Extremely long post about swimming

Swimming... that is all I can think about today. I'm seriously obsessed. Like, seriously.

Before I can explain why, let me sum up our first swim team experience.

My goal in having the kids do swim team was simple:
1) provide a fun way to get exercise every day
2) learn an important life skill
3) see the results of working hard by experiencing improved swimming times

I can say without a doubt, we accomplished every one of those goals and it makes me very happy!!! But besides that, I felt like we were part of something. We have our homeschool community, but many of those folks live 20-30+ minutes away and we only see them weekly. We have our church community, but again, we're not all nearby. It was great to make new friends, have more time with longtime friends, and be warmly welcomed into the nearby swimming community.



This summer, I got to see glimpses of Luke maturing. In many ways, I like what I see. In April, he was adamant that he didn't want to do swim team. ADAMANT. And yet, once we told him it was Mommy and Daddy's final decision, he accepted it and did his best. I saw him work hard nearly every practice. (And I'm a stickler about practice. We sign up for something, we go - no matter what!) He earned a handful of 4th place ribbons in freestyle, and we even got to see special Luke smiles. It took courage for him to get on that starting block with 11-12 year old boys (most of whom have been swimming since they were 6 or younger). It was hard for him to watch Ethan get ribbons in nearly every event, but he told me one morning, "You know, I think God is trying to teach me about my pride having to see Ethan get so many ribbons. It's hard to not be really jealous." Bless his sweet little heart! I will refrain from putting a picture of Luke in his swim suit, at his request. ;)

Last summer was Irina's first experience swimming. In fact, when we went to the beach last May she gripped tightly to Darin in the pool. She was so scared of deep water. Her fears disappeared quickly as the summer went on and we gave her lots of exposure to the pool, but prior to this summer she had no swimming lessons. Fast forward to swim team. She begged to participate. She loves the water, but did not realize all the hard work that accompanied swim team. The lap after lap of swimming was hard for her and she was not expecting that. But she did it!!!! She stood up there on that diving block and jumped in. She swam and she improved. The coaches gave her a good mix of grace, but also challenged her to try harder. At her last meet, she had her very best freestyle time. Thankfully, she is blissfully unaware as to how she compares to the other girls her age. She tells me every time she swims, "Mommy, I was so fast."

Aaron has been quite a character this summer!! He started off in pre-team lessons. He did well, so they quickly bumped him up to the regular practices after the first meet. Those practices are a little more hands-off then the pre-team lessons. The coaches are not always in the pool and will give instructions from the side. He panicked one day, and from there on out would cry at least every other day about how he didn't want to do swim team. The funny thing is that when he practiced cooperatively, it was obvious that he was learning quickly and he could do it. It seems to come naturally to him. He learned how to dive and was diving off the diving block without any trouble. At his first meet, I had to drag (and I mean drag) him to his warm-ups. He stayed glued to me until it was time to jump off the block for his event. Every time he got IN the pool, I sighed a sigh of relief. "Phew, he's in!" Then he would swim really well for his age. Oh, his little ego would be all puffed up after a good swim and he would tell me how much he loves swim team. Two days later, he would be crying. Finally the last week of swim team, he stopped the antics and worked hard (with the help of a little bribery). He earned his first ribbon at the last meet coming in 5th place for the regular division in freestyle. His time was significantly improved and he got his personal best. The last day of swim team, he told me how much he was going to miss it. What a roller coaster! 

Aside from all his tears, the coaches enjoyed this little flirt. He was always grinning at them, shrugging his shoulders, and being coy. He made a special card for coach Lindsey's birthday - the day before his! At the banquet, he received a "paper plate" award that suited him pretty well. Hilarious!

Which brings me to Ethan...  What a great swim season for him! The combination of natural ability, sincere interest, hard work, AND being the oldest in his swimming age group (8 and under) was a recipe for success. He was recognized as swimmer of the week early in the season. I am realizing that swimming is a great way to expend his energy, and the joy it brought him was contagious (well... maybe not to Aaron! ha!) It wasn't just about the ribbons either (although he enjoyed those thoroughly). His goal every morning was to be early to practice so he could help the coaches set up the lane lines. He was so eager to help them. It blessed me to see positive character traits in the midst of daily impulsiveness that needs correction and redirection.  Then to get invited to Champs at the end of the swim season was like icing on the cake. 

And now the story for why I'm obsessed with swimming today.

Ethan was scheduled for one event at Champs on Thursday and two on Friday. Thursday morning, he told me he didn't feel quite right. I gave him a hug and told him he was probably nervous. I was nervous! So off we went. What a treat to have time alone with Ethan. (Well... sort of alone, if you don't count the 1,200 other swimmers in our league and all their families. There were 73 swimmers invited from our pool.)

He did GREAT! Our goal was for him to improve his personal best and be smiling at the end. He succeeded! He has a new personal best in the backstroke and was all smiles.

All smiles until we arrived at my parents to gather the other kids. He kept complaining about being freezing. "It's the wet bathing suit," I assured him. He changed, but was still cold. He bundled up on their porch and fell sound asleep. He had a raging fever. He slept there for at least an hour and then we went home where he slept the rest of the day and all night. I contacted the coaches to let them know there was a chance he wouldn't be swimming his two events on Friday. Somehow though, I had still convinced myself that he would rally and be just fine to swim today. He was determined too.

This morning, I kissed him on his forehead and knew he would not be swimming today. :( He was hot, hot, hot! I was disappointed. He was so disappointed, but he was miserable. He hadn't eaten since Thursday before lunch, and was not interested in drinking anything. I knew he could not get in a pool and swim. It was a hard, but necessary decision to tell the coaches we wouldn't be there. 

And so, all day today I've been quietly obsessed following the Champ events online. How silly I felt for my big emotions over something so small. At lunch time, Ethan finally rallied and asked for food. His fever was gone! Feeling revived a bit, I think it hit him how discouraged he was over missing his events. He even asked if we could hurry and still make it in time for his relay. It was too late by then and he accepted that it wouldn't be fair to his relay team if he couldn't swim his best. And so, we will have to wait until next year. 

To end this really long post on swimming, I must say that I'm thankful that we had this great opportunity. I'm thankful that I got to see joy on my kids faces as they conquered fears, overcame challenges, and learned value in hard work. Is there a swim team for adult moms who were never on a swim team? ;) I want to join!