Swim Team

Parker tried out for the Piedmont swim team this morning. I had arranged it via their website on Tuesday after inquiring about how skilled a kid needed to be. They had said, "good freestyle for 25 meters, backstroke, breaststroke kick, and know the general concept of the butterfly stroke." I told them he probably had no idea what the butterfly stroke was, but they still said he could try out.

I told Parker about the try outs, trying to keep it casual (as casual as it could be for something called "try outs".) He seemed a little nervous which I guess is natural and said he couldn't go very fast with breast stroke. I told him to do his best and if he didn't make it, it was ok and he could practice it or just swim for fun rather than swim team (for years he has talked about getting on a swim team since in his mind this is the highest level of the sport)

So, at 7:45 this morning, we went up the pool. They had wanted us to watch the end of the workout before the try out, but when we arrived, they just had him get in and go. His free style is pretty damn good, but when he got to the end, the coach suggested he try it a different way. He didn't get it at first, but after a second explanation he did.

He did great on backstroke and struggled a bit on breast stroke. Then the guy tried to teach him butterfly. Right there in the water. And Parker kinda got it.

By then, Parker was freezing as the air was a bit chilly and he was doing some just hanging out in the water listening to the coach.

I spoke with the coach a bit and his assessment was, "He'll do just fine on swim team. He fits right in with the other 6 year olds who are starting out." It was the first time someone saw him swim and didn't say, "OH MY GOD! HOW OLD IS HE? HE'S AMAZING!!!!" Which I guess means we found a good place for him to have peers his own age. I asked about how much endurance training there is and he said, "None. We don't try to get them to swim laps at this age. It's all about doing the best stroke for 25 meters." Phew. The Coach also said that he was good about listening to a broken down instruction, which I guess is important.

They said they would email me some info and it would start second week of school. It sounds like the practices are twice a week for 45 minutes, which is less than Elizabeth will have this year (1 1/2 hour twice a week.) It's super close to school and our house so I think it will work out well, especially since I've got a car pool for Elizabeth and neither Parker or Miranda have to go to stay at the gym anymore.

Parker was pleased. But not as pleased as he was the day before when he took the swim test at the pool and obtained the "coveted white patch" that allows him to use the diving board, a benefit he immediately took advantage of, doing dives, flips, and canon balls.