When I last blogged about swimming, Sarah Kate had just gotten a personal best in the 50 freestyle – the one and only event she swam in the one and only meet she participated in all summer. Her time was 1:26.21, exactly eighteen seconds faster than her previous time.
But now she’s in the big leagues (sort of).
Here in Mayberry, seventh and eighth graders can swim on the high school team, and Sarah Kate was fired up about the prospect after spending the summer with Coach Cathy (who is also the high school coach, and Nathan’s P.E. teacher, and the one we credit with giving Sarah Kate her start on swim team so long ago…)
In the first meet, she swam the final leg of a 200 yard freestyle relay and the 50 yard freestyle individual. She dropped her summer 50 free time by almost nine seconds to 1:17.74.
Tuesday night was her second meet as a Pirate, and the night she dared to try something new: the 100 yard backstroke. First, though, she had to make it through the 200 yard medley relay (swimming the last leg, freestyle).
Since she’s never been able to master diving off the block, she and Coach Cathy have decided that her best option is to start in the water. Fun fact: for the individual events, she holds onto the wall with her right arm so she can face the starter; for the relays, she holds onto the wall with her left arm so she can see her teammate coming in.
Doesn’t she look almost bored as her teammate comes flying in? I’m assuming this was concentration?
And then she was off…
Mr. Andi had to miss last week’s meet because Nathan had a t-ball game at the same time (and he also missed the meet this summer), so last night was the first time in over two years that he had seen Sarah Kate swim. Like me, he was surprised at how strong she looked – in particular, how straight her arms were – at the start. Not surprisingly, she began fading after the turn, but as always, she finished strong.
This photo below is my absolute favorite one from the meet. Her sweet swim friend Jeanne, parked at the end of the lane, is cheering with all her might – and she’s not the only one who cheers. When Sarah Kate hits the final stretch, the volume goes up.
For the 50 free individual event, she shaved another second-plus off her time from the week before, dropping from 1:17.74 to a 1:16.05.
Sarah Kate had been talking about her backstroke turn for the past week or so, and I didn’t give it a lot of thought until last night. She’s been swimming the 50 for awhile, so moving up to the 100 didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Until the event started and I realized something…
25 yards is the max she’d ever done backstroke.
Suddenly I understood why the turn thing was such a big deal to her – she had never had to do it before.
The first 25 yards she looked pretty good – not as strong as the freestyle, but not bad.
She reached for the wall at the first turn, and although it was slow, she made it work. She headed back toward the start to finish the first lap, and I could see her inching a bit too close to the lane rope.
Y’all. 100 yards is a LONG way.
When she turned at the halfway point, all I could think of was that first meet, way back in 2010, when it seemed like everything was moving in slow motion and it would never, ever end and she would never, ever touch that wall and be done. That very first 25 yard backstroke event took her almost a minute and a half to swim. Her times dropped a lot as she kept swimming, but she hovered in the 45 second range up through 2013.
So I’m sure you’re wondering by now…how did she fare with a distance four times longer and with the addition of three turns?
2:56.91
Sure, she’s slow, and she’s still the last place finisher, but she’s still improving, and no longer do I get the feeling that everyone is wondering why the next heat hasn’t started yet. She has a team that supports her, cheering her through those final yards, and brings the rest of the spectators along for the ride. They yell a little louder for the underdog, but I’ve noticed they don’t make a big production out of it. I love that, because it gives her the respect she deserves for getting out there and working hard every day, just like every other kid on the team.
Um, she is still a lot faster than I will EVER be. Way to go, Sarah kate!
I’ve been taking Eli for swim lessons at the YMCA…hoping he’ll be swimming by next summer! I’d love for him to be on a swim team someday! Tell Sarah Kate she’s my inspiration for him…you know, if he *wants* to do it:)
Sarah Kate first took swim lessons in the late spring/early summer when she was six. The very next summer was her first season on the swim team!
I swam my freshman year of high school, and my teammates were some of the most supportive, fun, and genuine people that I knew. If we went to dinner after practice or a meet, the upperclassman would always wait until all of the freshman were picked up before they would leave. When I showed up at practice with a black eye (street hockey…) I was immediately surrounded by many of the guys on the team, who all wanted to know who hurt me so they could protect me.
It sounds like Sarah Kate has found a group that’s just are supportive and amazing as my team was! Good luck this season!
And we swim and we fall.
Hold my hand through it all.