Away Swim Meet + First Snow

I took the kids to an away swim meet just 40 minutes from us the first Saturday in January.  I think it's good for them to swim somewhere besides home turf, just to experience another pool, different diving blocks, etc.  It was a tough meet logistically - the hosts had equipment issues and the gym waiting area was truly freezing but we persevered and the kids had a great meet.  We had personal best times among all our children in several events and they had a lot of fun and worked hard.

Mia in the closest lane with Coach Megan getting her to the finish.

Mia in the far lane, doing her individual medley.  She has worked so hard at this event and got DQ'd in the breast stroke kick, but I love that she doesn't give up.

Natalee in the pink cap.

Mia in the middle.

I cannot tell you how much we appreciate Coach Megan this year.  She is volunteering her time and she shows up for these kids week in and week out.  Here she is talking Mia through her IM while simultaneously coaching whoever is in the pool and timing for her swimmers because the wall clocks/touchpads were down.

Xavier swam the 50 free, 50 back, and 100 free.  

He took 5 milliseconds off his 50 free, 76 milliseconds off his 50 back, and 4.23 seconds from his 100 freestyle.  He also swam a relay with a team of boys.  Good job, Xavier!

Natalee swam the 50 breast, 50 back, and 200 freestyle.

She took 1.96 seconds from her 50 yard breast stroke, 5.36 seconds off her 50 back stroke (she's taken almost 11 seconds from her initial time on this event this season!), and 5.99 seconds from her 200 yard free style.  The 200 free is a new challenge for Natalee and I appreciate that she's pushing herself.  Natalee has missed doing relays this season and was thrilled when the girls' relay team invited her to swim with them since they were down a girl.  It ended up being a team of homeschool girls and they were the last event of the meet!

Ameliya swam the 50 free, 50 back, and the individual medley at this meet, as well as a relay or two with teams of girls.  She did DQ in her IM, but made improvements in personal times in her other two events.  She lost 6.92 seconds on her 50 free and 2.94 seconds from her 50 yard back.  Her time on her IM is great - she's just refining her strokes/kicks.

My rear was numb from bleacher sitting all day but I won't complain about getting to sit and visit with some friends and watch my kids do what they love.

Meanwhile at home - Mike and the little 2 enjoyed the "first snow" of the season...