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| Anna & relay team members |
The summer swim season is winding down for the Lakevale Dolphins. This year, the Dolphins competed in Division IV in the Northern Virginia Swim League. For those of you not familiar with competitive swimming (which was quite frankly us until Anna started swimming), there are 17 divisions with Division I being the most competitive (think Katie Ledecky). Bottom line: it is competitive.
Last year, the team was in Division III....and lost every meet. This year they dropped to Division IV.....and won one meet. Better luck next year. Meanwhile, Anna moved up to the 11-12 age group this year. Breast stroke remains her specialty. At each Saturday meet, swimmers can compete in up to two strokes. Anna was a consistent competitor in breast stroke, but since she is new to the age group this year. she often got place on what is her least favorite stroke: butterfly. Also new this year is the 50 meter butterfly (in the younger age group, they only do 25 meters for butterfly). Adding to her angst with doing this stroke, during the first meet of the year, someone made a mistake when the entered her time into the system......entering it 10 seconds faster than it actually was. Anna is now officially listed as someone who can do a respectable time in butterfly. She had expectations to live up to.....at least on paper (=not happy). She also got to participate on the relay team, where she did breast stroke. This turned out to be quite fun to watch and the team won some very exciting races!
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| Anna in action |
Swim team is definitely a family event with lots of volunteers required. It quickly became apparent that since four of our immediate neighbors were running portions of the swim team, we needed to step up the volunteer efforts.....or we would not be able to walk by their house. Joe was a regular timer for the meets, while Theresa could be found marshaling (which basically involved ensuring people were quiet at the start and sending kids the right direction). Anna was a happy supporter of the snack bar after each meet - a favorite of all swimmers.
The best part about the swim team is all of the other fun activities. Every weekend there is something...from laser tag to bingo to the neighborhood scavenger hunt. New this year was the Lakevale Invitational - which involved kids competing in crazy relays against the parents.
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| Most of the swim team |
It really is the hub of neighborhood activity in the summer.
Alas.....summer swim is over for another season. It was fun, but we are happy it is done. Until next season.....
Last year, the team was in Division III....and lost every meet. This year they dropped to Division IV.....and won one meet. Better luck next year. Meanwhile, Anna moved up to the 11-12 age group this year. Breast stroke remains her specialty. At each Saturday meet, swimmers can compete in up to two strokes. Anna was a consistent competitor in breast stroke, but since she is new to the age group this year. she often got place on what is her least favorite stroke: butterfly. Also new this year is the 50 meter butterfly (in the younger age group, they only do 25 meters for butterfly). Adding to her angst with doing this stroke, during the first meet of the year, someone made a mistake when the entered her time into the system......entering it 10 seconds faster than it actually was. Anna is now officially listed as someone who can do a respectable time in butterfly. She had expectations to live up to.....at least on paper (=not happy). She also got to participate on the relay team, where she did breast stroke. This turned out to be quite fun to watch and the team won some very exciting races!
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