Norah's first swim meet!
Norah participated in a swim meet yesterday afternoon. It was organized by Swim Kids USA, the place where she's received swimming lessons for almost four years, and she's reached a level of proficiency that she's able to participate in these things. Basically, the kids (especially the younger ones) just show off their skills - they do time them, but that's basically so everyone can track how they're getting better. As far as I know (we didn't stay until the end, because of events outlined below), they don't give out medals or anything. Maybe they do for the older kids.
Norah was going to show off three strokes: free style, backstroke, and butterfly. We took Mia because we thought it would be nice for her to get out of the house (she didn't think so; she kept telling us she wanted to go home). It was quite the event - lots of parents, lots of kids, and it was held at Chandler High School, which has a fairly large outdoor pool.
The first event was freestyle, and the kids lined up at the pool and "dove" in at the whistle (none of them are terribly good at diving, and one or two may have simply jumped in). Norah stood there and started crying. Krys got there before I did and she told me that Norah had been crying a little while they were warming up, but I spoke to her and she seemed fine before the first event. But then she refused to get in the pool. One of the teachers finally led her to Krys, who sat with her for a while. I never quite found out what her problem was - I was sitting with Mia. From what I can gather, it was a combination of factors:
1. She was freaked out by how many people were there.
2. The water was a lot colder than she thought it would be (the pool is covered, but it's still only February, after all, and while the daytime temperature has been getting close to 80, the nights are still very cool).
3. She doesn't think she's very good at diving, but jumping in the pool never occurred to her. Norah doesn't like to do anything in public unless she's good at it.
Krys and her teacher finally coaxed her into the water for the backstroke (you start in the pool, after all) and she did pretty well. But we could not convince her to stay for the butterfly, so we went home.
Krys said she had a long talk with her on the way home, and I spoke to her briefly this morning. She's not sure if she wants to do another one, but I told her that part of growing up is doing stuff in public, and she should probably get used to it. I think she'll get better - she usually does - and I was glad she actually managed to get in the pool and do one event. I do wish she wouldn't burst into tears at the drop of a hat. She's very emotional, and I shudder to think how she'll be when she's a teenager.
It's always a bit jarring to be reminded that she's only six. She's very mature in so many facets of her life, but occasionally, she's just a scared little girl. She's tough, though, and I imagine she'll slowly get used to large crowds, and then they'll be putty in her hands!!!!
Norah was going to show off three strokes: free style, backstroke, and butterfly. We took Mia because we thought it would be nice for her to get out of the house (she didn't think so; she kept telling us she wanted to go home). It was quite the event - lots of parents, lots of kids, and it was held at Chandler High School, which has a fairly large outdoor pool.
The first event was freestyle, and the kids lined up at the pool and "dove" in at the whistle (none of them are terribly good at diving, and one or two may have simply jumped in). Norah stood there and started crying. Krys got there before I did and she told me that Norah had been crying a little while they were warming up, but I spoke to her and she seemed fine before the first event. But then she refused to get in the pool. One of the teachers finally led her to Krys, who sat with her for a while. I never quite found out what her problem was - I was sitting with Mia. From what I can gather, it was a combination of factors:
1. She was freaked out by how many people were there.
2. The water was a lot colder than she thought it would be (the pool is covered, but it's still only February, after all, and while the daytime temperature has been getting close to 80, the nights are still very cool).
3. She doesn't think she's very good at diving, but jumping in the pool never occurred to her. Norah doesn't like to do anything in public unless she's good at it.
Krys and her teacher finally coaxed her into the water for the backstroke (you start in the pool, after all) and she did pretty well. But we could not convince her to stay for the butterfly, so we went home.
Krys said she had a long talk with her on the way home, and I spoke to her briefly this morning. She's not sure if she wants to do another one, but I told her that part of growing up is doing stuff in public, and she should probably get used to it. I think she'll get better - she usually does - and I was glad she actually managed to get in the pool and do one event. I do wish she wouldn't burst into tears at the drop of a hat. She's very emotional, and I shudder to think how she'll be when she's a teenager.
It's always a bit jarring to be reminded that she's only six. She's very mature in so many facets of her life, but occasionally, she's just a scared little girl. She's tough, though, and I imagine she'll slowly get used to large crowds, and then they'll be putty in her hands!!!!
posted by Greg at
8:31 AM
1 Comments:
Apropos of nothing, every time I read something about swimming, the Peter Gabriel song I Go Swimming, from the live album, pops into my head.
By
Roger Owen Green, at 26/2/12 7:42 PM
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