Katherine's 1st Swim Meet

Three weeks ago I signed the girls up for swim team, my only hope being that my non-swimmers would become reliable swimmers. After all we're sending all three girls away for 2 weeks to a camp where they'll swim in a pool & lake every day. I needed some reassurance that they'd stay afloat!

As of 2 weeks ago Katherine was suiting up with all the gear - brightly colored orange & fuchsia team swim suit & goggles, and even a purple swim cap! But she was not participating. She was standing on the steps and politely refusing ("no, thank you") to put her face in the water. Not a great start to a swim team career! She didn't swim in the first meet. The coach told us that she wouldn't put Katherine in the line-up until she could actually swim across the pool. Fine by us! I signed her up for swim lessons in addition to swim team and she has made wonderful progress, first by blowing bubbles, then getting her head wet, to finally sitting on the bottom of the pool. Tuesday afternoon she learned to float & take freestyle strokes. We went from her lesson straight to the meet, expecting that only Morgan & Caroline would swim. When we arrived the coach told us that Katherine would be swimming (yikes!) the 25m freestyle & a relay.

So never having actually swum the stroke, or even having made it all the way across the pool during practice, Katherine willingly entered the pool for her race. She made it about 4 feet before deciding she'd better turn around. She got out with a smile on her face showing satisfaction for having gotten into the deep end and tried.

Wish you all could have been there. She was a trooper and an inspiration to us all!

Tonight at practice she made it all the way across the pool actually taking the proper strokes...taking breaks on the the lane line....but not giving up. We can't wait to see what the next meet brings...stay tuned!