The first several hours of the championship meet are trials; for each stroke, all of the swimmers who made the cut-off time at the season's meets face off in heats of 6 at a time. The youngest age group (8 and unders) go first, going all the way up through the 15-18 age group. Only the swimmers who log the fastest 6 times for each age group advance to the Finals. As you can imagine, the trials are a loooong ordeal. Furthermore, spectators are not allowed on the pool deck, so instead, anyone who wants to watch a particular race must squeeze in amongst the other throngs of spectators to try and peer through the metal fence around the pool deck. Luckily, I got a prime spot at the fence for both girls' races and was able to wish them luck on their way to the starting line. Madeleine would wave cheerily and blow kisses, while Julia had on her game face and could not be bothered with her parents' antics.
Julia made finals in her two main events, butterfly and breast stroke, as did her relay team. Madeleine surprised the pants off of me by making finals in breast stroke; I had figured that a 7 year old swimming against a bunch of 8 years old would not be top 6, but go figure! Her relay team made it to the finals as well, so Ethan and I accepted that it was going to be an extra long day!
Julia is a veteran at this Championship meet, so she knew all about Finals. Madeleine, however, seemed more confused than elated.
MADELEINE: Wait, Mommy, what does Finals mean? I just swim breast stroke AGAIN?
ME: Uh, basically.
Madeleine then busied herself playing Uno with a bunch of 8-and-under girls and I barely saw her for the next several hours. Julia, on the other hand, was acutely aware of all that was to come and all that had come before. Last year, she and her relay teammates were dealt a crushing blow when their relay, which, in the posted results, was listed in 6th place, missed Finals when results were RE-POSTED with a previously disqualified team in 6th place. The rival team had contested the disqualification after results were posted, so the Sharks girls had gotten their hopes up only to discover they were actually in 7th place. Therefore, despite the fact that Julia's relay finished 1st in trials, Julia was not going to trust those shady folks who posted the results. She felt the need to walk around to the front of the pool building to gaze at the results over and over and over again.
JULIA: Mommy. Come with me for a minute.
ME: Where are we going?
JULIA: (taking my hand and leading me) Just come.
ME: Are we going around to the front of the building? I just came from there because I went to the bathroom. I don't feel like walking all the way around again.
JULIA: Just come.
ME: But where are we going? You already saw the results.
JULIA: I wanna see them again!
ME: Honey. You've checked them more than once. Your relay is in 1st.
JULIA: I just wanna look again.
ME: Okay, but I'm going to go back to my chair. I don't feel like going all the way over there again.
JULIA: (glumly) Okay, I'll come with you.
As we began walking back to the team's tent, Julia encountered the other three members of her relay, walking the opposite direction.
TEAMMATE: Julia! We're gonna go look at the relay results again. Wanna come?
JULIA: (delightedly) Okay! (turning away from me and skipping off with her teammates.)
Rest assured, the results remained the same and the relay team got to swim in finals.
Madeleine held steady in her 6th place spot in the Finals, and her relay defied expectations and placed 5th, ahead of a team that had solidly beaten them in trials. Julia finished third in butterfly and second in breast stroke, and her relay team pulled off a win! This was especially exciting because, despite their 1st place finish in trials, their relay was actually seeded 2nd, with another town seeded at a time of 1:04 to rival the Sharks' 1:05. And that 1:05 was the best the Sharks had ever done, several meets previously, and not repeated again at any subsequent meets. So we had no idea if the Sharks relay would actually win the Finals, or whether the rival team had been holding back a bit in trials, knowing they'd easily make Finals. But lo and behold, the Sharks relay managed a 1:03, their best time ever, and a first place finish! I honestly don't think I've ever seen four happier girls.
Now that the season is over, Julia is heart-broken, and Madeleine is indifferent. As we got into the car after Championships, Julia was already lamenting.
ME: Okay, everybody buckled?
JULIA: I miss Shaaaaaaaarks.
ME: Honey, you still have the banquet tomorrow.
JULIA: But I miss Shaaaaaaarks.
The banquet was a blast, complete with cake, ice cream, awarding of medals and ribbons, and a slide show of the highlights of the season. I would like to point out that there was nary a serious picture or video of Madeleine on the slide show. She clearly enjoyed hamming it up for the camera EVERY TIME the coach was taking pictures. There was even a montage of Madeleine making goofy faces, one after another, on the slide show, which led to much hilarity amongst the team members.
When the banquet was over, it was back to "I miss Shaaaaaarks" from Julia, and today's refrain has been "I wish Sharks wasn't oooooooover!" She and her friends on the team have all decided that they're going to swim with the team until they're 18, then they'll all be coaches, so they never have to leave. So if you have a future swimmer ready to join the team in 10 years, look for Coach Julia!
No comments:
Post a Comment