The competitive child

Day two of the swim meet was a bust in the eyes of the competitive child. No one else saw it this way. She beat all her previous times, beat some of her team mates that are older than her and have been swimming longer than her but she didn't make finals and didn't get a J.O. cut so as far as she was concerned, it was a bust. Yeah, makes me want to bang my head against a wall...hers too for that matter.

Photography was problematic again at best today due to the glare of the ever present and oppressive Miami sun. Taking pictures during her heats was something I gave up on after her first one when I realised that once she came off the block I had taken pictures of the wrong kid during the actual race. Nice huh. She is swimming long course and with the glare on the water and the distance I really couldn't see anything so I zoomed in on what I thought was the right lane but once I looked at the photos I saw a blue suit. LOL

I decided to focus on the kids having fun between heats instead and show the more relaxed aspect of the meets. At the last meet Boss Man AKA head Coach told Rosie to take a swim in the cool down lanes or the cool down pool because it was so hot but she didn't want to. Today the heat got to her and she took him up on his offer as did many of the siblings. They even put a lifeguard on duty. Rosie took her team suit just in case it was off limits that way she would fit right in.

The 3 amigos

It's just a good thing they don't go to the same school cos they would be in constant trouble. These are the same two girls that came to her birthday sleepover.

Always a nice touch when meets open with the National Anthem

The National Anthem played at 8.30am and it was already this hot and sunny

Once the formalities were over Ro was right back in the cool down pool doing laps

on and on she went

Team mates, chilling

All strokes, event numbers, heat numbers, lane numbers and J.O.times. Always written in sharpie. One of the massage gels that i use removes sharpie with just a gentle wipe.

Practising backstroke while looking at her friends

Just being themselves

Telling her it's time to roll

Lily always, ALWAYS stands with her hands flat on the blocks like this while she is waiting to be told to get ready. And from this second everything changes for her and it is GAME ON.

So now she waits for next year to try out for Junior Olympics. If she wants it she'll get it. No more long course meets it's back to short course which she likes better. I like watching them swim long but that's cos I don't have to do it.

Summer swim meets...shoot me now

This weekend is the FGC Invitational. To you and I all that means is it's a swim meet. For me it means gather a whole lot of towels, sunscreen, goggles, extra team cap, cooler, Gatorade chews, water, snacks, etc etc and set the alarm clock for 5.30am and drive north.

It was Lilys last long course meet of the season and her first meet as an 11 yr old. A big deal. She was used to swimming at the top of her group ( 10 and under) now she was at the bottom (11 and 12). She is also coming off of the injured list from her broken arm so she was PUMPED.

This was an invitational meet which means it had prelims and finals. She missed finals by 1 place, not sure how many seconds. These sports where 100ths of a second count really make me itch, my brain nearly explodes. She beat all of her old times and was happy with the results and tomorrow we get to go back and do it again. Yippee. And who knows, maybe she will make finals tomorrow. oy.

I can hardly wait to go and stand in the 90 degree sun on a pool deck, melting for hours and hours again. But I will and I'll do it mock cheerfully to cheer on my girl and I'll hope, just like I did today that I get splashed, a lot. The sun was so bright this morning at 10 am that when she was swimming 100m fly I thought I was taking a photo of her but I couldn't actually see anything and this is what I took a picture of, some random womans boob...oopsie.

If you look to the top of the photo you can see a blob in the water, I believe that might be Lil. Thankfully her swimming skills surpass my photography ones. 

I love starting block photos, she is so focused

and she is off

Hmmm, crossed legs, how novel. Good thing Coach missed those!

I think she is praying

answered prayers she won that heat.

I'm so glad both kids love to swim. Lily always makes me laugh because she toddles through practice 5 days a week but put her in a meet and it's Game On. Everything changes. Her Coach has finally figured her out and puts her where he thinks she should be in a meet not where she measures up to in practice and it never fails she pulls it off every single time.

Have fun tomorrow Fish, if you want it, go get it.

Feel free to leave

You are not expected to stick around and read yet another freaking post about a swim meet. I'm the Mother it's my job to write it all down and document it with a few photos here and there and tell you how well she did and how she loved it.

