6.26.2014

A Little Tip for Summer Sanity: Just Add Water

Every time we have a child finish kindergarten, we go out and celebrate by signing them up for their first summer swim team.  This trend was started with our eldest, who was indeed a tender six years old when she first hit the blocks for the Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club.

She cried and cried the first day of practice.  I can hardly blame her.  There are bunches of kids who do swim team here, and a big competitive crowd swimming lap after lap can come off as quite intimidating to a little kid.  And yes, for you moms who are wondering, it was pretty darn excruciating for me to see her tearing up on deck in her brand new pink Speedo.  I really wanted to put her right back in the car, treat her to a Chick Fil A milkshake, and call it a day.

Alas, we persevered with our plan even though the tears didn't stop that day.  They came again and again and again until one day, she walked right across the big pool deck and hopped right in.


Collin joined her a few years later, then Anne Mason, and this year, Reid is officially in the mix.  Every single one of them cried the first day week of swim team. We have come to expect it as a rite of passage to Growing Up Roberts.

But why?  It's somewhat expensive and is a huge commitment of time, requiring three to four days a week of workouts and meets.  The most simple reason is that we wanted an easy way for them to learn all four strokes.  Swim team accomplishes that in one season of swimming, and those stroke skills will be with them well into adulthood, allowing swimming as a great alternative down the road when their joints get as touchy as mine.

Secondly, swim team develops core strength, a strength that translates into any sport they want to pursue.  Madeleine swam many summers before she started softball, and boy can she wallop the ball.  It all goes back to those repetitions of laps she put in, logging about a mile per workout by the last season she participated.

Moreover, who doesn't want to compete and win stuff?  My kids all do.  The first meet is scary, but then it's a great challenge to them to clock their personal best in whatever the event might be.


Reidy sports Collin's old royal blue jammers as he tries to get into the zone.

Reid's first-ever meet happened to be this week, in the evening after the conclusion of eight (hot) hours of baseball camp where, of all things, they practiced sliding all day.

His legs were toast by the time the meet rolled around.  This kiddo still loves his nap, so he really had to put the exhaustion at bay, which wasn't too hard once the fear set in and replaced all other emotions.



To say his older siblings could sympathize would be an understatement.  They stood right by him until his race was called.


He did amazing in the 25m freestyle.  Look at that eye and believe me when I say that this kid is focused as all get out when he wants to be.


And this shy little bunny didn't do to bad herself.  Not a tear to be shed this year--just fun times.


And, of course, my most competitive one lives and breathes for occasions like this.  In spite of the day spent sliding at baseball camp, he blasted the 50m free for the 10U boys, coming from behind off the wall to win and knock two seconds off his personal best.  All this awesomeness was fueled almost exclusively by McDonald's french fries.  Inexplicable, so I've stopped trying.


Where was Madeleine?  She's not entirely off the hook.  Instead of participating on the swim team, she attends practices and joins the group in the spare lane on the end to swim a workout of her own choosing.

Fuel up, Team Roberts, for swim team season is now upon us.  Or, as you like to say, "Eat my bubbles!"

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