sister act

My alarm went off this morning at 5 o'clock. Aha, fiveofreakingclock. That peoples, can only mean one thing, it's a swim meet weekend. I was so surprised by the alarm because I swear I had just gone to bed 3 seconds earlier, that I had to lay still and figure out what on earth was happening and why. All the pieces fell into place and I crawled out of bed and got the show on the road, literally.

We swam at one of my favourite aquatic complexes, Coral Springs, so that made the wake up call much easier to handle.

Lilys last meet was the Junior Olympics and she didn't do as well as she wanted and crawled back inside her head again....urghhh. I played a mind game with her and bought her that new Fastskin suit in hopes that that would trick her brain in to believing she is awesome again. Rosie has never swam long course and was a basket case. groan. Things were looking grim. I played their "good luck" playlist on the way up, cruised into the car park 10  minutes early and looked skyward with pleading eyes. The planets aligned and today was unbelievable for them both. {sigh}

A new coach started with our team this week and in 2 lessons transformed Rosie from looking like a wind up bath toy to looking like a powerful swimmer. He slowed down her strokes and increased her overall speed. bam, just like that. The difference is incredible. He has 2 daughters that swim on another team and he was at the meet today as Daddy but he took the time to come over and talk to her and polish her for a few minutes before her first event. Super nice guy! I hope he stays.

Lily was up first and took the pool by storm, she was the boss.  She whacked 29.06 seconds off of her previous time, scored a J.O. and an "A" time. just like that. Hmmm, must be something to that new suit kiddo! She beamed, she walked up to her coach and she was all smiles, she went on to repeat that performance again in the following heat. After her 2nd J.O. cut I told her she needed to believe it was her hard work that was paying off and not a foolish suit. I don't know if she believed me or not but she stayed on top all day.

Rosie was so nervous before her first event that I thought she was going to have a heart attack. Lily walked her to the blocks and Rosie decided to get on block 8 instead of 1 even though it was written on her arm....I just stared helplessly from 50 metres away. At the very last second before she would get disqualified, Lily grabbed and her and guided shoved her clear across the pool to lane one! Phew. No time to think, whistle one whistle two and she is off. The  thing about Rosie is she is a goody two shoes and if a coach tells her to do something, she will. She remembered everything she was told to do. Swim strong for the first 50, keep the pace, go fast in to your turn and then sprint it home. Oh and something about head position, which I do not remember. She did it all and took first place. Not only did she get first but she got a ridiculously fast time for a 7 yr old and beat many 10 yr olds. She managed to get herself a "B" time. The new coach came back over to congratulate her and she was pumped. She was much calmer for the rest of the day and took first again in her second heat but didn't hit the board hard enough and it didn't register. There is a timer at the end of each lane but he wasn't paying attention. Oh well kiddo by the time they realised you were done you were in third.  Coach said there was a chance that the 3rd timer might have got the correct time we would have to wait and see. The app on my phone showed her as 3 within minutes so I assumed it was a done deal. Live and learn kiddo, hit the darn thing like you mean it. It took about an hour but when the official results were posted Rosie took first and got another "B" time. You can have a time that isn't a "B" time for quite a while.

 You start with N/T. no time.
 "B"
"BB"
FGCJO Florida Goldcoast Junior Olympic
"A"
"AA"
"AAA"
"AAAA"
Each age group has different times for all these goals. Rosie is in this group until she is 10 so at this rate she will cranking out some pretty amazing times.

Lily is in the 11-12 age group and is about to turn 12 so she has a year to go to collect more J.O's and get as many "A"s or better as she can. She swam a backstroke today and even though her time improved she didn't clear the "BB" ranking.

They swam hard and well. I am proud of them both but more importantly they are proud of themselves. It was an early start and we stayed late because Coachipoo put Lily in an open event with the 13 and overs. She swam a 200 metre breast as her last event?? She had to have been tired but she pulled it off...must be that suit!

7.15am. waiting for warm ups to begin

Big sister taking care of her little sister and making sure she was ready to roll

I♡her

68 degrees proved a tad too chilly for the Little Pickle

Coach Pedro and his new team. ( very few of them made it to the meet.)

Do you think she might be nervous?

Bringing it home for a first place in breast.

I managed to catch Lily mid flip turn. pretty dontcha think?

this is what determination looks like.

Rosie: 100 metre free

Umm, my money is on this being LIly, judging by the order it was in

No more FFSC emblazened across her suit. Her lucky suit is worn out so now she is swimming like a big kid. Gah.

Feeling chill about it all now

100 metre free

Lily loved this photo of her so I threw it in for good measure.

I have a cooler to prep and some towels to finish drying cos we are up and at 'em at zero dark hundred hours again tomorrow so that we can do this all over again. So until then, good night.