Long Course State Championships, Day Three

In an effort to get "up and at 'em", we went in search of Lake Michigan this morning. How can a lake that big be so hard to find? I just got so turned around in downtown Holland (I know, that was my first mistake), that I got really frustrated. It was raining anyway, so we gave up, parked, and window-shopped.

Today's events were a far cry better than the past two days. Lexy swam just two. First was the backstroke leg of the Medley Relay. Backstroke hasn't been her strong stroke this year, but today she did an awesome job! Backstroke is the first one out of the chute in this relay, followed by breaststroke, fly, and free. She's been languishing at 46.89 for a 50 Meter backstroke for about a month -- but today, she dropped three seconds, finishing at 43.87! This is even within the state qualifying time for this event. Something must have clicked there, though I don't know where or when.

When it came to the 100 breaststroke event, I felt she would do well. She ended up dropping .41 to finish at 1:46.47.

In the afternoon, the sun had come out, so we got ourselves a REAL map, and headed over to Holland State Park. We gathered up our umbrella, towels, and I grabbed a book, and we sat on an actual beach for a couple of hours. Lexy played in the surf and dug in the sand just like I did when I was a kid, but she didn't get to lick her arm and taste salt. Definitely missing the salt.

Just one day left for states, and there will be four events tomorrow. A busy day -- see you then!

Long Course State Championships, Day Two

After a relaxing morning wandering downtown Holland and finding some fun buys, we headed back to the pool. I dropped Lex at the door and then wandered the streets of Holland looking for someplace, anyplace, to park. I'm sorry to say, I had to park illegally, in the hospital parking lot. I'm thrilled that so many kids qualified for states and that so many people showed up to watch them swim. I'm less excited about this daily ritual.

Today was more fun for Lexy since she wasn't the only swimmer in the 12 & under category! Her teammates Nehemiah (a.k.a. Nemo), Bridget, and Jenny came to keep her company (and also swim their qualifying events). It was a special treat to see Jenny since her family moved to Texas a few weeks ago, and they've come back especially to swim at States. A brief but fun reunion!

Nemo and Jenny did really well; both got on the medal stand having finished in the top 8 in their 50 Fly events. Bridget also finished well, right on her best time. Lexy, well, not so much. Her only event today was the 200 Free, normally an event where she shines. Lexy has always been more of an endurance swimmer than a sprinter, so I felt confident going in that she would do well. However, she was a little slower again. Not enough to cause concern -- she's still well within the qualifying time range.

We have two days, two relays and four events to go. I hope she can find her motivation and bring her pool face with her.

Long Course State Championships, Day One

Here we are, at Lexy's second trip to Long Course State Championships,this time in Holland, Michigan. Lexy had a pretty good year, getting six qualifying times during the season. Because there are so many kids who need to get through all their events, the meet starts on a Thursday and goes through Sunday. In all, she'll swim six individual events and two relays.

Her first event for the weekend was the 400 Freestyle, which I think went pretty well. She was seeded 11th of 24 competing, she swam just 8 seconds slower than her best time, and still a qualifying time (6:00.39). There was quite a long wait between warm-ups and the time she got to swim, so I'm sure she lost a fair amount of adrenaline along the way, but I think she did a great job.

Looking forward to tomorrow when she'll swim the 200 Free.