Swim Meets 1 and 2, 2017

We joined a local pool so the two oldest children would have swim lessons. That also included being on a swim team and going to swim meets. We've talked about how the meets are more about competing against your own best time. For their first meet (at another pool, Rollingwood) they had no recorded time to beat, so they established themselves. Since it was their first time, we didn't know what to expect. We assumed (correctly) that there would be a lot of down time before things got going. Luckily, the pool had a nice playground to keep active young bodies occupied.

Waiting on the lawn chairs

A nice pool

A nice playground

Before the various events, our team had a chance to warm up, including my children using starting blocks for the first time.

My son on the block

Jumping in

My son was the first one to race. He was in the 50 meter freestyle.

Waiting in a chair for his turn to go

About to get on the block

On his way!

Swimming in the lane

Coming in third

My son's time in the 50 meter freestyle was 56.46 seconds.

My daughter's turn came up later. She was swimming the 25 meter backstroke. Earlier, she had been concerned about how she was going to start. Jumping off the block didn't make sense to her since she would be swimming backward. She asked a coach, who explained the procedure.

Approaching the water

On her mark

Launching

Backstroking

My daughter's time in the 25 meter backstroke was 52.27 seconds.

Their second meet was at our home pool (Hammond Park), so we were a little more comfortable getting there and with the whole idea and rhythm of a swim meet. We doubled up on the races so they both had two.

Our local pool

My daughter was able to improve her backstroke time by 0.87 seconds, which meant she got a ribbon for improving!

She also competed in the 25 meter freestyle with a time of 46.72 seconds.

Getting ready to swim

The least exciting portion of the back stroke

My son added a few seconds to his 50 meter freestyle, winding up with 59.03.

He tried out the 25 meter backstroke and finished in 37.80 seconds, hopefully a time he will improve on in the future.

He also signed up for a 100 meter medley assuming it was a relay race. At the meet, he discovered it was him doing all four different strokes. He was not mentally prepared and was disqualified by using the wrong method at one point.

About to mount the local block

Freestyling!

He had a good attitude about it and now we know better for future meets. More about the future meets in the next post.