Shark In The Water

Another season of summer swim is upon us. Maddux and Eli have been doing this since they were 4 and 5 years old, and they are still goign strong. Each year, practices start, after school, a few weeks before school even finishes. Then practices continue, but in the morning hours. This year, with their ages being so 'old', their mornig practice doesn't start until 10:30AM...that is late!

A few meets in, and both are having success at having fun, with the occasional blue ribbon. Maddux claims her favorite stroke is back stroke, while I think Eli is favoring butterfly these days.

Ruby was not quite up to swim form for this season, but the big kids are excited for her to hopefully join next year.

Winter Swim

Eli decided to join the swim team at his middle school this year. For a few weeks he had cross country runs 2 or 3 days a week and swim 2 days a week (he couldn't sleep enough!) The season ramped up his stamina immediately; the first practice found him swimming at least 1700m, which is well over the amount he would complete in any given summer swim practice. But he was happy to report this week that he could already tell that he was improving because it wasn't as hard as that first week.

Today he had his first swim meet, a home practice meet. It came on the heels of an all-night lock-in at the school, so his times may not have been his best, but he completed all four events and only had one goggle mishap: success! (It's hard to see, but he's in the middle-ish lane. He finished middle of the pack.)

Another Year, Another Swim Season

This year was pretty uneventful for Eli and Maddux regarding swim team. They both still love it, but with each of them missing two meets and being on the young end of their respective groups, no records were set and no pressure was felt.

Eli's age group was the biggest change, that I could see. He was with the 11-12 group, but boys in that group are hitting some growth spurts which made height a real factor in the races! Eli is a pretty speedy swimmer, but he did not fare as well this season as the boys' body lengths were so different from his. He took it all in stride though and enjoyed himself.

Ruby LOVES the pool and she had a blast attending a few of the meets. She cheered on everyone, seriously everyone. And when someone she knew was swimming, she gave them personal cheers too.

Summer Swim

This year's swim season was a much different one than any we've had in the past. For starters, I only attended 5 or 6 practices total. That is a far cry from me being at the pool every weekday morning for about 90 minutes! This year found Ruby with doctor appointments and therapies many mornings. So many that 3 or 4 days each week Eli and Maddux would have to ride their bikes to the pool and meet me back at home when they were done. Crazy that they are old enough to do that!

The other way this season differed from years passed is the amount of meets we attended. We had our church camp interfere with one meet and an overnight camp interfere with one meet. Unfortunately that only left three meets for the kids to participate in. They loved those meets, but it felt like only half of the season.

Both kids swam very well this year. Maddux swam 'up' for practice, working with 9-12 year olds each morning. (Eli swam up too, but the 11-12 group practices at the same time as 9-10, so no one noticed :) I felt like that helped push Maddux a bit; her efforts were rewarded at the end of the season when she received 'Most Dedicated Swimmer' for her age group.

Finally, we did not plan to attend the county swim meet this year (timing was off), but there were three other 7-8 year old girls from our team competing, and they needed one more swimmer to participate in the relays. She helped them out and they placed second for their freestyle relay! Maddux did a great job in the anchor spot, coming back from being behind when she jumped into the water. Such an exciting event!

Maddux has talked about doing year-round swimming, but we are waiting until the school year starts to sign up. She is an excellent swimmer and enjoys the meets, but she is known for momentary interests, so we are trying our best to make sure before we commit. I hope she does; she would do so well in this sport!

The Individual Medley

The IM. It is both older kids' favorite event. The madness that is 25yds (or meters) each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Most kids we know kind of dread it, but my two crazies love it. Lehr got a short video of each of their last swim meet IM swims.

Notice that Maddux is not wearing goggles...it should come as no surprise to everyone that she has misplaced them yet again. She crushed most of her events that night; imagine if she'd had her gear with her!

Swim Season

Seriously our favorite season every year. Even though the kids never opt to participate in year-round swimming, for 6-8 weeks every summer, they go into a swimming frenzy, soaking up every lesson, every stroke clinic, and every second of their pool time, instructional and otherwise

Both kids are in their 'younger' year of their age brackets, meaning they should be doing just 'ok' (based on previous seasons). However, they are both crushing their previous times! Eli always gets a little serious, practicing little things to shave seconds off here and there, but now Maddux has gotten into the spirit of competition too and she really seems to care.

