So on Saturday Isabelle swam the 25 breast, back and 100 IM. It was her first time swimming in the IM and we were both really excited to see how she would do. Nathaniel and Gabriel both swam the 25 free, 25 back and 25 breast.
The free was the first event. Gabriel swam in heat 3 of 8 in the 8 & Under free. He did not swim his best time, but he was not far off, and he seemed rather pleased with himself, so I was happy with that. Nathaniel swam in heat 6. He took over 1.5 seconds off his time and I was so excited for him to swim a good race to start the day!
Next up was the girl's 8 & Under 25 breast. Isabelle was seeded in the fast heat. She had a really great swim. She looked really good in the race, swam about 3 seconds faster than she had swum all indoor season and finished in 6th place with a time of 25.63. I was over the moon happy for her and she was really excited too.
Then Gabriel swam in the 8 & Under Boy's 25 breast. He has a legal breast stroke, but he does not have a good starting dive--it's more like a "jump and throw yourself into the pool" start and so he has had a proclivity in practice to do a flutter kick coming off that crazy start. I told him as we were driving to the pool that he just needed to pretend he was a little froggy the whole race and not do any flutter kicks and to remember his two-hand touch on the finish. Gabriel swam in the third heat and he looked great the whole race. He had a really great race and finished with a completely legal stroke, taking 4 seconds off his time. He swam a 36.62 and ended up finishing in 10th place overall for the 8 & Under boys! I was so excited for him and he was so excited. Breast stroke seems to be hard for the little guys to get the mechanics correct, so that made this race even more sweet-- a 5 year old with a nice looking legal breast stroke.
Nathaniel swam next in heat four. He also had a great race. He looked really good in his race and took almost 1.5 seconds off his time from last month. He ended up swimming a 29.12 and finished in 5th place overall.
Next up was the back. Isabelle was seeded in heat 7 of 8 in the 25 back. I had a feeling Isabelle would have a good race and she did. She looked great and flew down the pool. She took about .75 seconds off her time from last month, swam a 23.35 and finished in 9th place overall.
Gabriel was up next in the back. He was in the third of 7 heats. He had a great race. He looked really good. He took nearly 2 seconds off his previous PR and swam a 33.82. I was so proud of him. He was so happy. He really seems to enjoy the swimming and seems to rise to the occasion at the meets.
Nathaniel then swam the 25 back. He was in the fast heat, but had the slowest seed time in that heat--I was hoping that would light a fire under him and push him to a really good PR. He had a good race and looked good. He did swim a PR, taking about 1.7 seconds off his time from last month and he finished in 5th place overall.
After the back, the boys were finished for the day, so they came up to the bleachers and hung out with me and Jeremiah while we waited for Isabelle's last race. She had a long wait for the 100 IM and everyone else from our team had finished their races and left, so she was all by herself. I felt bad for her. But she is a good girl and she waited nicely. I was really hoping she would have a good race, but had no idea what she could do. She swam in the first heat on the outside lane. The girl next to her no showed so she had no one next to her to race, which was unfortunate, but she swam well and looked good and survived without getting DQ'd, which is what I was most concerned about. I was so proud of her. She survived her first 100 race and her first IM race and now she has the confidence to know she can do it. She finished in 7th place overall.
That concluded our first day of the swim meet. We grabbed some pizza at the concession stand and then headed from the pool to church, where the kids had a two-hour practice for the Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve.
Sunday started early again and the kids were really sleepy and hard to get moving. Gabriel, a little proud and sure of himself after his great swimming on Saturday, decided that he could and should swim the 50 breast even though he wasn't entered into the race. I asked the coach about that and he said the heats were full, but if someone no-showed at the start, he would get Gabriel in the 50 breast, which ended up not happening. I just love this kid though! I mean, here he is, five-years-old, swimming with the 8 & Unders and asking to swim the 50's. I can't say I know of too many other five-year-olds who would do that. He's got such a great little personality.
Anyway, Gabriel was entered into the 50 back and 50 free, Isabelle was entered into the 50 free, 50 breast and 50 back, and Nathaniel was entered into the 50 back, 50 breast and the 100 free.
Isabelle was up first in the 50 free. She has swum this race once last spring and I don't remember what her time was. I may have mentioned before that she really does not like the free, and in our two other meets this fall season, she has completely avoided swimming it, but I encouraged her to swim it today and she was up for the challenge. She swam a decent race and looked ok, but you tell she was glad that it was over. At least she has a time now and something to improve upon. I was proud of her for trying.
Gabriel swam the free next. He had swum the 50 free last month. He did not do as well as last month, but he tried hard and he looked like he had fun. He seemed pretty pleased with himself when he was finished though, so at this age, that is all the counts!
Next Isabelle swam the 50 breast. I thought she could have a great race today in this event and really shave some time off. She did have a good race and she took about five seconds off her time from last month and finished in 9th place overall. I was so happy for her and she was really excited too!
Nathaniel was up next in the breast. He was in the fast heat and it was a really tight race, really tight. It was very exciting actually. He would have swum a PR by almost 5 seconds and finished in third place if he would not have been DQ'd for having a brain freeze and forgetting to do a two-hand-touch on his turn. I was sad for him because he did swim so well and looked really good the rest of the race.
Next, Isabelle swam the 50 back. This was her last race of the meet, and by this point, I think she just wanted to be done. She looked pretty sluggish in the pool and she was 2 seconds off her best time, but she had a really great meet and will come home with four ribbons for her efforts.
Gabriel swam the 50 back next. Again, I give this kid a lot of credit for wanting to swim these 50's and swimming against kids who are two and three years older than he is. He has a lot of composure and guts for a little guy. He did what I thought he could do in this race and I was so proud of him for swimming. He's only going to get better from here.
Nathaniel swam the 50 back next. He looked good in the race, but definitely looked like he could have pushed himself a bit harder. He swam a PR and finished up in 7th place overall.
At this point, Isabelle and Gabriel were finished and we had a long wait for Nathaniel to swim the 100 free. I think he was tired and bored of waiting and ready to go home by the time his race finally came up. This was his first time swimming the 100 free and he did decently, finishing in 7th place overall.
The kids had a really great meet and I was so happy for them and the effort they put forth and all the hard work they have been doing at their workouts! Our next meet is not until the middle of February, so we'll see how they improve in the next six weeks or so!
0 comments:
Post a Comment