I am supposed to skip the part about how god forsakingly hot it was today and I definitely shouldn't mention how she lost her ridiculously expensive competition suit because after she got changed she just dumped it on the table. No, I won't tell you how she did that and how I nearly went postal on her for it. Actually I might, I'll use it as bribery to make you stick it out to the end of the post to see if I spill the beans.

Today was a long course meet and only the second one she has ever done. She started with an IM which is something that a lot of swimmers seem to dislike but Lily really loves them and usually does really well in them. She did well in this one and won her heat by more than half a pool length. She went on to win all of her heats but didn't place anywhere. Her best was a 9th. She knew that this was going to be a tough one due to her arm but she wanted to do it anyway. Kid loves her a meet. Since I am no longer a novice swim mum I don't write all her times down anymore, they are all on an app on my phone...who knew. I punch in her name and BAM, every time, every course, every stroke and her ranking. I used to scribble everything down on her heat sheets.

This was a chase swim so I was able to get close to both ends of the pool and still get photos...cool.

I just like scoreboards ?

Swimmers take your marks....not as much fun as gentlemen start your engines but whatever.

And she is off

her impression of a shark, perhaps

a few minutes of fun with friends.

If I've got the camera then there is going to be a fly shot!

LOVE LOVE LOVE that splash action. It's almost arced

It was so hot that Rosie and Lily's friends brother are showing signs of wilting here. 

She looks so beefy here.

Lily looked at this photo and was appalled at how bad her dive was but I looked at this photo and loved the colour of the sky. The weather changed really fast. We got caught in a really bad storm driving home (twice)

Changed and ready to leave.....I wonder where that bathing suit is?
why yes that is a Miami Heat shirt she is wearing and not her Flying Fish one...sometimes a girls just gotta do what a girls gotta do! Go Heat.

That LBS (little black suit) is one expensive suit, well not in the scheme of big time swim meets but it cost nearly as much as a month of fees. I don't mind at all. It is skin tight, she loves it, she swims like a rocket in it and it is required by her team for meets....but not everyone appears to have them, cough cough. She loves her LBS and so does Rosie love hers. She went off to the changing room after her last heat and changed. While she changed I packed up the stuff, and lordy knows there is a lot of stuff. I picked up her goggles and team cap and threw them in a baggie and put them in the bag. When she returned she sat and talked for a a few minutes and then I closed up the bags and we headed home. Coral Springs is about 50 minutes from us but this afternoon it took a bit longer due to the storm. Once home we started unpacking. We have a routine and as we were following it, it became obvious that LBS wasn't with us. She hummed and hawed and blamed me, well tried to. I went nucking futs and called the complex, no LBS. I calmly and sweetly threw them both back in the car and tore back up to Coral Springs, oh so happily in another rain storm. I screeched to a halt in front of the complex and told her not to return without it. She came back empty handed. I then slammed the car into a parking space and we went to look together. No LBS. #%*@ !

Lost and found didn't have it either. Since she has to swim again tomorrow we stopped in the team store and picked up a plain black competition suit for a few million dollars, which I oh so motherly told her she WOULD be paying for herself, and drove back home again in yet another storm. fun times.

As we were nearly home I received a text. Since I don't text and drive I asked Lily to read it. It was from her Coach: Lily, D's mum has your suit, she will bring it to the meet tomorrow. Swim Fast, Coach.

Lucky little Devil.

Her bags are packed, minus LBS. The new suit is still in the bag with the receipt attached firmly to it. Her snacks, drinks and lunch are ready to go. I hope it doesn't rain for the drive up there at 6am!

Swim fast little one and more importantly be responsible.

Swim x 2

Both girls were entered in the same swim meet yesterday which made things fabulously easy and bionically complicated all at the same time.

Fabulously easy. 2 girls in the same place at the same time.
Fabulously easy. Swim meet was at Gulliver. 10 minutes from here.
Fabulously easy. Both got to compete on the same weekend.

Bionically Complicated. 10 towels. Which inevitably = 10 wet towels .
Bionically Complicated. The amount of stuff in addition to the 10 towels.
Bionically Complicated. Keeping track of 2 sets of heats.
Bionically Complicated. Keeping track of 2 sets of times.