One thing that has helped them so far has been friendly competition with someone else on the team. Eli loves going head-to-head with Drew (his BFF, lest you forget). While they both have strengths in different strokes, they still push each other in every event they swim in. Eli finished in front of Drew by about a hair last week and he practically jumped out of the water after he found out. And Maddux and Maggie have swam together for years (Maggie is AMAZINGLY fast) but this year, Maddux is really trying to beat her.

So far, it's all friendly, and it's working. Between Monday night and Wednesday night last week, both Eli and Maddux shaved seconds off of each of their times, even though Wednesday's meet did not have diving blocks (meaning their times should have been a little slower).

Here are my two fish at the meet last week. Notice Maddux leaving the blocks late EVERY time. She said she couldn't hear the horn at all. (Note, she still crushed her times, even with her 1+ second delay each event.)

Summer Swim

Here we are, in another swim season. Every year we start off with a bang, practicing after school each day for the last few weeks of school and transitioning straight into the fast-paced June craziness. This is one of the 'bonus' years for Eli and Maddux; with summer birthdays, every other year they will be at the top of their age group. This means that they opt to practice 'up', but usually still swim with their actual age group. This year, however, they asked Maddux to swim up for half of the meets! She got to participate in several relays (both medley and freestyle) with the older age group.

Eli always swam in events within his own age group, but he remains to be one of the few swimmers proclaiming to enjoy the IM (Individually Medley). He doesn't always finish first, but he loves swimming and his skill set is so impressive.

Swim Time

 

The kids are so excited to be back in the pool! We had two weeks of practices after school and tonight we had a practice meet. Both Eli and Maddux are at the older end of their age group, so they will do well this season. 

They usually opt to swim "up" during practices, but they still have to compete in their actual age bracket. This means that Maddux still only swims in three events all night.

Eli's favorite is still the IM (Individual Medley), which is the event that most of his teammates dread.

Ruby did VERY well during the practice meet, hanging with Lehr while he served as lane judge all night.

Swim Team

We LOVE Swim Team in our house. This is Eli's third year and Maddux's second, though this is the girl's first year really competing (last year she just got to practice with the team). We started practices the last two weeks of school, after school, and have since moved to mornings. Both kids love the pool, love the coaches, love their team (their friends) and love to swim. Last night was our third meet and both are doing very well again this year.

Eli is swimming in an older age group this year and that means he swims in 5 or 6 events each meet, as opposed to the 2 or 3 he swam in the past. He has really come to love the 100 Individual Medley, which is the one event he actually talked about in a dreading way all year. His butterfly, while not the fastest, has become an area where he seems to be growing quickly; it's really cool to see him find his niche out there. And he and his 3 other 7-8 year old boy teammates are becoming a great little close-knit group.

Maddux is doing really well also. Even though she will still be in the 6U group next summer too, she's already swimming at the top of her team in freestyle and backstroke. One of her friends on the team is definitely faster most of the time, but Maddux is right on her heels and they are leading the 6U girls, for sure. As far as social interactions go, it should come as no surprise that Maddux is getting along very well with her 6U team and the coaches (high school and college age), of course.

Swim Meet nights are very late, as Eli has to compete in one of the very last events, but so far we are loving them. Eli even sought out one of Maddux's events at our first official meet so he could cheer her on. When she came from behind in a relay to get her team ahead (and eventually finish first), he was crazy excited for her: "Maddux, you just BLEW by the other girl!" Of course, Maddux cheers Eli on too, when she's not too busy socializing, that is. We're already halfway through the season...it goes so quick!

Summer's Here!!!

As great of a year as it's been, it was nice to enter 'summer mode' this morning. The kids got up around 7:30, which meant we had time to have pancakes before Swim Team practice. If that doesn't start your day off right, I don't know what does!

