Swim Team

For a couple of years now our friends have tried to get Seth to join swim team. Between the early mornings and a newborn Elise, I was not up for it. But this year everything worked out and Seth became a Piranha. 

He's on the second row, fifth from the left

Team selfie.

He's the one too busy drinking/eating to look at the camera.

Ready for his first meet

Still working on diving

He swam backstroke and freestyle this year and started learning breast stroke. 

Seth's coach (who is also my pianist in Primary) is the best. I was hesitant to join because Seth is not a strong swimmer. Coach Doug made it clear that he is all about personal improvement, not about winning meets. He was so encouraging--there was never any yelling or shaming. And there were ducks. Every time a swimmer improved his or her time, they got a duck at "duck ceremony" after the meet. Seth ended up with quite a collection of ducks. 

I spent every swim meet being clerk of course, which meant I was in charge of getting everyone lined up in order. It definitely kept me busy! 

At the end of the season we had an awards ceremony and pizza party. Seth got the "Your Goggles Are Here" award. This may be the most appropriate award ever given in the history of swimming. Between me, his coach and his coach's wife (who gave him a ride in the mornings), we were constantly trying to find his lost goggles. This kid...

I was really proud of Seth. Practice started at 7:15 am every morning. For Saturday meets we often had to be somewhere before 7 am. He always got up without complaint and did what was asked of him. He also made huge improvements in his swimming skills. Next year we're going to have Catherine join, too. I'm grateful for awesome coaches who made it a good experience for all of us!