It was only Rosies second meet she was was fully charged with nervous energy.

And this was my second meet as coaches assistant and first meet as swim mum of 2 kids at the same time. I was charged also and lest we should forget Nanny Freaking McPhee was there and I needed to rise above as that is how I roll. Never let them see you sweat.

First order of official business get Rosie deck entered into the 100 free. Off I trot only to be informed that there are no free lanes left. Back to the boss to relay this information. Boss tells me that is fine that we can enter her as another swimmer as she is fully paid and is not swimming and Rosie is fully entered. I think nothing of this and take care of business. After the transaction is complete I realised that my child is swimming with the 10 and 12 years olds. Say what? To late now.

The kids go off and warm up and I help get everyone organised, heat sheets lined up and parents that are new to this game sorted out. The kids seemed to warm up for ever yesterday but I think it might have had something to do with the amount of people entered in the meet.

Finally it was time to go and Lily was up first. She swam two heats before Rosie swam. Rosie looked a little like the deer in the headlights but pulled it off swimmingly when it was her turn. Lily then competed again before Rosie had to swim with the big leagues. Unfortunately the name change confused everyone and Rosie got a late start, not that this changed much as far as her placing. She came in last in the heat BUT, drum roll please, overall she still managed to beat 3 other kids. Kidlet can swim! Lily then swam her last heat.

Lily shaved time off of all her heats minus the last one. Substantial time. She is now really really close to making Junior Olympic times and I hope she gets them if that is what she wants. She makes me laugh because each and every day in practice she swims hard but enjoys herself and gives herself no pressure but at a meet she reaches down into her toes and pulls so hard. Then back at the practice pool she just toddles along leaving her coach yelling at her and shaking his head. I think he is starting to realise that Lily doesn't "do it" unless it is needed. I know she won some more bling yesterday in two heats but the final scores weren't all tallied when we left.

Nervous Nelly

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Gulliver's pool had a proper score board that showed the kids name and which lane they were in. The girls LOVED it.

Lily loved seeing her name on the board

Lily with her heats and lanes tattooed on her arm. Standard procedure.

Still looking nervous. The board was the place where she was so worried about getting DQ'ed. One little wiggle and you are OUT. Sheesh, talk about pressure.

10th place out of 66. in breast and she shaved just over 5 seconds off of her time.

Rosies 100 free with the big kids. As you can see there isn't anyone around. 

If you look at the photos Lily is always on the lane lines, she circle swims, it is driving her MAD. Rosie isn't doing it. They circle swim in practise and it is a hard habit to break and it costs them time wise. I think and hope that now Lil is getting so aware of it she will be more conscious and might be able to change it. Even after she flip turns she heads straight to the lane line.

We have a break for a couple of weeks before any more meets but in March there is a huge one coming. Lots of pressure for this one. Lily doesn't feel pressure until she gets behind the board, then for her it is, game on and her composure changes entirely. Her goofball attitude gets placed aside and her game face gets put on and that's it.

A situation

I am pissed off, hurt and generally really quite fed up.

Very soon after the girls started swimming we, Rosie and I, encountered a mother, whom I shall call Nanny McPhee, in the stands. Rosie was walking down one set of stairs along the deck and up the other set of stairs. She wasn't running, she wasn't making any noise she was just walking. Now bare in mind that I am Hitler so had she been at all disruptive I would have put a stop to it. I take games, books and things for them to do whilst they wait for each other. Out of nowhere Nanny Mcphee gets all over Rosie and Rosie comes back to me very scared and quiet. I told her it served her right and she needed to sit down, end of story. This was 18 freaking months ago.

Nanny Mcphee has NEVER spoken to me. I have smiled, said hello etc etc and NOTHING. Yesterday she came up to speak to the lady sitting behind me, a friend of mine and says, hello to her, to the lady next to me and ignores me again, so I said, helloooo, in a very happy voice and she shot me the death look. I asked her why she refuses to speak to me. She replied in very broken English, I will NEVER speak to you EVER. I was shocked, totally flabbergasted, knock me on my arse with a feather, kind of shocked. The 3 of us all looked at each other.

