The last Saturday in January brought our final swim meet of the year. I'm so pleased with how hard all three of our swimmers worked and their gains, both measurable and unmeasurable.
I worked a stopwatch this meet so Mike did some videography when he got there. We didn't catch all the events the children were in, but many of them, and regardless of what was caught on film, they did a great job.
Xavier was still building stamina back up after his turn with the virus, so he chose to scratch one event to be a better asset to his relay team and rest a bit for his next individual race.
He swam two individual races and two group relays.
Because my children ask, I take the time to figure their new personal bests and how much time they've dropped on races. Xavier dropped 2.9 seconds on his 50 breast from the beginning of the year. This was actually an event he completed in the mock meet, then disqualified in at the first formal meet, and spent the next several weeks refining at practice, so I was so happy to watch him complete it successfully. Xavier also dropped 2.9 seconds in his 50 backstroke. He very much wanted to try the 200 individual medley but we ended up changing it when we realized his stamina and energy had taken a hit. Next year will bring new opportunities and I think Xabe had a very successful first season of swim and enjoyed it.
Ameliya tried two new events at this last meet, including two 100s!
She has attempted the 100 individual medley at the last 2 meets and gotten disqualified both times. She worked so hard at taking everything her coaches told her to heart and refining her strokes/kicks and she was successful! This is one race I actually wish we would have caught on camera because I was so tickled for Mia's success! She got a great time and was overjoyed!
Ameliya also swam the 100 freestyle instead of the 50 and did a fantastic job. Since both of those races were first times for her they will be her personal bests to end the season.
In her 50 back, she did not lose time this race, and that's okay. She swam a good meet and had a wonderful first season!
Natalee also did something new for this last meet. She signed herself up for a 200 individual medley! An IM is when you swim each of the four strokes (so in a 200 IM a 50 butterfly, 50 backstroke, 50 breast, then 50 freestyle).
Natalee's goal for this IM was to finish and finish she did! She used her grit and put it in to every ounce of that race and left nothing in question. Not only that, but Natalee has not had many team relays this year, so she also signed herself up for a 200 freestyle thinking she wouldn't have a relay. Then she ended up on 2 relay races for the day. 😉 She was on the docket a ton and did a great job. We are so thankful for the guidance and grace Natalee has offered her siblings on their first swim season and have really enjoyed watching her again this year. The growth of her stamina and endurance has been truly phenomenal! Natalee dropped another second from her 50 breast, and a whopping 5.3 seconds from her 200 free.
Thank you to Miss Allesha for taking and sharing photos again from this meet. As a bonus, here's a rare photo titled "parents' day off: there are no days off" in which we run stopwatches for our kids' events because without our children's activities what would we do with our Saturdays??
And secretly, we love every second.
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