As summer began approaching, my number one concern was finding a swim team for Brynn and Mason to participate on. We had such a positive experience last summer on Elk Horn's swim team and I really wanted to find something similar for them to participate in here. As I asked around I found that there is a really great swim program right in our area, but after looking into it I felt like it was much more intense than I was looking for. I wanted to find a team that had good instruction, was enjoyable for the kids, and didn't completely dominate our summer plans. That's when my neighbor told me about the Flyin' Fish swim team. This is a team that a family has run out of their backyard for several years. They are established as a feeder program for HAST (that really great local program I was talking about) so they are able to compete in all of their meets. The greatest perk and what convinced me to take the risk on a backyard swim team is the fact that it is less than half a mile away from our house and the kids could ride their bikes each day with other kids from the neighborhood. I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect scenario. Not only did I love (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) the convenience but I loved everything about the team. Mike, the head guy swam for BYU a couple years ago and made it all the way to nationals. His younger sister McKenna, who was the head coach this year, is currently swimming for University of Utah. Since their backyard pool is not big enough to accommodate large numbers they hold 4 different sessions with 8 kids in each session. This made it so the kids get super individualized instruction. I saw so much improvement in all of their strokes over the summer. It was definitely more low key and personal and it made it so the kids really enjoyed it. Plus the pool was heated - which is the ultimate bonus for my skinny, freezing kids.
The best part was that even with the small and more intimate practices they were able to participate in the big city meets. They both had moments when they shined and moments when they didn't. All of them were wonderful learning experiences. I was so proud of them for how they handled disappointment and learned from their mistakes with good attitudes. After all, we don't do this for them to become olympic swimmers, we do this for them to stay healthy, have fun, learn how to work hard, and to be a part of a team. I would say we were successful with all of the above.
Here is a quick overview of their meet results
Meet 1
Brynn: 25 Back - 34.21 PR (4th), 25 Breast - 41.20 PR (1st), 25 Free - 29.86 PR (3rd)
Mason: 50 Back - 58.97 PR (2nd), 50 Free - 52.60 PR (4th), 25 Fly - 30.53 PR (3rd)
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| Brynn and her teammate and friend Abby Winder |
Brynn: 25 Back - 31.83 PR (4th), 25 Breast - 41.99 (3rd), 50 Free - 56.69 PR (1st)
Mason: 50 Back - 1:03.78 (6th), 50 Free - 44.47 PR (3rd), 25 Fly - 24.74 PR (1st)
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| Always smiling during her races. |
Meet 3
Brynn: 25 Back 31.38 PR (4th), 25 Breast DQ (one hand touch), 50 Free - 58.27 (4th)
Mason: 100 IM DQ - (scissor kick), 50 Free - 42.89 PR (1st), 50 Fly - DQ (one hand touch)
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| Pre-race nerves |
Meet 4
Brynn: 25 Back 29.88 PR (3rd), 25 Breast 38.82 PR (3rd), 50 Free - 56.01 PR (3rd)
Mason: 100 IM - 2:24.22 (2nd), 50 Free - 42.14 PR (3rd), 25 Fly - 26.94 (2nd)
Another huge perk of the meets is that while half of AF rec center pool was closed off for the meet the other half was still open for public swimming so Miles could swim around during the meet. THis made it much more enjoyable than the meets in Omaha.
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| Pooped after all the fun. |
At the end of the season HAST awards each swimmer points for where they placed in each event over the summer ( i.e. 10 points first place, 8 points second place, 6 points third place, etc.) and add them up and then rank the swimmers. Mason took 3rd in the 10-year-old boys and was awarded "The Butterflier" award because he loves butterfly and would fly in it. Brynn was 10th in the 7-year-old girls and was awarded the "Silent but Deadly" award because she was shy and quiet at practice but worked hard and did awesome in the meets. This was my favorite award any of my kids have ever gotten. It was spot on.