After she left I asked what the hell it was all about and what on earth she thinks I have done. I am a nice person and always give people a chance. Apparently she thinks my kid is unruly and nearly hit her with a Croc one time. Aha, so that's it is it. Wrong kid!

Today the girls both had a swim meet and she was there. I went up to her and very gently touched her arm and asked if I could talk to her, She swung around, whipped my hand off of her and said, No habla Ingles. I was so effing pissed. I replied, habla Espanol. It knocked her off guard and she marched away.  I really don't know what is with her but I tried to take the high road but now it is game on.

A little later on I went to tell Lily something and she was sitting talking to a friend. They were playing video games. Lily was sitting on a cooler. Once Nanny Mcphee realised Lily was with me she told her to get off the cooler as she was too heavy. Suddenly she speaks the language, how convenient. Okay.  Lily's friend asked her to sit in the chair with her so then Nanny told the Mother in Spanish to tell her to get out as she was to heavy and she would break it so the mother did. I gave the b*&ch the death stare and dragged Lily away. Then Nanny, so named cos she looks like Nanny McPhee at her ugliest started bad mouthing me and my kids to other mothers in Spanish. I then reminded her that I spoke Spanish which left the other mother looking a little embarrassed, and walked off. (I can say hello, where is the bathroom and would you like another olive, I never said I was fluent.)

I really don't know what is with her. I have been told by so many people that she is just crazy. Well guess what I think she is just a trouble maker and everyone lets her get away with it. I dont think she should be allowed to intimidate people and be downright nasty. If you let people like her walk all over you she will.

You can mess with me but don't bring the girls into it.


Bring it Nanny, I'm ready, game on!

More on the swim meet later.

Darn it, I thought swimming was void of the whackkos.

And we didn't even have to get up early.

We seem to be attending a whole lot more swim meets this year than we did last year! I swear there weren't this many 12 months ago. I realised about an hour ago that there were of course this many but Lily just wasn't good enough to participate in them. Oh how things have changed. And lest we should forget I now have 2, count them, 2, that are competing.

Todays meet was late, warm-ups started at 11.a.m..  Pretty cushy if you ask me. We rolled out of bed late and took things at a nice weekend pace which on the day of a meet is unheard of.

Lily swam in 4 events. She is getting very serious about things now as try outs for Junior Olympics are coming and she needs to make JO times and being the competitive soul that she is she is pushing pushing pushing. She didn't make any JO times today but she is getting close and he coach is telling her to be patient. Hah, good luck with that you just might want to talk to to a fork.

100 yard back                   Today     1.32.38 kidlet detests backstroke and hasn't competed before
50 yard breast                  old time      49.04             today     46.10
100 yard fly                      old time   1.40.15             today  1.35.00
50 yard free                      old time      37.65             today     36.05

All her times improved but for her they weren't good enough, insert large GROAN from me. She was really happy with her backstroke and placed 4th overall. FOURTH, that is freaking amazing.  She has only been swimming for just over a year. I just went to check the official times and they still aren't posted so I am not sure how she did overall but as far as I am concerned she is improving so what more can she ask for???? In a sport where hundredths of a second count and make the difference between first and second place and this kid is knocking 5 seconds off of her times in 6 weeks...what more can we say to her.

The crazy Fish getting prepped and Pepped

Rosie, the Mascot.

Jade and Jodi. The best part of swimming. Jade is a fabulous swimmer and watched Lily with me today and gave so much feedback to her it was great. She also pointed out things to me that I would never have noticed. Love that girl.

Concentration x 10.000

And that's how you FLY
She explained to me today that she learned a new technique last night and implemented it today and she is convinced that that is what help shave those 5 seconds off. 

She has some pretty big meets coming up and i know she is going to be pushing herself. I can downplay them until the cows come home but it's that old type A personality that kicks it up a notch.

 I'm very proud of you kidlet. Reach for the stars because nothing is to far away.

