Piper's 2nd Summer of Swimming

Time Trials in June
 

This summer was my daughter's 2nd year on as a Springboard Barracuda and also as an 8 and U.  It was great, and she had a lot of improvements in all her strokes.  She learned to do butterfly and found all the highs and lows of her season in not only that one stroke but all in one week! Piper was able to improve every week, dropping her time in butterfly and establishing herself as a consistent A meet swimmer.





Piper doing butterfly
 

 
So, it came as a huge surprise to watch McB swim a terrible 25 fly towards the end of the season at an A meet.  The weather was chilly and the poor 8 and U kids had to sit at the clerk of course and walk to the other end of the pool without sweats or even t-shirts.  That could have led to her diving in and doing a breast kick instead of dolphin...but her stroke, slow as it was (:42.27) that day looked great.





Piper and me at the swim a thon

The following morning was the annual swim a thon to raise money for Cole's Closet and Piper swam 2 miles.  I was so proud of her!! So it came as a little bit of a surprise to me that she was going to be swimming on Monday (2 days after her slow fly) at the annual IM Carnival.  The 8 and U swimmers all did a 25 fly and it was like the light went on and she finally understood sprinting.  I was so nervous for her I called Brad and told him I thought I was going to be sick, it was like I was going to race not her.  All during the season she had told me to not take pictures of her before she swam and I was not allowed to cheer for her until she was in the water, etc., it was like I would embarrass her!! (She has no idea what will happen the first time her Grandpa Seubert sees her compete and he yells, "Go Big Piper"!!).  I went to the opposite end of the pool and got some pictures of her anyhow, and I am glad I did. 






Ready to swim at IM Carnival

Working on butterfly with Kim

She looked like she was finally in it to win it! Brad and I always joke she can sometimes look just like Amy Van Dyken (Olympic Gold Medalist) did when she would spit in another competitors lane.  Then she did something else, she swam FAST!! I mean really fast, she went a :26.73 and just missed out getting a big rosette ribbon and took 4th overall.  I have never been more proud of her and she was proud of herself too.  She knew she swam fast.  In fact she did well enough that Coach Kim put her in Divisionals.  Piper almost won her heat and in the end got 7th over all in that meet in the 25 fly.  Her time was :28.73, which was a great swim, but she was miffed she missed out on a plaque.  So, now we have goals for next year.  Piper did a lot of work with Coach Kim as well as Coach Nick and Coach Addie and it payed off.







Coach Addie and Piper

Summer at Springboard pool was  great, not only for her but for Brad and me too.  I just love seeing Piper when she discovers what it is like to have real success in something after working hard for it.  I love seeing the joy on her face and the happiness.  I also feel her nervousness and completely understand it.  What surprised me is how nervous I was for her, and when I was the most nervous she tended to swim her best races.

I think this year will bring even more improvements for Piper and I am just so happy she loves swimming like I do.  Now that the season is over we've been 'playing' at the pool.  You know doing fun things like practicing our dives, relay starts, sculling and playing mermaid underwater with dolphin kick...all of which make Brad roll his eyes but I promise you she comes up with these things not me.  I just go along with them because I think they are fun too.

I am so proud of my girl this summer, as we roll into fall she will swim with the Potomac Marlins Mini Marlins program. I hope she can improve her stroke technique as well as learn flip turns, diving off the blocks and more about racing.  She will be swimming with some of her friends too, and as I watch her at the ends of the pool between sets I see a little bit of me in her, she is chatting away, with whoever is there.