Darned it if we weren't going to make sure the girls were water safe this summer! With Little Man being as mobile as he is, I wasn't going to have 3 non-swimmers and attempt to go to the pool! So, last April, we started swim lessons with our gym's swim coach in an effort for them to be safe enough to join the Jr-Jr swim team... the pre-school of swim teams, per say, which was set to start in June.In April, it didn't look good. The girls screamed, protested, writhed in emotional pain that we would force them into the pool to try doing anything other than cling to someone's neck. The coach, a veteran teacher of 20+ years, was dumbfounded. Never, she told me, had she seen a student which such a "strong foundation" for swimming fight so hard. And, there were two of them!
Well, we decided that Mom had to stay away from the pool, lest the kids think I'd be swayed by their protests. In addition, each time they tried what the teacher asked, without crying (Tina would sometimes hyperventilate she'd be so upset), we'd take a trip to Powell's Candy Store for their choice of candy. Bribery and lack of a sympathetic eye was our strategy. Two months later, they could kick on a kick board by themselves (no one touching the board) and were ready for the big pool.
Today was their last day of swim team. After 2 more months, Bettina can swim the length of the 25-meter pool freestyle, back stroke 4-5 arm movements before spinning on her tummy to see what's ahead, then starting on her back again, and can side stroke and butterfly kick with the kick board. Last week, she swam 18-laps in 20-minutes. Pretty awesome! Ava is a bit more like a princess. The stars have to be aligned or she stops to rest (or adjust her goggles, swim cap, etc). She can side stroke and free style, but blows off the backstroke (unless she's hugging her kick board) and doesn't quite "get" the butterfly kick. Last week, she swam 10-laps in 20-minutes. Hey, she's water safe. I figure next summer she can start perfecting all the technicalities!! Below is a video I took today in the last 2-minutes of their 20-minute workout. I wish I'd thought to do it earlier because they weren't as tired and were swimming a whole lot better. However, it's clear that, as far as our Goal for the Summer of 2010: Mission Accomplished!
