Mt. Vernon Candy Cane Classic - day 3

Well, this day was certainly one of emotional roller coasters! The morning started out with the 200 free. Rachel didn't swim her best time, but she wasn't that far off. Then came the 50 breast. We had another goggle fiasco. She was zigzagging all over the place because of not being able to see. She dq'd. Right before her 100 back, the coach "on duty" said something ridiculous to her about the breast-stroke fiasco...and Rachel broke down. I could see her up there getting ready to swim, just sobbing. My heart broke! She got in there and swam (still crying!), but as soon as she got out she was nearly hysterical and telling me she never wanted to swim again! I have to admit, I was so mad I could feel the mother bear inside of me trying to get out! And I also have to admit, I probably said more than I needed to about the situation to a couple of people, but I wasn't exactly thinking straight. Soooo...we got ourselves both calmed down, and I convinced her she had to at least swim the relay at the end because her friends were counting on her. After she agreed to that, I told her she was so close to that divisional time in the 50 free, the next event, that she ought to just get in there and take out her frustration on the water! She thought that sounded like a good idea, so she went in there and cut half a second! Now, I didn't tell her this, but if she had bombed the 50 free, I was going to nix the 100 butterfly. There would be no point in adding insult to injury, so to speak. But since she had done so well, and was feeling ok again, I didn't even suggest that dropping that event was a possibility. Anyway, she got in the warmup pool to practice a few butterfly strokes, and one of her friends made a recommendation of something she could do to improve her stroke (I found this out later.) So, Rachel dives in for the 100 fly....and cuts 37 seconds! And this was only the third time she has swam this event. (She cut it from 2:28 to 1:51 - a 25% cut!) She got her B time, and I didn't even consider that to be a real possibility for this season! Now, the child is on cloud nine, of course. Well, the relay is last. Rachel is swimming the freestyle leg of the 200 medley relay. She swam a time that would have qualified her for the divisional meet IF it had been an individual event and not a relay! Grrr!!! So close! But now at least, she knows that she can do it!!!! Her friend Emily qualified today with her 50 breast stroke, and Rachel SOOO wants to go to the divisional meet with her....the saga continues.....

Mt.Vernon Candy Cane Classic - Day 2

Rachel had another great day! She cut 17 seconds off of her 100 breast and 3 seconds off of her 50 fly (which puts her at only 1 second away from the B time in that event!) I guess those big time cuts that I thought would come at the RAC meet are just showing up a couple of weeks later than I thought they would.

I am thoroughly confused, because now on the team's website it has down that Rachel does have her B time in the 100 free. We're still up in the air on that one.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Two of Rachel's favorite events are tomorrow...the 50 free and the 50 breast. I know she could achieve another one of her goals tomorrow with getting her 50 breast down to under a minute...because she did it in right at a minute for the first 50 of the 100 today, and that wasn't going all out at the end. Now, whether she will do it tomorrow remains to be seen, of course, but I know that she can. And if she gets that divisional time in the 50 free tomorrow, everybody in Mt. Vernon will hear me hoopin' and hollerin'!

Mt.Vernon Candy Cane Classic- day 1

Rachel cut 15 seconds off her 200 IM tonight! Woot!

Still no B on the 100 free...

Well, I have to come clean and say that I made a mistake. We must have been looking at last year's time standards on Saturday, because Rachel missed the B time by 1/2 of a second. That's ok...she still cut several seconds, and she'll keep on trying!

RAC Turkey Classic Day 3

Rachel was complaining of her stomach hurting today, but she still swam all of her events. Her coach thought it was nerves, because it mostly only hurt when she was being lined up for her next event. She cut 1 second off of her 100 butterfly, her only cut of the day. But that's ok....she was pretty close to most of her other times. And we still got that B time out of yesterday, so overall I would say a successful meet. Three time cuts ain't bad at all!