I had already prepped the kids that we had a few errands to run after practice, and they were in great spirits the whole morning. We got Maddux's hair cut, totally cleaned out my car, stopped at Publix and then wound up at home. The kids and I painted the last of the alphabet for the baby's room and then played outside a little before Lehr got home (early because of Memorial Day weekend). We decided to continue on with being outside by working on the garden and backyard. Each of the kids helped Lehr finish up some things on the garden boxes while I planted some various things around the yard. Then we all went to the pool for some family time. The weather was amazing today, but a little breezy for the pool, so we actually ended up only staying about an hour. Kids were tuckered out after dinner, which means our first day of summer was a success :)

County Swim Meet

Sunday afternoon, Eli competed in his first County Swim Meet. As I've posted before, Eli had a great swim season this summer. He rose to the top of his team (in his age category), and he fared well in his races against other teams each week. When we finished out the season, his coach asked if he wanted to compete at the county level. I was surprised he wanted to, given that only a handful of kids from our team would be attending. In fact, Eli was the only participating swimmer under 9 years old from our neighborhood team.

Touch pads, high diving blocks and all, Eli decided to compete in the 25Freestyle and Backstroke. We did not expect Eli to place, but we knew he could improve his times, so that's what we emphasized. Eli improved his freestyle time by over 1/2 second, which we expected. His backstroke (which we didn't focus or work on this season) improved over 4 1/2 seconds and he upped his county ranking from 29th to 21st.

Eli's 25M Freestyle:
25.21" (17th of 41)


Eli's 25M Backstroke:
31.03" (21st of 30)

Blues Across The Board

What a Swim Season it's been! Maddux has really blossomed into a swimmy little fish; she even does back stroke by choice sometimes! And when we go to the pool outside of swim practice, she brings the flippers and moves around the pool like a mermaid - so fast!

Eli is enjoying a very fun year. Just as he was at the top of his game in baseball, he is doing very well being one of the oldest kids in the 6-and-under age category for swim team. This week he earned three blue ribbons: one for each race and all in heat 1! Quite the 6 year old year he's having...

Still Swimming

Maddux is still trucking along, starting off each Meet with a lap of freestyle; she only got a ribbon after that first one, but she is still very interested in 'racing' each week.


Eli is getting faster and faster. He LOVES practicing with the 7-8 group; they learn Butterfly and Breast Stroke as well, and he feels very 'big' now that he knows those strokes. In his racing category, he is killing it - HUGE advantage of being at the older end of the group. Last week he easily won all three of his races and brought his 25Freestyle time under 30seconds. I love my little fish! And I love that I get to take pictures of the whole team each week :)

First Swim Meet

Tonight was the first Swim Meet of the 2012 season. It was *only* a practice meet (meaning we didn't swim with another team), but the kids did the same thing(s) they would do at any other meet, and it was timed, so it was real to them!

Since she's still four, Maddux isn't allowed to compete yet, but she does still get to practice with the team and swim the first race at each meet. Since she is the only four-year-old on our team, she did that 'race' solo this week. Before anyone else entered the water, my girl climbed up on the blocks, dove off and swam a 25-meter freestyle. Awesome. She did pause halfway to look around a few times, but in all fairness, they'd practiced 'starts' that morning (meaning that several times that morning she dove in, swam a few strokes and turned around). After that she was done for the night, free to hang with her friends in between their races.

Eli doesn't turn seven until August, so even though his peers are all competing in the next level up and even though he practices with them, he races in the 6-and-under category. This is proving to be very beneficial for him. He did REALLY well in all three of his events (25Freestyle, 25Backstroke and 4-man-100Freestyle-Relay). Summer is here!!

Swim Team

Summer is here! Well, almost. But the best indicator that summer is near in our house is the start of Swim Team practice. This week kicked off the first few practices after school. Eli has gone through a season before, so even though he's going to have to work up to the level he finished at last year, he has the experience to know that the first week is hard, but it gets better after that. Poor Maddux gave me a look at yesterday's practice (her first) that said, "What have I gotten myself into?!?"

Eli is going to practice with the 7-8's this year, even though he has to compete with the 6U group. (Most of his friends and classmates are in 7-8.) Both kids are even more excited than usual because our head coach is one of their former baby-sitters, "Mr Michael". It's going to be a great summer!

BLUE!

