Angelique is swimming for the Fergus Falls Flyers summer swim team. This is her first experience with swim team and our first experience parenting a swimmer. There is a definite learning curve.
First off, many of the participants who are 10 years old, like Kippy, have already been a part of swim team for several years. Kippy has had to basically work just to learn the proper form and has yet to really figure out which stroke she likes the best. We have been trying to navigate the registration process and learn how to track and record seed times to get her in the right heats. I have to admit we have missed a deadline or two already.
Angelique swam in her first meet on June 29th in an outdoor pool in Fargo. She swam the 50 backstroke and the 50 breaststroke. We could tell that she definitely was running out of steam at the end of the 50 meters, but that is probably due to training in a 25 meter pool and needing more conditioning.
She did really well for her first effort, however, she said she definitely does
NOT want to swim the backstroke in the next swim meet on July 9th in Morris. She is going to give freestyle a try at that meet.
Angelique told us that she likes swimming "practice" more than the
swim meets. She has practice 4 days a week for 45 minutes, so lucky for her there are lots more practices than actual swim meets. She will swim in just two more meets and the season will be done by middle of July. Hopefully, it is an overall positive experience so she will want to do it again next year, especially since we have finally figured out how swim team works!
We are proud of her for trying new things. One thing we know for sure... chlorine is very hard on the swimsuit and on the hair. Angelique's hair has lightened considerably and her practice suit is completely faded and stretched out.
