Swim Team end of season

Last Sunday marked the end of the 2013 Swim Team season and we were so sad to see it end! Micah LOVED swim team and watching his growth over the course of the season was astounding. Day 1 of practice was May 1st and he didn't know a single stroke and now, just 2 months later, he is great at freestyle and backstroke! He consistently improved his time week after week. We are so proud of him and had such a great time watching him really enjoy himself and be proud of himself. It was also fun to meet new people in our neighborhood and make new friends!

I already posted about the first couple of meets so here are the last few. First up was his relay meet. This was a whole league meet that was just relays. He swam the 6 & Under free relay and then also a backstroke relay. This is the only meet that our swim team hosts at our neighborhood pool so he had lotes of cheerleaders at this one! Mimi & Bubba are swim team pros- it was so nice to have them at so many of Micah's meets because I had no clue what I was doing. I'm pretty sure that next year I am going to start volunteering Bubba because he knows what he is doing way more than I do! If it wasn't for him keeping an eye on the heat sheets, I would probably have missed half of Micah's races.

I didn't take any pictures at the next meet and then it was already the end of the season! Our team had a pep rally the night before prelims with a sign making contest and dinner provided by one of the neighborhood restaurants. Micah loves his team cheer so he had a blast with this! 

The next day was Prelims! Micah Man swam GREAT! We were all so proud of him! He qualified for finals in his freestyle relay and backstroke. His prelim backstroke race was his best race of the season. He ended up 5th out of all 6 & under boys in the whole league! Needless to say, we were going nuts. That race is on the video at the bottom of this post. Don't worry, I muted our squeals. 

The last meet was finals! Micah's relay team won first place! He did great again in backstroke and got medals for both! 

On Sunday, we celebrated the end of the season with the team at a pool party. Micah's favorite part was of course getting his trophy. He has a thing for trophies and has his eyes set on the high point trophy for next year. 

While we are sad to see the season end, I could not be prouder of my big boy! I already can't wait until next year-- according to Laurel she will be swimming on swim team next year. She has been such a trooper throughout this whole season and has gone to every practice and meet and endured the heat and cheered for her brother. Here is the video with a few clips from the season:

Swim Team 2013 from Ally S on Vimeo.

Swim Team

It's certainly no secret that Micah Man is a little fish and loves to be in the water. I couldn't wait to get him registered for swim team this summer and was so curious to see if he would like it. While he loves to swim, he didn't know any of the strokes at the start of the season. When we walked up the first day of practice, he showed no hesitation and couldn't wait to jump in. The head coach for our neighborhood swim team is awesome and is so good with the kids. The other coaches are high school aged kids that also swim on the team and they are also great with the kids. It's been so fun to watch him improve and gain confidence over the course of the season. I know he (and I) are going to be sad when the season is over at the end of June. He's had practice every weekday since the first day of May and when June started it shifted from afternoon to 8am. While it's early, it has been really nice to have something that gets us moving and out of the house. Laurel has also been such a trooper for swim season. She usually just sits with me at practice or watches Micah-- she is definitely his biggest cheer leader.

His first meet was more of a practice meet with just kids 8 & under to see what a meet would be like. Then, he had a time trial "meet" for our swim team only to get his times. I am so proud of how he did in both of these!

We had to miss his first real competitive meet because we were in Rockport so last weekend was his first. He did SO GREAT! He beat his free style time by 10 seconds and won his heat (which was all of the 5 year old). Since he is in the 6 & under category, he ended up 5th in the event because of the 6 year old heat but he was still excited because he got a ribbon. He also swam a free relay and backstroke at that meet. The only part of meets he doesn't like is all the sitting around and waiting but he really seems to be enjoying the competitive side of swim team. 

A little goggle adjustment from the Coach before his freestyle race!

I'm so proud of Micah Man and see many summers of swim team in our future! Only 3 more meets until the end of the season!