9 Nov 2011

The swimmer

I never thought I would say this but horse riding was much more fun as a spectator than swimming can ever dream of being. ~yawn~

But I go and I sit twice a week, Daddy takes her once a week and I watch. In between watching I talk with the other mums, a really nice group of ladies, and I watch Rosie having fun with a little girl the same age as her. Dear heaven is this dull. She has improved so much in a few short weeks that it is shocking. She has the speed needed to compete but her form was wacky ( i bet if you look up that term under the heading of swimming you will find it!) but now her form is getting better, pretty good in fact. She loves it and the physical aspect of it is so important for her. Learning to be part of a team never hurt anyone especially anyone as competitive as Lily. Sometimes I can't even figure out which child is mine in the sea of yellow hats and dark bathing suits, at least when her form was "whack" I could tell it was her. When doing freestyle she would take this enormous breath and almost roll over on to her back whilst doing it, I called it the capsize breath but now she has mastered breathing into her armpit. Her butterfly is taking shape but backstroke is her strength, to her breaststroke is hard but she is getting better at it. If they spend a lot of time on breaststroke she always requires a massage afterwards.

We are just really glad that she likes it. I'm also glad that the pool is heated. It's Miami we think anything below 84 is to cold for swimming.


Lily and a team mate. These 2 get on swimmingly and apparently call each other before practice to co-ordinate their suits. LOL




One of their team mates "Andy" is an amazing swimmer. He is in a different age group. He happens to have down syndrome but this doesn't slow him down at all. He went to Beijing and bought home a gold and silver. Some arsehat just stole his medals. For the love of all things holy, who would do something like that and I hate to say it but especially to him? Just when I think I have heard it all I hear this and am left aghast.

5 comments:

Jessie said...

Improvements in swimming, another milestone, maybe?? I'd imagine swimming would be a bit like watching grass grow, but now that she's getting better, it *might* be more exciting?! Are you serious, someone stole Andy's medals? How awful, I hope he can get replacements and shame on the person who took them (to use your words, tsk, tsk). My girls are just now starting to really like swimming, but are no where near the point to join a swim team, maybe next summer?

Andie said...

I feel a bit guilty for all those years Mum took me swimming. I think that's why she didn't stay and watch unless she had to. Even I have never been able to watch it on TV, it's not a specator sport.

Life frome where we are said...

Wow....Lily is amazing. That competitive nature will take her a long way in life. Maybe you could take some knitting along with you?

Love Letters To China said...

So happy to hear Lily is enjoying swimming. Natalie loved it for a while until the competitiveness got to her. She would come home complaining that her legs hurt (sore muscles). She quickly decided it wasn't fun anymore and left. I'm hoping martial arts doesn't turn into the same thing. We've already invested WAY too much money to stop.

Vivian M said...

Yay for Lily! Swimming is an awesome sport, and a great way to exercise.
And my heart goes out to Andy...

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails