Swimmer Girl

Grace decided that she wanted to try out the swim team - at least until we can find a ballet studio to get her involved in.  So today was her first swim practice, and the coach was nice enough to let her try it out before they both decided if it was a good fit. 

 Ready to go!

 Backstroke

She ended up doing 2-3 laps in a row by the end of practice, and the coaches were really impressed (as was I!)

  BONK! She forgot to count her strokes when she got to the flags.

Takin' a break - she worked really hard for an hour, and then the coach told her to get out and get a drink and take a little bit of a rest.

I was really proud of her today - made my heart swell a bit watching her.  I was a bit nervous (for both of us) because I was afraid that I would expect too much of her, and I was afraid that she'd get discouraged because she didn't swim as well as the other kids.  So I told her the story of my very first swim practice where I could barely make it to the other end of the pool doing doggie paddle, and ended up being a very good swimmer.  I had let the coaches know that at the end of the summer she was able to swim 25 meters without stopping, but it had been a while since she had been in the water.  I think they were both impressed with her ability and her potential and they would be happy to have her on the team.  Grace seems pretty excited about it, so we're making the commitment to swim for the Humphreys Hippos at least until the season is over in March, and then we'll go from there.  She'll have her first meet on the 22nd so we'll see how she fares against her competition.