Lollipop Swim Meet

Little Man swam in his end of season Lollipop Swim Meet this morning and I couldn't have been more proud of my little guy.  He swam the short kick board heat first (across the diving area).  I knew he was nervous but he jumped in and kicked his little heart out.  The next heat was the 25 meter kick board race and even though he has said that he was going to go slow so that his friends could win his competitive edge must have kicked in because he was kicking hard and looking over at the competition to make sure he could touch that wall first.  The last heat was the 25 meter free style and there was a mix up in his age group and he didn't get to swim.  I was very disappointed because this was the one I really wanted him to do.  I felt that it would boost his confidence the most and really show him how much he has learned this summer.  So I talked to the swim manager and he said that he could get Little Man in a heat, but he would have to swim against the big kids (7 and 8 year olds) instead of swimming with the 6 and under group.  We asked his coach James to get in the water with him to boost his confidence and off he went to swim with against the big kids.  I was just so happy that Papa Bear would get to see him swim all the way across the pool.  They are allowed to grab the lane line if they need to take a break while swimming across and he and I talked about only touching it 3 times.  I had heard from other parents that it was good to give them a goal so that they weren't grabbing it every few feet.  Little Man NEVER touched the lane line, swam all the way across and he finished first!  I have a video of it and you can hear the other parents surprise at how well Little Man is doing and then when the camera goes crazy it is because I realized that he was going to finish first and was jumping up and down so I didn't catch the end of the race on video.  He got 3 lollipops, one for each race and he ate two of them at the exact same time.  He has come such a long way from the beginning of the summer when he cried through the entire first practice.  Even though he has come such a long way, we still had the same conversation in the car on the way to the meet.  He said he was nervous and had a tummy ache and I told him that all he had to do was try and do his very best.  I am always so very proud of his very best!

Here is a video of what I could capture.  (I missed most of the finishes because I was just too excited! but here is another view of the race that gets the finish.)  Lollipop Swim Meet Video

warming up with a streamline dive into the pool

25 meter kickboard

Checking out the competition!