Swimming with the Lakevale Dolphins

The Swim Gang - Leo, Aidan, Megan & Anna

Tonight Anna completed her third season with the Division II Lakevale Dolphins.  It was a great season for Anna as she improved her strokes and her times and made it to the "A"team to compete at Saturday meets.  It was an educational season for Joe and Theresa, who learned the ins and outs of life as swim team parents.

The neighborhood swim team is the hub of neighborhood social activity in the summer.  There are events throughout the season, including Friday night pep rallies, and Sunday night fund events that include such things as the neighborhood scavenger hunt, laser tag night, bingo night, and even a team night at the Washington Nationals game.  In between the fun is the seriousness of the swimming, and there are definitely some top notch swimmers on the team.

Anna with her lollipop for getting a "personal best" time

Kids are motivated by different things. Some kids love to race.  Other kids try to beat their times.  Anna is motivated by ice cream.  When her parents told her she could go out for ice cream at the place of her choosing each time she got a personal best time, Anna began to rocket across the pool.  Her backstroke time improved so much that she earned a place on the "A" team for Saturday meets.  She had a great season and is looking forward to next year when she will be one of the "veteran" team members in the 8 and under age group.

Joe and Theresa had an eventful swim season as well.  Since swim team practice is at 10;15 AM each morning (not conducive to working parents), Theresa and some other neighborhood working moms coordinated their telework schedules to get the kids to practice each day.  Thus, the swim gang was formed, consisting of Aidan (a friend since Anna was 2 years old), Leo (who goes to school with Anna), and Megan (a friend from Aidan's class).  Thanks to some help from high school students in the afternoon, the swim gang had a good time hanging out at the creek, watching movies, and just playing outside.

Some of the lessons Joe and Theresa learned from the swim season include the following:

• It is way cooler to be a timer than a marshal.
  
• Once they get your name on the volunteer list, you cannot get off.
• The Northern Virginia Swim League is one of the largest in the country, thus is VERY competitive.
• Anna did not begin training by age 3, thus her Olympic hopes are already dashed.  Hopefully she can one day forgive her parents.
• It takes an army of parent volunteers to run one of these meets.
• There is a lot of standing around and waiting in the hot sun for your kid to compete for 30 seconds.

It was great season with a lot of fun for everyone. We are looking forward to next season.....but happy to have a break from this one!