LC Championships

T didn't make any cuts originally for the long course state championship. There are few 8 year olds who qualify due to the fact that they swim 10 and under and there is generally a big difference between an 8 year old and a kid who might be close to 11. Anyway, T was made an alternate for a couple of relay teams.


Thursday night we got a call that he was needed. Apparently, a kid scratched an event and as a result was no longer allowed to swim for the team at that championships. They picked T to go. I was a bit worried. He had three disastrous meets before this. He just wasn't giving it his all. So DH and I sat down with him and told him how it wasn't about him, but his team.


Then next day we went to the meet. I was a basketcase. It wasn't one of those meets where you could be with your kid the whole time, making sure he was doing or remembering what was needed. Then, I had the fact that he was the anchor of his relay on my mind. There's nothing like your team creating a good lead for you to lose it because the anchor is too slow.


T watched and waited as the kid in front of him butterflied down. Then in he went. And T was fast, really fast for him. I was waiting for the 40m mark where he sort of gives up. He didn't give up. He kept his lead and just kept plowing away. His relay team won the heat. His teammates had to help him out of the pool because his arms and legs were so tired. He came over just as happy as can be. He was thrilled that all these people were cheering for him. (Yes, a lot of people were cheering for him, but it helps that it was a relay and the crowds go wild.)

One really great thing about this meet too was that Aunt Melissa brought her family over to see him race. It was the first time that a family member other than our family (which can create quite a cheering section) has come. My parents have both come to practices, but they never seem to be in town when it's meet time.

He went over to his coach who informed him he took off 10 seconds. In swimming a 50m race, that is HUGE. If he had swum like that at the last meet he would have qualified for the state championships all by himself. He also would have most likely been on every relay. But it doesn't matter. He learned how to really race.

The crazy thing is that I looked up his time and had he raced the 50m free with the time he made in the relay he would have placed in the top 8 kids for 10 & under for the state. He also would have been the fastest 8 year old in the state. How did this happen? Are we certain this was my kid? He was only 3 seconds off of qualifying for Western Zones. What the heck? He can't be that close. He's only 8. He can't swim a straight 50 meter backstroke outdoors yet. At last year's Western Zones there were kids who swam slower than his time. And they were all 9 and 10. I'm just flabbergasted I guess. We aren't real athletes in our family. (Well D might have a chance, he's one heck of a runner.) But DH and I don't have a super athletic gene pool from which to draw.

I asked T what was different about this race. Why did he try so hard? It was because he was on a team. He didn't want to let his team down. Awwww..... Oh, and he said his new cap was lucky. I guess we should stock up on those things.

Luckily, or unluckily, it's short course season next and that time might be unattainable as T doesn't have super tight turns. Still, I am excited to see what he can do now that he knows how to try really hard.