Saturday the kids participated in their first-ever real swim meet at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River, about 45 minutes away. The meet drew junior swimmers from all across Vermont, New Hampshire, and coastal Maine. We made a few swim-meet-rookie mistakes, such as putting Gavin in regular swim trunks, which he tearfully declared would surely fall off as soon as he dove into the water and then what would he do. Luckily, a vendor was set up and we were able to get some racing trunks just in time for warm-ups. I am pleased to report that not only did his new trunks NOT fall off, they helped Gavin swim the 50 breast and 25 free in true swimmer style.
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| Practice dive off the blocks. |
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| A slightly slow start on the 50 free. But she sure looked great. |
Lucy got a new suit out of it too, once we realized that she had brought her favorite off-shoulder fashion swimsuit that looked more appropriate for a day at the beach than a competition swim. True to form, she adamantly refused to get a racing suit in the darker navy or black colors most other swimmers wore, opting instead for the brightest one she could find. Then she paired it with Gavin's orange monster swim cap instead of the official team cap. The upside: she was very easy to spot.
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| Enthusiastic cheering section for the 100 breaststroke. |
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| Collaborative design a la Picasso. |
It was a very long day. We were there for nearly 11 hours, since Gavin was part of the morning group and Lucy the afternoon. But they both had a ball, hanging out the whole time with their pals on the Central Vermont Swim Club bench, cheering on their teammates, and using the coach's Sharpies to decorate each other. (The marker finally came off later that night after what seemed like hours of rubbing with sunscreen, and an extra bath apiece. I think next time they will choose to be a bit more conservative with their body decorations.) Luckily, Austin and I brought books and snacks and had some nice parents to chat with in the stands. The kids have declared that they can't wait to do this again (and Lucy has asked to pick up an extra practice-night each week to get ready) so I think that means I'll be spending many more hours this winter in the humid, chlorine-saturated pool air watching these guys swim.
