atherley crack ups: her first, OUR first

Well, the day has finally come and gone. And might I say that it was all worth it. The tears, the worry, the mini-bribes, the 6 am alarm clocks.
Bayli attended her first swim meet, the CHAT mini meet.

We left it up to her to decide if she wanted to do a meet or not. Back when she first started swim team, the sign ups for this meet were due. We told her that she would have nearly 2 months to prepare. We took her to a few meets to watch the goings on and cheer on a few of her team mates. Finally, Jed told her that if she would do a meet, he would pay her $5 for every entry that she completed. I love letting my kids make choices for themselves, but sometimes they need just a bit of persuasion.

Bayli had the option of entering 3 races, she decided to do 2. And of course, she picked the hardest stroke (butterfly) and free-style. I would like to think that she picked butterfly because she has worked so hard learning it since November. But, her reasoning was that she loves what it is called, what a girl. That and she didn't want to do the backstroke (her best stroke) because she didn't feel comfortable with the turn yet.

After nearly two months of training since she initially signed up for the race, I think in hindsight she would have changed her mind about doing the butterfly and done the back or breast stroke. But, that's how we learn right.

She was a bit tearful the few days before the meet. So we tried our best not to bring it up. She finally broke down on Wednesday and told us that she didn't feel good about her turns.
So at Thursday morning practice, Jed pulled her coach aside and asked him to work with her on the turns to ease up her nerves. We love the coach staff! They have been so supportive of these new swimmers. He spent a good amount of time working with her on her turns and dives. After practice, she told me that she felt a lot better about the meet.

Bayli slept well the night before her meet. Jed and I on the other hand, woke at 4:30 am to nerves eating at us, glad it was us not her. The pains of parenting.

We had a game plan going into the meet. Jed was going to be her poolside support, because she would have completely fallen apart if she had made any type of eye contact with me. She was teary when she entered the water for warm ups, but as usual once she started swimming she looked comfortable.

We looked at the schedule and discovered that she was the first event (girls 8 and under 50 M free-style) and the first heat. Yikes! A bit un-nerving for her first meet.

She was in tears as she waited behind block 6. She hung onto Jed and was a bit of a wreck (not as bad as she would have been if it were me though). Jed looked around and showed her all of the little girls that were crying too. "Everyone is scared and nervous, but you've got this you can do it." I think 3 little girls scratched that first heat, too nervous to climb up on the block. "All you have to do is dive, swim, turn, swim and then you'll get your 5 bucks." He said that she was shaking like a leaf when she climbed up on that block, but as soon as she entered the water, she was good. She was still a bit teary when she finished the race and climbed up into Jed's arms. Then, a ginormous smile came across her face. I love watching her overcome hurdles, there is nothing more rewarding. She may have only gotten 12th place in her division, but she did it! Her time was 1:03.32. With 22 entries and only 16 finishers, we are the proudest parents ever.

My favorite memory was after her swim. She climbed up into my lap, shivering. After a few minutes of talking about the swim, she leaned in close, pointed her finger towards the pool and whispered, "I loved that!!!"

Her next swim was the 9th event (girls 8 and under 50 M butterfly) with only 4 entries. Huh, more evidence that it is the hardest stroke. She was still a bit nervous, but held her composure going into her second event. She looked a lot more relaxed on the block.

One participant took a strike. So, it was Bayli and 2 other little girls up on the blocks. She told us going into it (with a giggle), "I am going to do so bad. I am going to be the slowest one out there." And even though she was, she is our little winner. She was just over 25 M when the other two little gals had finished. Her time was 1:21.99. They had finished over 30 seconds before her. Hey, but she did it. She was so excited to just have finished her first swim meet.