THE PAGNOZZI FAMILY: SWIM MEETS ARE COMING TO AN END

Wow! Is summer league swim almost over??!! The team is having a great year and even though the we have to wake up brutally early for a Saturday morning and spend the whole day at the meet, it's all bearable with the great friends we have made.
It is amazing how far Hana has come. She was a great recreational swimmer. When she had to try out to make the swim team we realized she was not as good and strong as we thought. Watching her swim now, well there is no comparison. So glad that she wanted to join this year.
Hana is also doing great in competing. I'm so upset I didn't record it, but this last meet she came in 5th out of 24 girls on her back stroke and 8th out of 15 on her butterfly (22 girls total, but some DQ). Not DQing in butterfly at her age is half the battle. She shaved off almost 10 seconds off her seed time. She's definitely setting the bar high for herself. The frustrating thing is that she doesn't start out her fastest and only starts kicking it into gear when she hears dad coaching her in to kick faster.

Ricky has had a few really good meets. The frustration with Ricky is that when he wants to he can kick it into gear and he has some talent with it. Key words "when he wants to." I think towards the end of the summer league he starts losing interest. It's a sport where you basically sit around in the blazing sun. So I could understand towards the end you are sluggish. Ricky has battled some breathing issues with swim this year that has slowed him down. This mainly happens at practice. Their practices are great and they swim for almost 40 minutes straight. I really like watching Ricky practice. You could tell he takes them serious.
He has 1 blunder so far in his swim career. He was suppose to swim the breast, but there was an extra pause for the start buzzer. His mind started wandering and when he dived in he did the stroke that is most natural to him and that is free. He was in the last heat (fastest) and he was determined to win it.
I really hope he stays with this sport mainly throughout middle/high school. I'm sure when he gets older he will get a more competitive mind set with it. It's a great work out and it'll keep him the "right" kind of busy and around a good crowd. Of course we have to fit this in around his 1st love and that's theater.
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****The kids had a great last meet (at least for us since we decided not to attend divisionals or any invitationals). Hana shaved off time on all her strokes. Ricky did too except his free. On his back stroke he shaved off a lot of time and came in 4th out of 18!! This qualified him for one of the better invitationals. He was also bribed with money. Amazing what a little incentive can do. Maybe one day he will have the attitude to swim his best just for the win. His butterfly improved at this meet too. His freestyle relay was great to watch. He was last leg and the 3rd leg was head to head when they touched. When Ricky jumped in he smoked it and put 1/2 the length of the pool between him and the other kid. It's amazing how much faster these kids swim in a relay. I think it's the pressure of having other people rely on you. We timed him on it and he beat his personal best in the free style.
I really hope he stays with it. It's a great sport and he does good in it. With a little hard work, more practices and the mind set of wanting to win he can be really great.
I am really surprised on how good Hana was her 1st year. She has beat her time every time she raced. She is one of the younger ones in her age group and always came out on top. Her strongest stroke was the back stroke. If Ricky would not have kicked it into gear this last meet she was almost to his time. It was great watching her in the water and just seeing the big smile on her face when she got out. She was always one of the 1st ones in her heat to finish. Through the season she kept moving up to faster heats. One week she was crowned swimmer of the week, which is a big deal because there are few weeks and so many kids in her age group.
(My camera messed up on some of their best races. I'll always be bummed I didn't capture their backstrokes=(.)

As much as I enjoy watching my kids compete in these swim meets, I have to say, I will be relieved when it's over. These early mornings are not fun, but I will miss my Saturday family.