Olympics Here We Come
We are off to a swim meet today. This one is sooo cute because it's just for PB. Basically, she still falls on the low side at 7 years old--the maximum is 9 years old. I am excited to see how she does.
At our last meet, she spanked some TEN year olds in the 100 Free and 100 Back--and even got those pesky flip turns down even though we missed warm ups, so she didn't have her count. Actually, there were two events she swam last year that this last meet was the first time she swam them again. She improved--no joke--FIFTY-SEVEN seconds on one and TWENTY-SEVEN seconds on the other. Wow! That's the way to track a year's progress! So glad we moved from our Issaquah Swim Team to King Aquatics. The difference is amazing.
The best though is her attitude. She loves swimming and rarely complains about practice (unlike my 10 year old who likes to compete, but hates practice). So last night, I remind her we have a "just her" meet. She rubs her hands together and says goodie-goodie. Suddenly, my 10 year old realizes he really isn't swimming.
"Hey, I want to swim, " my eldest says.
Oh really! This is the kid who vacillates between loving swimming and then wanting to quit. He talks all the time about taking a year off. I tell him it would be impossible to return if he took that much time off.
I am hoping the competition with his sister might get through to him. They can be pretty competitive. Hopefully, that will get his butt in gear. Nothing would be worse for her to move up to his group ( She is in the fast group one level below him). Oh, the horror of having a little sister who is 3-1/2 years younger than you in your lane. He better watch out! She's a shark after a mother's heart.
2 Witty Comments For Me:
What was it you did not like about the Issaquah Swim Team that you felt you needed to move your child to King Aquatics?
There were a few major problems with IST. First, let me say I still think the coaching in general on IST is excellent. They really work on technique and I wish it could have worked out.
That said, the scheduling was just miserable. Changing shedules drastically 6-7 times a year, often with less than 48 hours notice made it impossible to get to both children's practices. At one point, my son's schedule changed from M-W to W-FRI at pools mainly in Issaquah and Renton while my daughter's schedule changed so we had overlapping practices and she had to be at Klahanie on the plateau. There was no way we could be in two practices at once--especially with such late notice--48 hours. It also messed with our other extracurricular activites. As with most families, we needed predictability and stability. I also felt the team could have been a bit more upfront with the schedule changes since they aren't publicized to new parents and from what I understand, they know roughly when and what the changes will be months before they tell the parents. Even if they could give a month notice, carpools and schedules could be changed.
Secondly, I think they over-recruit for their water availability and even though my son clearly made the standards on their website to move up to the next group, I was told they would not move him up for another year because there was no room. We tried their Klahanie groups, but they simply weren't as competitive. I felt like they were using my son as a demonstration model for kids that simply weren't at the same level. He had been swimming for 4 years and for some kids in that group, this was this first exposure to swim team.
Finally, I can't argue with success. My kids times have dramtically increased at KING. Also, King offers practices 5-6 days a week with AM and PM practices all at the same pool during the school year, so our family gets to choose which practices will fit into our schedule. That flexibility has been invaluable--swimming schedules no longer rule our family's life.
To be honest, our schedule this month at KING is crazy (but not IST crazy) because our pool location is still new and still working out long term contacts for summer water when rec teams use our home pool Mercerwood Shore Club. However, the stress of practices fluctuations is gone and because of that we are able to make many more practices at King than we were at IST and the results show. My son now places in the top three in most events at most meets. My seven year daughter competes in longer events and routinely beats 10 year olds and even 12 year olds. Can't argue with that. Also, we share coaches at KING so my kids get exposed to 3-4 coaches and get a variety of styles.
Again, I think if IST can ever work out their water issues and overcrowded groups, they would be a fabulous team to be on. Coach Kyle, Coach Laura, and Coach Ryan rock. We are excited to still be on Laura's rec team, Edgebrook.
Let me know if you have any more question.
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