Swim meet

This morning my alarm went off at 5.am. Yes 5.am on a Saturday. The reason, a swim meet. Not one that was nice and close, oh no of course not, one that was an hour away. Actually an hour away is close by my standards but not when it means getting up at 5 on a Saturday morning. Rosie woke up shortly after me and I woke Lily up at 5.45. Then everything was a blur until we started the drive. As we neared our destination the clouds rolled in, the heavens opened and it didn't stop raining for hours.

I kid you not the spectators were as wet as the swimmers. It's really unusual for it to be cold here when it rains but of course today had to be one of those freakish days. It was awful. Thankfully I know well enough to take lots of towels with me. Nothing worse that getting out of a pool and being handed a wet towel. I also take Lily a couple of shirts, a fleece and a change of long pants. I knew she would be fine. I think because it was still dark when we left the house that my groggy brain decided it must be cold so I grabbed a fleece for Rosie which was pretty daft considering where we live and the fact that it was 85 yesterday. Phew lucky Rosie, she was warm too. As for me I was frozen, absolutely bone cold, with rain dripping down my neck. Oh happy freaking days. All the parents were laughing. We were huddled under this "sun tent" with the rain pouring though it begging for lightening so that the meet would be cancelled. I finally asked a coach how long it would be until our kids swam again and she told me at least an hour. With that i grabbed as many kids as wanted to come and we headed to my car. I drive an SUV so some went in the back and some in the back seat, they went where they wanted. I turned up the heat and there we stayed. (yes I cracked a window to keep us safe). I put wet shirts and fleeces in front of the vents and turned them up full and by the time we headed back to the pool the kids clothes were dry and they were warm. Of course heading back to the pool they got wet again but they were warmer and happy. They had been singing and had some light refreshments. We got back in time for the them to get ready to stretch and swim. When life hands you lemons you have to make lemonade.

This was the first time Lily has ever swam a long. That is what they call an Olympic pool. She swims shorts. She was a little intimidated by it in the warm ups. When the warm ups started it was only 7.30, it was lashing rain and everyone and everything was disorganised so the warm ups were awkward. I watched her from the far end of the pool getting ready to compete and she was pacing. She was fidgeting and was generally edgy and nervous. if you now Lily you know she isn't like this. Lily is COOL. I tried to send her good vibes. I told her from my end to focus. Next thing she was on the board and the siren thingy went off. Child nailed it, she rocked it. To put it bluntly, she owned the breaststroke today. This is the stroke she struggles with the most. Not only that but this was her first time in a long and she came in first, in her heat! She didn't have a time to beat as she hasn't done it before. Her time today was 100.19.

Then it was back to waiting, waiting in the dry cos it stopped raining. Oh yes it did. By the time  the next race started the place was packed. Rain doesn't kill you it makes you wet so why are people afraid of it? When it rains life must go on. (God that's sounds so very British) Lily also did an amazing job in her next race too. She took 2nd place. We don't have her time yet as it wasn't up. We left as soon as she was done so we will get her times tomorrow. I swear that girl ate rocket fuel for breakfast this morning. Thankfully she has stopped looking from side to side to see if anyone is gaining on her. I am really impressed with how well she is doing. Some of the teams that were there were screaming and yelling at the kids in a really competitive way but Lily's coaches make it perfectly clear it's all about having fun and it really is. Yes, they compete and the coaches want to win but they make it fun for the kids. All her team mates were fantastic today.

pacing

someone's nervous

look at our girl GO

serious girls....not

silly girls

this is what you do when your waiting for your sister

Times

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