Saturday was the first day of the Illinois YMCA State Swim Meet. My son would be swimming in 4 events on day one. Actually, day one was Friday afternoon; he was supposed to be swimming in 1 event then. However, we didn’t find out about this until late Thursday evening; we were still going to try to make it work, but we needed a coach too… and they don’t have their shit together this session to be honest, so the 100M breast stroke was skipped. That’s OK; plenty of other events to enjoy.
His first event wasn’t scheduled until after 930am, but we arrived early for warmups. We got up at about 5, hit the road after 6, and got there about 715am; it ended up being only him and one other boy in this session representing their YMCA, which was not good, especially considering there was a relay later in the morning. Yes, the first piece of news we received on this state one day was that their team would be scratched in the relay; great start. Looking at all of the times for the kids in each of my son’s events, I knew it would be an uphill battle to get on the medal stand. The 2 relays he was scheduled to swim in were his best chances for medals, and now, one was gone… because 2 kids didn’t show up. Now I don’t know why they didn’t show up; maybe the kid got sick… understandable. But, wouldn’t you have a backup plan? OK, not going to talk shit…
His first event was the 50M breast stroke. The good news is he beat his best time; the bad news is, that wasn’t good enough to crack the top 10. Still, we always tell him it’s about improving YOUR time, and he did that, so I’m considering that a win. Next up was the 50M freestyle. He didn’t beat his best time, and since exceeding that was required to crack the top 10, he was done there too. Finally, the 50M butterfly. Again, he beat his time, but came up short of the top 10. We’re talking seconds, tenths of a second… every little piece of time matters and for this round, he wouldn’t make the finals. Finishing top 20 in the state in 3 separate events, 3 separate strokes, isn’t too shabby in my opinion, but what do I know.
Medals or no medals, I still considered it a successful day; my son seemed pretty upbeat about it too. In the past, not making the medal stand would have been very upsetting to him; maybe he’s mellowing out in his old age… haha. He swam his butt off, gave it his best, and that’s all that matters. Sometimes your best isn’t going to be good enough; that’s the reality in competitive sports… that’s the reality in life. Yet if you’re doing the best you can, really doing the best you can, then there’s really nothing else that can be asked of you; this is a lesson I’ve told my son many times. OK, back to Indiana tomorrow for more fun in the pool.
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