Swimming, swimmers and other fun stuff

Okay, so if you haven't ever had a swimmer, runner, jogger, ice skater, dancer, hockey player, etc., you wouldn't probably understand this post. 

My darling 15 year old has upped the ante on her swimming this year.  She made a commitment early in the summer and asked if she would be able to do some more serious training for swim team.  This commitment meant that every morning, six days a week, from the beginning of July until school started in mid-August, Lindsey swam from 6:00 a.m. until 8:30 a.m., followed by upwards of 45 minutes of "dry land" workouts.  Once school started, she did workouts from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., followed by upwards of 45 minutes of dry land workouts. 

As they say, the proof is in the pudding.  Last week, she won two firsts and two seconds.  On Friday, the 400 Free Relay team that she is on broke the school's record at 4:06.87.  Today, she won a first in her 500 and two seconds in the 100 free style and 200 free relay.  Totally awesome.  The 500 is her "thing."  Her goal is to get under 6 minutes and, actually, she wants to break the school record this year, which means she needs to get it under 5:25.20.  Totally doable.

I have to tell you, however, I was timing during the meet tonight.  I was not timing her lane which was a good thing.  She was lapping the other swimmers.  She started strong and stayed strong.  And, after hugging her bestest swimming buddy, she fell into my arms.  You know there are just some times when it is good to be on the deck and not in the stands.