Texas State Scoop

No, it's not a new flavor of ice cream here in the Lone Star State! I am just finally getting a-round-to-it, posting an update on the HS state swim meet, that is. It has been so hectic around here trying to catch up at work and I happened to get sick AGAIN! This time I went to the doctor. She gave me a shot and some antibiotics. She said that my resistance was probably down from having the flu a couple of weeks ago and that is why I got sick again. Anyhow it has all helped. Sooo the moral of the story is: go to the doctor.

Now, back to our story...
Prelims were on Friday. Michelle was one of only two freshman swimming the 50 free and four swimming the 100 breaststroke. She was very nervous. She swam a 26.38 in her 50 free which was slower than her seed time so she was not very happy with herself. We could not go down on deck to see her, but I talked to her on her cell phone and she was a little down in the dumps. We all tried to cheer her up before her 100 breaststroke. She swam that event later and was also a little slow: 1:11.90. These swims put her in 15th and 11th places, respectively, going into Saturday's finals.

Michelle on the block; she's in Yellow Jacket black & gold!

Michelle did not want to wake up. She was a bit grumpy. So we took her out to Cracker Barrel and made her eat a good breakfast. Then we worked on cheering her up. It must have all helped some, cuz she did swim better on Saturday. She swam 26.30 in her 50 free--a little better than Friday, not her seed time, but still an improvement. Unfortunately, she dropped a spot to 16th. In the 100 breaststroke, she started out a little slow. Her first 50 was slower than her prelim time! And she was in 5th place in her heat. We were all just screaming! Then she started to pick it up and pass people. She just didn't have enough time to pass the leader and ended up 2nd in the heat which put her in 10th overall. Her time -- 1:10.97 -- was about a second better than Friday and her second best ever!

Swimming the breaststroke at the 4A high school state meet.

I do think she had a difficult time getting excited about swimming. She said,"mom, everything was 'about getting to state' now that I'm here, I'm just here." I think she was lonely being the only swimmer from her school -- making history only goes so far!-- and it was a bit anticlimatic. But, like we told her, you just do the best you can and go with it. She is only a freshman and can take this experience and use it next year. Apparently she has big plans for next year! Who knows what'll happen then! It was nice to see the swim team get some news coverage in the papers and even on the local television. We're hoping more kids go next year, and more kids start swimming! Michelle is already working hard for next year! She's getting ready for the long course season in USA Swimming this summer. That's what it takes hard work and dedication. I think that's why she's as good as she is from all those many hours in the water. Maybe she's part fish too??

Happy Swimming,
Wasie

PS I keep trying to add photos, but blogger is not cooperating!

Well, that was a learning experience! I finally was able to get the photos in! It took for-ev-er! Then I just wanted to center the captions under the photos. I had to learn HTML code and get it inserted properly. eeek.