails and toe nails.

The kids brushed their teeth and put on PJs.  I tucked them into bed.

Then, I sat down at my computer to work on my assignments for the Nutrition class I am taking online.  I am really liking this online course option.  I do most of my studying after the kids are in bed. 

I am exhausted.  I wrote this blog post just so I could see how busy I was today, so that I can justify my exhaustion.  

Yep, it is justified.

It is now time to hang up my clean laundry, to clear my bed.  I am hoping to read my Sunday School lesson materials before I go to sleep.  Thankfully, tomorrow is Sunday.  I manage to get more rest on Sundays.  I am going to need it.  If I thought this week was intense, next week is bound to be wilder.