Last (regular) swim meet

Last Wednesday night, we had our last regular season swim meet (we have Champs on Saturday!).

The meet started off rough.  Andy was cranky and difficult and he had cried 6 times before the meet even started.  I told him he wasn't swimming, he burst into tears.  I told him he could swim, he burst into tears.  It was really, really hard.  

But then he got chatting with his buddy and something clicked...!

He swam free AND back and did great in both! He dropped 38 seconds in his freestyle from the last meet...! He was PUMPED! And it built all this confidence to go and do backstroke, which he swore he wasn't going to do while he was in mid-meltdown pre-meet.  But then I looked over and there he was:

 Sitting in the chairs, ready to do backstroke like he had zero concerns in the world.  Then he stood up, hopped in and got ready to go!

 And he did great! He kept up with the boys in his heat the entire time, right up until the end when he looked for the wall and it turned his whole body and he hit one lane line, then he turned and hit the other lane line and then the other.  He was about 3 feet from the wall and went back and forth about 15 times before reaching the wall.  It was hilarious to watch-- we were all screaming like crazy.

CalBoy did GREAT in his backstroke and got HEAT WINNER! I went running over to his and he flew into my arms holding his ribbon.  He was SO proud and I was too.  His first heat winner of the season!

These sweet boys were all standing there when he got back-- love these smiles! And Andy was so proud of himself for doing so well in backstroke (and freestyle!) so he was grinning ear to ear.  

Eddie rewarded both boys with a big ol slush puppy for trying so hard and being such great sports (Cal reached over and shook hands with the kids in the lanes next to him at end of race.  I was about to pop,)

Many (MANY) people comment that swim team is such a big time commitment and isn't it awful? Truthfully, I really enjoy it! Mainly because I get to spend this amount of time with the ladies below (throw in Sally, please) and it makes it so much fun! Yes, it is a time commitment, but it's worth it! I am with friends, the kids are getting exercise and learning about competition and it's fun for everyone!

I am really proud of the boys this year and I can't wait to see what Cal does at Champs on Saturday! Andy decided before this last meet that he didn't want to swim in champs, and now that he did so well in this meet, he wants to swim again...! It's too late to sign him up, but he will be ready to go next year....we hope!

Cheers to another great swim season!