State! High School & 12U Swimming Championships

In mid-February we packed the stands of the UW-Natatorium in Madison to support our high school swim team capture its sixth straight Division 2 State Swimming & Diving championship.

What a date night! It was so much fun cheering in the stands!

Read more: Another golden moment for O'Donnell and O'Donnell brothers helped build McFarland into a powerhouse


The next morning the entire family was up early and headed to Regionals in Middleton to cheer for our son Truitt who was going for a state cut in the 50 Back. This was the last chance to qualify for the 2012 12 and Under Short Course Swim Championships -- and he made it! I actually squealed I was so excited.

Truitt didn't know what time he needed, and he can't read the clock without glasses, so he didn't know he made the cut. Two teammates passed him on their way to the blocks and said, "hey nice state cut!" And Truitt did a huge fist pump and celebrated, SO much fun to watch as a parent.


State was the next weekend in Waukesha and was like a Spring Break for our family, two nights in a hotel! Truitt swam three events as he had two bonus swims. He was nervous and excited.
The first day he took 2.28 sec off his 100 Breast and 4.64 sec off his 100 Back. He added a tiny bit on Sunday in his 50 Back swimming his second best time (39.5). We're proud of him and of our fellow Shark swimmers - Shark Power!



Questions for You:
- What sports do you enjoy as a family?
- What sports did you play in high school?

Yes! Sports Moments & Never Been Kissed

I smiled and cried watching this totally adorable youtube clip of Olympic swimmer Matt Grevers proposing to Annie Chandler at the 2012 Missouri Grand Prix.

Her response is priceless! Watch here
http://youtu.be/4LWvLNgh2-c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LWvLNgh2-c&feature=share
It takes me back to my engagement to my husband Ken. He proposed the morning of my first triathlon that also happened to be my birthday! What a sweet combo! He waited for me so we could bike and run together and cross the finish side-by-side. :-)

See my former post http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-first-tri-sept-1995.html

Questions for You:
- What's your favorite engagement story?
- Have you witnessed a race-day engagement or wedding celebration?
- What movie moments stand out? One of my favorite scenes is from Never Been Kissed. Watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQnR9xvUaoY

Fun Times at State!

photos: Our third grader thought there were maybe six or seven teams participating at the state meet. right: This is before the blanket fell through the bleachers.

Last weekend we took our first trip as a family to the 12&Under State Swimming Championships. The first morning we sat at the tippy top of the old-school wooden bleachers. With two small kids along, I knew it was risky, but seats were limited and at least the top row offered back support.

I sat with the kids as my husband went back out to repark our car, not really sure our creative parking spot was worth a potential ticket. The warmups were fun to watch, swimmers of all sizes preparing for the morning's events. I loved the noise. 5-second clip of warmups

Well, with about seven minutes to go before our son's relay event, our kindergartner said he had to go to the bathroom. And minutes later, our toddler dropped his blanket down through the bleachers... but we made it, without peeing on anyone!

photos: Bucky Badger in the house! right: a big stage.

Tru's relay team took off nearly 30 seconds from its seed time in each of their two events (200 free and 200 medley)--but officially DQ'ed each event--and I'm good with that. In the 200 free Truitt left too early and in the 200 medley, his butterfly arms were not in sync.

As a parent, I thought Truitt's response was age-appropriate, he was disappointed in the DQs, but overall proud of the time each teammate cut. As a parent, I want him to care about his performance (vs. apathy) as long as he can balance that with his self-view, knowing his value as a person is rooted deeper than a swim time, test score or future classification.

I also think it's valuable to talk about disappointments. Some people want to skip right over an issue or ignore it, and I think you lose something there. The highs and the lows have meaning and add value to an experience, so talk about it, admit something hurt or didn't go well and then move on.

We're both proud of him and his growth as a swimmer. And by the time we reached the car, Truitt was already asking for State tournament ice cream.

Questions for You:

- How did your parents handle a loss, DQ, etc?

- What would you focus on as a parent?

- Does something seem funny about the street sign below? Wording seems a little odd, even for a university campus.

On Topic:

Extrinsic Rewards - from USA Swimming
How Achievement, Motivation, and Fear of Failure Develop - from USA Swimming

photos by me