Swim Clinic

The girls are enjoying their school vacation week so far.  They've been getting lots of outdoor exercise, since the weather has been unseasonably warm, as well as plenty of pool time.  Today they got to partake in a swim clinic run by a former Olympic swimmer, Scott Spann, that took place in a neighboring town.  As I drove the girls to this nearby town pool this morning, I asked if they were excited.

ME: Can you believe you're going to get to meet a real swimmer who has been in the Olympics?
JULIA: Wait, what Olympics was he in again?
ME: He swam in the Beijing Olympics, in China, so not the most recent one.
MADELEINE: Hey!  Mommy!  For some reason, I had a FEELING that he was gonna be Chinese!
ME: Well, he's not Chinese.  He's American.  He swam for the U.S. Swim Team, but it's just that the Olympics were held in China that summer.
JULIA: I wonder what kind of stuff he's gonna have us do.
MADELEINE: What if we can't understand his accent and we don't know what he's talking about??
JULIA: (scathingly) Madeleine.  He's AMERICAN.  He's NOT Chinese.
MADELEINE: Well, he MIGHT be.

As you can see, he was most definitely not Chinese:

However, Madeleine still couldn't understand him for some reason.  This seems to be a chronic problem of hers.  She never seems to know what's going on at swim team practice either, and is frequently still out of the pool getting clarification on instructions while everyone else has begun their workout.

ME: (showing up at the end of the clinic)  How was it??
MADELEINE: (making a so-so gesture with her hand)
ME: What did you do?
MADELEINE: Well, we had to do LOTS of drills, and I couldn't understand what he was saying the whole time, so I had no idea what was going on.

Sounds about right.

Julia had a different impression of the clinic.  She even begged for me to fork over money for her to buy a swim cap with the American Flag and the name "SPANN" on it, which Scott Spann autographed in Sharpie.

JULIA: (upon emerging from the pool area) That was really FUN!

I thought the girls would want to skip their regular swim practice this evening after having had 3 hours with Scott Spann, but they both insisted on going.  It turns out Madeleine may have been a little overtired tonight, because she started crying in the middle of a set of laps.  I went out to the pool deck to check on her, as the coaches were consoling her.

ME: Madeleine, what's wrong?
MADELEINE: I didn't hear what we're supposed to be doing so I have no idea what's going on!

Wait.  She doesn't know what's going on?  I'm shocked.

Julia had her own crisis at swim, over whether or not to wear her new autographed swim cap.

JULIA: It's a Latex cap, and there are people on the team who are allergic to Latex, so maybe I shouldn't wear it.
ME: I think as long as THEY don't wear Latex, it's not going to bother them.
JULIA: But what if it DOES?
ME: Well, why don't you ask those teammates if it will be a problem if you wear a Latex swim cap?
JULIA: But what if the COACHES say that this cap is only supposed to be a SOUVENIR?
ME: Your coaches weren't even part of the swim clinic.  Why would they scold you for wearing it?
JULIA: But what if the autograph washes off?
ME: It's in Sharpie.  That's permanent marker.
JULIA: But what if I wreck it?
ME: Wreck it how?
JULIA: Like, rip it.
ME: OMG Julia.  I'm just going to leave this up to you.  Wear it or don't wear it, but don't make an issue over it.

She decided not to wear it.  Then she changed her mind and decided to wear it.  When I last peeked through the window to to the pool deck she had it on, so it seems she committed.

Sheesh, these kiddos are hard to please!!