RAC Turkey Classic days 1 and 2

Rachel had a hectic start to the meet! We were half way to New Albany and we had to turn around to get her swim bag! Robert had given it to her to put in the car, and it didn't make it there. So, we get there 40 minutes late or so for warmups, but she still got there before the meet started! She swam both her 200's on Friday night...she had only done that once before. She cut a little time on her 200 IM (about a second) but added quite a bit for the 200 free, which she swam about 25 minutes after the IM, so she was probably tired.

Today, she got her B time for the 100 free! She was so excited, but then got disqualified in the 100 back. She was upset about that, especially since she thought her dad was the one who dq'd her (actually, he only explained to her what she had done wrong...somebody else made the call.) But she shook it off, and kept on going. She is supposed to swim the 50 free tomorrow....maybe tomorrow will be the day she gets that divisional cut!

Another meet coming up

We are scheduled to go to New Albany for a meet this weekend, and I am really looking forward to it. Rachel was looking GOOD at practice tonight! She was not perfect, but two things I noticed were huge improvements....she was kicking faster/more forcefully with freestyle, and her butterfly looked a lot more fluid. I think she will come away from the meet with one or two big time cuts....just can't predict in what events!

Endurance improving

Rachel and I went to the Y last night, and she swam 1200 yards in just under an hour (300 of each stroke). And, she really didn't seem all that tired!

Swamp Fest 2008 - day 2

Rachel started day 2 (yesterday) a little on the slow side. Not sure exactly why, but she just wasn't "on" to start the day and added some time. She got back in the game by the end of the meet, though, and was really close to her best time in the 50 back and did cut quite a bit of time on the 100 free (as I knew she could if she would kick those legs!) She made two cuts at the meet, taking about 9 seconds off of her 200 IM and about 16 seconds off the 100 free. She is now about 2-3 seconds away from a B time in the 50 back and the 100 free. It is exciting to start getting close to those motivational times...for 2 years we have been nowhere close! You keep up the hard work, sweetie....you are doing great!

Swamp fest 2008 - day 1

Rachel had a decent day today at our home swim meet. She cut some time on her 200 IM, but came REALLY close to being disqualified...she barely touched the wall with her backstroke flip turn due to turning too quick. Robert gave her some advice on what she can do next time that happens to reduce her risk of getting the big DQ. Sometimes, it's good to have a parent who is an official in your sport! That was the only event she cut time in, but she was within 3 seconds of her best time in all the other events, and in one of those (the 50 breastroke) she lost her goggles again. But, she didn't have any trouble maintaining a straight path this time!

Extra practice at the Y

We got some guidance from Rachel's coach on some things that she can work on at the Y on her own. We'll have to give it a try and see how it goes. Rachel wants so badly to move up to the next group because her friend Emily has been moved up. So, she is very motivated to put in the extra work and earn a spot in the next level on the team!

A blog devoted to my favorite swimmer!

This blog is for documenting the progress of my favorite swimmer, my daughter Rachel. She has started to show some grit and determination in achieving her goals, so I thought I would record her achievements here for her to go back and see how far she has come, but also for family members, friends, etc. who want to follow how she is doing to make it easy for them. Rachel had a swim meet this weekend, and did really well! She won a heat, and cut a lot of time on several events. That is what I love about swimming....you are mostly competing against yourself. She got her first "B" time - swimming the 50 free in 39.37 seconds. Her biggest cut was in the 200 IM, but she hadn't swam that in about 8 months, so I am not all that surprised that this was her biggest cut. She had a previous best time of 5:02.03 and today she swam it in 4:19.75 She also had big cuts in the 200 free (cutting about 37 seconds) and is now about 11 seconds away from the "B" time. She also had a big cut in her 100 backstroke, cutting 31 seconds and is now 15 seconds from a "B" time. She swam the 100 butterfly for the first time yesterday and got a legal time! That is one killer event for a small fry. She is now about 4 seconds from a B time in the 50 butterfly and about 3 seconds away in the 50 back. Based on her splits from the 200 free, I really think that she could have been really close to the B time in the 100 free, but her goggles came off when she dove in! She pulled them back up but got water in them and didn't stop to empty out the water, so the poor thing was zigzagging all over the pool! You did great this weekend, kid. Keep up the good work!