First Swim Meet was AWESOME!!

Okay, so our first swim meet was last night. The girls had had a very full morning with practice and Arts Camp, so I insisted that we all take a nap in the afternoon. I had no idea how late we would be up, but I knew we couldn't leave early due to my judging commitment.


All went pretty much according to plan. I took the girls to Chick-fil-a for a snack around 5:15. (They split a kids meal chicken sandwich.) I know, not the best nutrition prior to athletic performance, but I was desperate (poor grocery planning on my part). I did pack reasonably good snacks for them to munch on between events, though -- baby carrots (no ranch dressing, though, so Vivian didn't eat any), granola bar, fruit snacks, juice box, water bottle. I was tempted to do boxes of jello powder like we did when I was swimming, but, again, the grocery planning thing and the nutrition thing. . . .Warm up started a little after 6pm. The meet started on time (amazing!) at 7pm.


Vivian's Meet Experience:


Vivian swam first in the 6 and under girls 100-yard freestyle relay. Each girl swam 1 length of the pool. She did very well, swam hard, and her relay team won first place. YEA!


Her next and last event was the 6 and under girls 25-yard freestyle. She has sworn me to secrecy about the details of the swim (she's a bit embarrassed, understandably, and no she didn't lose her suit or her goggles), but she swam well and finished 5th in her heat. YEA!


Vivian's take on the whole experience: "No comment." (I didn't expect that response).


Emma Grace's Meet Experience:


Emma Grace swam the freestyle leg of the 7&8 girls 100-yard medley relay (immediately after Vivian swam her relay). Each swimmer on the relay swims a different stroke for 1 length of the pool in the following order -- backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle. She also had an "incident," sworn to secrecy, that could have affected the race and her feelings about swimming, but it was handled well enough that it became a non-issue -- except for talking about the embarrassing details. Suffice it to say that "it" happened after the race was underway, I saw part of what happened but could not help her due to my duties as a judge, the bench mom handled it quickly, she swam her part (crying all the way), finished and got a 3rd place ribbon. YEA! I say all of this, because I am extremely proud of her for pulling it together, swimming her race, and putting it behind her. This is a HUGE step in maturity for her! Double YEA!

Her next race was 7&8 girls 25-yard freestyle. Before the race, I walked over and gave her a hug. She clung to me. I encouraged her. She swam her race and finished 4th (pink ribbon). YEA!

Next she swam 7&8 girls 25-yard backstroke. Before the race, I walked over and gave her a hug. She clung but not as long or as tight as before. She swam in lane 6, adjoining the diving well, which is a hard lane to swim in anyway but especially hard to swim backstroke. The diving well does not have a traditional lane rope, so it widens and makes the lane larger than it should be. She was swimming from the deep end, so as she approached the area where the diving well ended and the pool wall began it appeared she would hit her head. The stroke judge bent down to gently nudge her into the middle of the lane. She had started very well and looked great, but the action startled her and broke her rhythm. Still, she finished 4th (pink ribbon). YEA!

Her final swim was on a 7&8 girls 100-yard freestyle relay. This time she started from the shallow end (opposite my judging position), so I didn't see her before the race. She swam the third leg, so she finished at my end. After the race, she gave me a quick hug and hustled off to get her ribbon (4th place, pink). YEA!


Emma Grace's take on the whole experience: "It was so cool!"



My Meet Experience:

Actually the night was a bit like being in a time warp only I didn't get to swim. See my "Then and Now" post for more on the differences between what I remember from my swimming days and what we experienced last night.

My job last night was to be sure that the swimmers followed the rules for touching and turning. It was an interesting night both because I had never done it before and because we had some technical difficulties.

I mostly judged at the deeper end of the pool which meant that I didn't have much to do when the younger kids swam (they started at my end) except for their relays (which started at the other end but required touches and starts for the next swimmers at my end).

I was nervous and unsure at first, but I settled in fairly well. I think I got better as the night went on. It is very difficult to see everything that needs to be seen in every lane at the same time. I know that I missed a lot. I chose not to call some things as well -- like the kid who was way behind in a 50-yard butterfly and missed his 2 hand touch.

Odd things I saw: a breaststoke flip turn (NOT legal); freestyler who approached the wall, came to a dead stop, turned around and pushed off the wall.

The job got more difficult as it got darker. Even though there were lights around the pool, at least 3 lights IN the pool were not working, and they were all at my end. I had to stand over the swimmers as they came in to the wall to see much of anything, but that wasn't always feasible or the best position for seeing every one. I did the best I could given the circumstances.

By the way: lighting and my job as judge are the main reasons I have no pictures to post. Don't expect any next week either, as I'm judging again. I'm not scheduled to volunteer at the last 2 meets, so I' MAY be able to get some shots later in the month.

Due to the order of events, we will be at our meets for about 3-4 hours. The 6 and unders are finished early, because they only swim freestyle relay and individual freestyle. Those events are the first in the order of events. So, if you ONLY have 6 and unders, and you're not volunteering, you can leave. Once the kids turn 7, they can swim in the other events. Also, the 7 and up freestyle relays are last in the order of events. Since everyone swims on a freestyle relay, all 7 and ups stay for the whole meet. That means WE stay for the whole meet whether we volunteer or not. With a start time of 7pm, we finish sometime between 10 and 11pm. (and yes, we have practice at 7am the following day). Add to that the post-meet dinner (optional) and you have a very late night. We got home last night around 11pm.

And now a shout out to my mom: you are AMAZING! Of course I already knew that, but seeing swim team now from your prespective just confirms that you are one awesome lady! How you did this with 4 kids and at the competition level that I swam, I have no idea. You truly are a wonder woman!