Swim Meet 10-16

Maria had her first swim meet today. I was proud of her and of her teammates. Even though it took her about twice as long as the rest of the swimmers to do her events, the whole team cheered her on and gave her lots of positive encouragement. Even the other girls on her relay team, who were great swimmers and could perhaps have won the event without her on their relay team, congratulated her on doing a good job.

Her team is called the Seahawks and their team colors are black and green. Team suits have been ordered, but they didn't arrive in time for today's meet. Her coaches have been great. They don't push her too hard, but they do push her to do just a little more than she thinks she can. It's a fine balance. They never seem to hover over her, but whenever it was time for her to climb up onto the starting blocks, one of her coaches was always there to help her. They did it so unobtrusively that I would guess not one person even noticed.

As for Maria, she just smiled and did her best. You should see her swim. She has beautiful form, her muscles just don't move very fast. If they handed out prizes for the most graceful swimmer, Maria would win hands down. The meet was in Sioux City and on the way home we stopped to refuel with the traditional dose of fat and salt.