Thomas was put in the opening Mixed Medley Relay (swimming the butterfly leg), then he was assigned to swim individually in the butterfly and breaststroke. Breaststroke, while he finally has somewhat mastered the mechanics of it, is not his strongest stroke. We weren't quite sure how that would go, but he was up for it. Then he was to swim the third of three freestyle legs in the closing Freestyle Relay. Parker, as one of the 6 & unders, was only to swim one leg of freestyle in an exhibition competition. So basically, we were in for a long night!
Some of the 6 & unders were quite excited about their big debuts!
Meanwhile, Thomas lined up for his opening swim (butterfly in the Mixed Medley Relay).
He did GREAT! It was his best butterfly time to date (26.18 secs...though I think this pool was 25Y, not 25M -- I still think it was his best swim ever!). Overall though their relay team was bested by the other team, but he earned his second place ribbon and was happy about it (no picture of that ribbon). Here's a video of his swim.
Next it was Parker's turn for his inaugural swim. He's still learning the mechanics of freestyle, so I wasn't quite sure how he'd do, but he did great. He is still learning how to properly take a breath while swimming, but once he gets that down, he will be off to the races! :) A lady started talking to me just before his start and I sadly missed the beginning of his swim, but here is at least half of it. He is in the second lane from the top (in the green cap):
He had the biggest smile when he came over to show it off to his adoring fans (his Daddy & me and his Aunt Beth & Uncle Greg)
Next up, after a bit of a lull in competition for us, was Thomas' butterfly (individually). He seemed a tiny bit tired (it was after 8 pm at this point), but he did well and finished second! Here is that swim. He is in lane 5 (second lane from the top):
After I watched this one, I timed it and his time was 31.10. Definitely not his best time. Remember it was 26.18 earlier in the evening. And, to compare it to the boy who finished first, his time was 26.36. So yep, if Thomas could get more consistent with his fly, this red ribbon could turn blue. :) Either way, he was thrilled and so was (am) I!!!!
Next up was breaststroke. As I said, not his strongest stroke. He has just been really learning the mechanics of it and due to weather, his own illness and a crazy incident at the Rec Center on Monday, he has had VERY little practice over the last week. He unfortunately was disqualified right at the end of the swim. Not sure exactly why but it must have been something with his kick (I hope we find out more at practice today so he can work on it). The other child swimming for our team was also DQ'd, so not quite our night in that stroke. Oh well, he wasn't too upset by it. Here was his swim; he's in lane 2 (from the top of the screen -- you'll see the judge's hand go up (across the pool) right at the end to indicate the disqualification):
Last up was the Freestyle Relay and it was pushing 10 pm. This, however, is definitely Thomas' strongest stroke. He had a goggle mishap in the time trials last week and the coaches had to use those times to see who would swim for points last night. His time was off by at least 5 seconds then, so I'm guessing that's why he swam the other two strokes. Anyway, the coaches pick the four strongest swimmers in his division (7-8 boys) to swim this relay, so it's an honor that he's in it. :) I don't think it was his fastest and best ever, but it was very good and we were all quite proud of him. Again, his relay team finished second. Here was Thomas' leg of the relay (he's in Lane 3 -- which is fourth from the top if you can't see the bottom lane):
We survived the first meet and came home with three 2nd place riboons and one exhibition (well, two including the one from the DQ l -- oops!). Swim season is officially back in effect, which means late nights and late dinners. We try not to let him eat too much during the meet, so he only had a half a sandwich there. But when he got home he finished off his dinner just before bed. Nothing like dinner at 10:15. :-{
Here's hoping for a fun season!
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