Eli hates the backstroke, and during meets, he is painfully slow for the last 10M or so. Last week he was only half-way when the other three swimmers finished the heat. This week, however, on his last event of the season, he swam the best backstroke of his career and finished first. His ONLY first place of the season...he was so proud of himself. I think he talked Grandpa Jim's ear off for 15 straight minutes on his ride-home phone call....

Swim Season

What a crazy and fun summer it's been so far! Our days have definitely not been slow, mainly due to hitting the pool first thing every morning for Swim Team practice. Add the once/week Swim Meets to that (lasting at least 4 hours each time) and we are never bored!

Eli started off loving to swim freestyle, but detesting backstroke. That is still the same. He improved both strokes from the first to second meet (shaving 10 full seconds off his 25 Freestyle!), but since then has declined a bit. He is holding about the same for his Freestyle, but his backstroke gets a bit slower each week. It's not that he doesn't try; he practices at swim practice and on his own each day. That is his last event each Meet (around 8:30PM), and he still doesn't love it. This last Meet found him barely using his arms at all the last 10 or so of his race...he was just plain tuckered out. But in general, he loves the practices, he loves the Meets, and he LOVES the 'uniform'.

Speaking of that, the navy blue spandex-type swim shorts are almost never dry. Eli wears them to practice, to the pool for fun, and to all of the Meets. At least once a week I sneak them away to wash them, but even that is a task because they are usually on his person.

My favorite thing so far has been Eli's attitude about swimming. Much like in baseball, he doesn't seem to place too much importance on his ranking or winning. Last week he got a 4th place ribbon for the first time (he'd gotten only 2nd and 3rd before that). He looked at me with a huge smile and said, "Sweet! I've almost got one of every kind now!"

Here is a quick video of the kids jumping off of the diving board and then a clip of Eli's backstroke event from last week.



Maddux is too young to participate, but she loves the meets as well. As many of you could guess, she is out there, chatting it up and cheering on her friends the whole time. She plays with the big girls when they're not swimming, but when they're on the blocks or in the pool, she's standing on the sidelines with Lehr and I, yelling, "Go! Go! Go!", or wishing them luck before they hop in the pool, or giving them a high-five when they pull themselves out at the end. She seriously amazes me more and more each week. The little bit of encouraging, positive, outgoing energy that I exhaust each morning at boot camp (leaving none for my 'real life') absolutely oozes out of her pores. Maddux never fails to congratulate someone or encourage someone. Where she gets it, I don't know, but it's totally who she is.

We find a similar trend when we leave each Meet. Maddux has to say good-bye to everyone, even (and especially) her older friends. Ones she sees occasionally at the pool, ones she knows through Eli, ones she's said 'hello' to only once... Social butterfly, extraordinaire!

Second Swim Meet

This one went much better than last week. Not only did Eli not get a bloody nose, but he was faster and stronger in his events. I got to work as a lane manager this week, so I spent 90% of the time with Eli by my side. (Another GREAT thing about this meet.)

Before the meet, Eli reminded me to draw a few things on his back. Since his team is the Sharks, we discussed drawing one on his skin with a marker. I am not an artist, so I chose to try and print a stencil. Unless I was willing to pay, the only stencils I could find were tiny. No problem: I printed and cut one out and Eli used it as a 'model' to draw from. Five minutes after I gave it to him, he came back to me with a perfect shark, drawn and colored in by my boy. He cut it out and I traced it on his upper back. And when we arrived at the pool, the uniforms had finally arrived, so Eli got to swim in his 'tight baggies'. He was over the moon about this!

Eli only had two events this week: 25 Freestyle and 25 Backstroke. He was very nervous about the backstroke. Not only does he not enjoy that variety, he did not get to compete in it last week, so he's never actually completed a full 25 on his back. Lehr was on camera duty, but he will be pulled from it next week as he taped most kids Eli's age, but then turned the camera off when it was Eli's turn to swim the 25 Freestyle. (DOH!) Eli swam even better than last week too! I haven't been able to compare the times yet, but his pace was consistent and strong.

A few hours later it was Eli's chance to try the Backstroke. I'd never seen him practice this type of 'entry' during his team practices, but he'd been watching the last few heats, and he set up like a pro. Again, no clue what his time was, but he made it all of the way without grabbing the rope or giving up. So proud of that little shark!