The First Meet (Summer)

Wednesday was Shane's first swim meet. It was at home. We were supposed to arrive by 4:30 PM. 

Warm-ups were from 4:45-5:00 PM. Shane borrowed a pair of googles from Coach Amy.

The coaches had sharpies to write everyone's event information on them. I had no idea that was a thing.

I went to look for the judges area while Shane socialized. I introduced myself to the referee as a new Stroke and Turn Judge.

Another team started to warm up and they must have had triple the kids we did! They were from Fluvanna.

Stroke and Turn Judges are supposed to wear white polos and blue pants.

I didn't have a white polo. I did have a gray one, though! I figured it was close enough. I wore long pants and a hat to help cover myself (ginger problems).

I was assigned to stand at the far end of the pool with an experienced Judge. That was fantastic, because I got to talk the entire meet rather than go it alone.

I saw Shane standing by the side of the pool for the national anthem.

He still had the googles then. Later, he came up to me upset that someone "swiped them off his head." He had no idea who.

Shane's first even was the 50 M Freestyle. I asked not to judge and my partner took over. I really didn't want to DQ him (Basically, the Judge's job is to look for anything improper to protect the kids doing it right. We had a stack of slips and were expected to DQ infractions. It was all or nothing which was new to me!)

There was a small break in the middle for everyone! There were a ton of volunteers! There were 4 judges top and bottom of the pool, 2 timers for each lane, and more!

Shane's next event was the 50 M Backstroke. He wasn't thrilled about doing it, but he did great!

After that, he was part of a Freestyle Relay. I'll upload it, but if I you watch it I recommend fast forwarding! Shane's the 2nd swimmer.

The meet was supposed to go until 9 PM, but we got out around 8 PM! It was 3.5 hours for less than 5 minutes in the pool! It seems like a community, though, so the kids (and people not volunteering) can treat a meet like a big social event. Being a Judge, I put in a good 2 hours on my feet!.

Honestly, I like practices more than events. That could change if we ended up having a friend group where we played cards for the whole meet (and I wasn't judging! Maybe not next year!).

There's no morning practice days after a meet, so we showed up for the evening session. Shane and River played around in the deep end before it began.

At some point, ribbons were passed out!

Ribbons are apparently a big thing with swim teams (They're certainly cheaper than trophies!).

I took a picture of Shane's ribbons to record his times. I was thrilled he didn't suffer a single DQ! Swim is no nonsense with those! I would love for Shane to improve his times by the end of the season, but if this keeps us busy in a fun way that alone would be a big win.

Friday there was only an afternoon practice. 

Last week there were Canadian wildfires and poor air quality. Both Thursday and Friday practices were cancelled. This week, the air quality has been better. Hopefully, it stays that way!