Swim Meet

Rachel participated in her first swim meet on Saturday. I finally talked her into doing swim team. She's always been a strong swimmer, but just hasn't been interested in swim team. Not sure why she finally caved, but she did. We signed her up for just September to see how it went. She's now decided she wants to continue on through November. Now she's committed, which means I need to get online and order the super expensive swim team swimsuit... But I've spent as much money on Audrey's tap and ballet shoes, so fair is fair. We're doing swim team at the YMCA. She has practices twice a week for an hour and then has swim meets 1-2 times a month on Saturdays. It has definitely kept us busy the past couple of weeks, but she's enjoying it. 

I was secretly hoping that Rachel wouldn't want to do the swim meet this month, because Andy was out of town and we had to drive 35 miles to the meet, which started at 7:30 am. But to be fair, I also wanted her to experience a meet. So, she insisted on going and we went. I ended up getting a babysitter for Audrey and Ian. I'm so glad I did! Worth every penny!!! Rachel and I headed out around 6:45 am. As we were driving east on the freeway Rachel kept on commenting how beautiful the sky was. And then it dawned on me that she's never seen a sunrise. Once this really bright pink circle started emerging she was amazed that it was the sun. It was a neat moment, to share the beauty of the sunrise with her. I even risked getting in an accident or a ticket by taking a picture:

You'll have to excuse the quality of the pictures and videos. Andy had the good camera with him on his trip, so my phone had to do...

We got there just as they were getting the kids into the water to warm up. Here's Rachel all smiles:

Rachel did one lap and then came out to me in tears. She didn't want to stay. She didn't want to do it. It was too cold and she just wanted to go home. And she just cried and cried and cried!!! I wasn't sure what to, so I tried my best to calm her down and I told her they were expecting her to swim for the team. Somehow I got her back in the water to swim a few more laps and I told her we'd at least try the first event and then go from there. She was pretty proud of the events written on her forearm:

We bundled her up and waited for her first event. Luckily her first event was freestyle, her favorite, and she did great! Here she is swimming away:

Her time was 25.17 seconds and she placed second. I was a bit worried as she walked around the pool to me... But luckily she was all smiles and said she wanted to stay. Yay!!! Right before Rachel got into the water there was a sweet girl standing next to me who noticed Rachel was nervous. She was probably about 10 years old. She asked if it was Rachel's first meet and I said yes. She then told us that she was so nervous her first meet that she cried a lot. I felt like hugging that sweet girl. Her words meant a lot. And then as she watched Rachel with me, she commented on how good Rachel was for her first meet. I made sure to share this with Rachel when she got back to me. So grateful for a sweet 10 year-old girl who was willing to open up to an adult and talk. So, here Rachel is being a goof with my sunglasses on and waiting for her next event:

Her next event was backstroke:

She got across in 28.45 seconds and placed second again. I thought she was going to place first, but another swimmer barely beat her. It was pretty exciting!!! Once again she was all smiles. Rachel then participated in 2 relays. The first relay she was the first swimmer of four. Her relay team placed first. And then in the second relay, she was the third swimmer. Their first swimmer struggled getting across the pool. I think the other team was already on to their third swimmer by the time she got across. The remaining 3 swimmers did their best to catch up, but it was hard. They still did an awesome job though! We were done by 10:30 and headed home. 

Overall, I would say her first swim meet was a great success. There's another one in 3 weeks. I've told Andy he gets to go to that one. And really, it's a fun bonding experience. You can kind of see why some parents go crazy with their kids and sports. It was exciting to see Rachel succeed. But she has been very clear to tell me that she doesn't want me cheering her on the whole way. It just makes her nervous. And that's fine by me. I'm so proud of my girl and that she tried something new and that she enjoyed it. I'd love to see her continue as I feel that swimming is a safe sport and an important skill for life.