Oh and I went to my first coaches meeting today. A few months back coach Andrew asked if I would be interested in becoming an official and I agreed. After all the tests, background checks etc, I am finally done. Today was my first meet in this new position and when the officials called for a rep from all the teams he sent me. GAH! I'm going to be stuck at the pool for a while by the looks of things so I might as well do something useful while I am there.

Swimming bling

Last night at swimming the awards were given out for the last swim meet. Little Miss Rosie earned some bling in every single event. Not only did she do really well in her heats but she actually did well overall in the 6 and under group.

In what might possibly the worst phone photos ever, I give you Rosie and her swim bling.

The purple one is 2nd place for backstroke.

Look at her she's got more decorations than the Christmas tree.
4th place freestyle and 5th place fly!

It is amazing how much swimming is building her confidence. This is just not the same child, at all.

The littlest swimmer

Today Rosie had her first competitive swim meet. Between her coaches and myself we have been building her up for this moment for almost a month and somehow, somehow, it worked. For the first time ever Rosie embraced a new experience rather than shy away from it. I was so proud of her. She had one tiny moment after the pep talk where she looked absolutely petrified and I really thought she was about to fall apart but she didn't. When the coaches took her to the starting blocks she actually smiled. She has moved mountains today.

Our morning started off with us loading the car and driving the 10 minutes to the pool, (how convenient!). As soon as we were sorted she had to head to warm-ups. I told her she would probably get kicked and that it happens to everyone and that it is no big deal. Yes, I lied but if she was feeling fragile and she got kicked in the face she would cry this way she would shake it off.

Why yes, I am feeling particularly confident

Warm up instructions

See her strap on her suit, how it is gaping? It's the smallest competition suit they make. Coach had to call Speedo just for her. 

Waiting for the heats to begin.

I love this picture of her. This was when her anxiety was starting to show.

Before we knew it she was whisked away to the starting area. I couldn't take photos from our side, because we were behind the swimmers and you are not allowed to take photos of their bottoms. (it's a sad world that we live in) so I don't have any photos of her first race which was the fly. There were only 2 swimmers in her heat and she came in second. I don't have her time either.

I smartened up for the next 2 heats and went to the other side the pool but I wasn't able to tell her so she couldn't find me but as is completely out of character she just did what the race officials told her without looking terrified.

Waiting for her starting instructions

And she's off

Go baby go.

She flew! I told her to swim like she was being chased by a shark but I really didn't think she would. She won and the child that came in second was exactly a minute behind her. This is a sport where hundreds of a second count. Everybody was clapping, I was amazed. I don't even think I moved from my spot as I was so shocked. She got out the pool absolutely beaming, she knew.

Next up was her freestyle and she was ready and raring to go. Poor kidlet was turning blue from being so cold but there wasn't much I could do. We kept her wrapped in 2 towels but once they get called to start they have to leave everything with the coaches and there is a lot of time spent waiting.

No fear at all

Just do it!

 no competitors even close.

She really proved herself and boosted her confidence. Coach told them that they might make mistakes because there is so much to remember, but he drilled them before they went in and they all remembered everything. Some strokes you finish with 2 hands, some with one, some with 2 simultaneously, then there was the don't finish face down in the back, that's only for practice, count your strokes under the flags and finish face up. How do they remember all of it? He even told the parents, don't get upset if they get D.Q.'d., they will possibly swim the wrong stroke cos they are nervous but not one of them did. As I stood waiting at the finish line I was listening to the comments from the parents of kids in other teams and they were all saying the same thing: that guy, meaning Coach Andrew, has a lot of winners today, and he did. His team of coaches are really great they work very hard to make it fun yet teach them right. He told every single child today, it is not about winning it is abut having fun. He takes the pressure off of them but still has more wins than any other team, he is just that good.

 Coach Andrew with coaches Vicky and Lisa. 

Santa stopped by to congratulate the kiddies. Rosie took one look at him and said, he isn't real he's not wearing gloves.
(apparently gloves determine fake from legit in her mind)

Rosie has now competed in an official meet so she has times.
 25 m fly...................haven't got them yet!
25m back................29.71
25m free.................29.08

 I'm really starting to like this "Swim Mum" job.