Elijah has been pretty lukewarm about swimming. It took a while before he would get his head wet. By the end of last year he was jumping in and swimming short distances. When this summer began, he showed a little bit of fear, but was soon caught up to where he was last summer.
He really, really wanted to be on the swim team. Why? Because swim team members get doughnuts on the mornings of their meets. Being our son, he would do anything, even jumping in frigid, over his head water, for a Krispy Kreme Doughnut!
When the first meet came, Daniel (Elijah's brother and coach) found himself in a bind, with not enough 6 and under boy swimmers who could swim 15 yards unassisted. He called and said he was putting Elijah in first heat for freestyle. That would mean he'd have to jump in and swim without a mentor helping him. We all knew he could do it, but would he??
That afternoon, I asked him and he unequivocally said he would swim the lap.
He was ready...
Taking his mark, well, sort of!
and he was off!!
Swimming his hardest...
He made it to the finish line unassisted!
We were so proud of him. His coaches noticed his leap of faith and awarded him as that week's "Swimmer of the Week"
Swimmer of the Week, Elijah, with coaches Daniel and Elizabeth
We were so proud of Elijah conquering his fear!
Way to go Elijah! It has been so fun watching him gain confidence and speed this summer.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the D dominance in the pool is set to continue!