Fly, Breast & Free, IM & Relay and Shaving Seconds

A year ago swimming was a foreign language to me. I grew up in Florida... as an ice skater. My son, here in Wisconsin, is a swimmer. I spend many weekends in the fall & winter at a pool. It's usually a balmy 80 degrees (which in Feb. it *is* balmy). The summer you will find us at various locations in Madison from Hawks Landing to Ridgewood & Shorewood. It is looking like this is my future for the next several years.

Last year, my son did swim lessons and that was it in terms of sports. Once a week, 30 mins a lesson. Now, I spend Tues, Wed & Thurs at the pool and if there's a meet, I work it. It's not bad and it's great to see him getting some positive self esteem.

Today was the last meet until the summer. Honestly, I need the break. I know he'll miss the meets, but out of the 10 or so meets he participated in, I think 7 were hosted by BAC which meant we had to work them. Today was the worst since I believe I have a sinus infection and my head was pretty darn close to exploding.

Today was a good day. The boy got 4th place in his backstroke (tied for 4th and 3rd was just .07 seconds away), 7th in 50Y free (out of 24 kids!), he improved his 50 y breast stroke by a lot!

The next big step will be summer teams. He will be 9 which will be a a huge difference. He's been competeing in 8 & under for the last 9 months. The 9-10 yr old division will be different. It will be faster and harder. The boy realizes this and doesn't expect to get 1st or 2nd or 3rd. He just doesn't want to be last, which I think won't be any problem at all.