We went to our first swim meet of the summer yesterday. It was located in Warren, Arkansas, about an hour and a half away. We got there at 7:30 am and left at 1:30 pm. There were really only two moments to speak of. The rest of the days' events were just...the norm.
I will tell about Britt first.
It was her first swim meet...ever! She is normally in Texas by now and hasn't had the opportunity to participate before. Phillip has a family reunion the first week of July and really wanted Britt to be there, so she is going to Jimmy's later than usual.
She started the day in a four-"man" medley relay. This means that there are four participants and each team. One swimmer swims 50 yards, each in a different stroke...butterfly, back, breast, and free...in that order. Since the pool is only 25 yards long, each swimmer has to start at one end, swim to the other, turn and swim back while maintaining their particular stroke.
Britt was assigned the backstroke. She swam down, no problem, but when she turned at the other end, she hesitated and touched bottom...for a split second. She hit her hand on the edge of the pool when she got down there and cracked her pinky finger. Unfortunately, the stroke and turn judges noticed and disqualified (d-q'd) the team.
She was so embarrassed and mad at herself that she almost cried. We all told her that she did a wonderful job and it was an innocent mistake and that the team was not mad her, which they weren't. Everyone gets d-q'd, no matter how long they swim on the team. She was completely normal.
Her next race was the butterfly, the hardest stoke to do. She did not get d-q'd, but did finish last. Now, here is the cool part. She finished last, but only by a fraction of a second! It was amazing!! AND the girl that she almost beat has been swimming since she was 6.
I was sooooo proud of her!
On her third race, she finished last again. BUT again, she finished last by a fraction of a second! This time the stroke was the breaststroke and she almost beat JoAnne, who swam last year.
She got out and her chin was quivering. She fought the tears, but informed me that she did not want to swim her next event...the 200 yard IM or individual medley. Her finger was hurting her and so was her pride. She would have to swim 50 yards in each stroke. The coach, Phillip and I all begged her to participate and told her that she would earn 5 points for the team if she just participated. Our team was trailing first place by 6 points at the time. We offered to tape her pinky to her ring finger for support, but she still refused.
She is just so competitive and she was being hard on herself not to mention that she was in pain. She just would not listen to the fact that she is a first year swimmer and is making all the old swimmers work in the water! Anyway, the IM was about to begin and I was desperate, so I bribed her with a new cell (hers is broken). She hesitantly got up and mounted the blocks (mini diving board for racing). What she didn't know was that I would have gotten her another phone anyway. I can't send her to her dad's house without one.
Anyway, she did GREAT!!
She got d-q'd on the backstroke part of the IM. She did the turn correctly this time, but she was supposed to come back up the lane in the backstroke and she prematurely started the breaststroke. She quickly realized her mistake and flipped over, but the judges again noticed. DANG those judges!
She finished the day with two races doing freestyle. She smoked the competition and placed 2nd and 3rd! YAY!!
I am on cloud nine with parental pride! She is so coordinated and athletic! That's my baby...just not my grace. She definitely got her athletic ability from her Aunt Karen! HA!
Okay, the second moment to mention was another Cori...moment.
When we first got there, we found our spot on the deck and made camp for the day. Because we left so early in the morning, I had not put up Cori's hair yet and told her to come to me so I could. When she turned around to allow me access to her tangled mess, she exclaimed,
"OH MY GOSH!!"
I looked up to see what exactly caused her excitement.
Standing directly in front of us, on the pools' edge, was a middle-aged man. He looked normal enough. He was unshaven with a graying hairy chest. He also had the "ol spare tire" thing going on. Also, the sun glimmered off of the herring bone gold necklace around his neck.
Okay, so what and who cares that this man's caught in the 80's right?
Here is the catch that caused Cori to be shocked.
He was sporting an orange and black marbled..........speedo.
Funny right? NOT!!
Cori made her shocked exclamation so loudly that he turned at the same time I did to see what some little girl would be yellin about. At this, seemingly very slow moment in time, she proceeds to point her index finger and say in a grossed-out way, "That man is wearing panties!"
He was embarrassed and I was mortified.
He sat promptly, his ears burned red and he began to fidget with his hands. He stayed seated for about ten minutes before getting up, collecting his things and leaving the area. I saw him about 30 minutes later and he was clothed in a preppy polo and khakis.
Poor guy! He obviously thought he was "it" and my seven year old informed him in a few small words and an offended tone, that not only he was NOT it, but that he was wearing girls underwear.
I kinda felt like I entered a time warp....all the way to 1980 and landed on some obscure beach in Mexico. HA HA!!
Anyway, that was my day. Hope you enjoy.
Smooches and ciao!
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