In a Pool So Blue.

Over in the meadow, 

In a pool so blue,

Lived an {old} mother fish 

And her little fishes two.

"Swim!" said the mother;

"We swim!" said the two.

So they swam and they swam, 

In the pool so blue.

The day after we returned from UT (Tuesday), Mar had prelims.

She hadn't been in the pool for over a week, so my encouraging words were "Do your best."

She had moved up an age category from last year (now in 13-14), but since the birthday cutoff date is June 1st, any girls that turn 15 after that still swim the 13-14 age group. (This was always a nice benefit for Shi, who has a June 13th b-day.) 

The other added burden bonus for Mar in moving up is that she swam lengthier events: a 100Back & Fly (v a 50), and a 200IM instead of a 100. Luckily, she still had the opportunity to swim a 50Free in nearly every meet she attended, which felt like a gimme.

In prelim/final meets, you have to qualify in the top 6 at prelims to place in the top 6 at Championships.

Mar was swimming the 50Free, 100Back, and 200IM.

She placed in the top 6 for her 50Free (way to go, Mar!), and placed 7th in the 100Back and 200IM.

Despite her lack of practice the week prior and her fear of being ultra-sluggish, she pulled it off with grace and style.

The next morning (Wednesday) I attended Shi's prelims.

Our summer league has two days of prelims, dividing up age categories to make the length of the meets as equal as possible, but it doesn't help parents who end up attending both days anyway. Like me.

Shi was also swimming the 50Free, 100Back, and 200IM.

She was also a little worried about her lack of pool time (the whole season), but managed to place a respectable 1st in each event she swam. Nice job, Shi!

The Championship meet was the following Saturday (July 12th).

This could very well be the last competitive event I ever see Shilo swim.

Weird.

(I thought it might be our last swim meet EVER, as Mar had alluded to not swimming in the ensuing years, but after some success at Championships, she's decided to leave that door open.)

Mar took time off of her 50Free, but placed 6th overall. The difference between 4th and 6th place was .2 of a second, so it was a good, close race. She also cut 6 seconds off of her prelim backstroke time. 

That's amazing.

Here are the girls' IM stories via pictures.

Mar took 7th at prelims, so was seeded to win the consolation heat, swimming in lane 3.

The fly was first. I was a little worried that Mar was so behind after the first stroke. She's a good flyer, but some of the other girls were smokin'.

Next was backstroke. 

Mar gained on some of the girls, but you can still see how far ahead the girl on her right is.

Then came breaststroke (which, btw, Mar never competed in all season).

Freestyle is last. Mar won by over half a lap, taking 9 seconds off of her prelim time.

You go, girl.

Mar had a better time than the girl that placed 6th in the Championship heat, BUT she still placed 7th (same with backstroke). In one of those events she actually could have placed 5th, based on her time.

That's how the cookie crumbles.

Shi's IM story is a bit less intense.

Her best strokes are back and free, with breast being her "slow" stroke. A coach told her once it could be her best stroke if she could get her timing down. She never had enough desire to work on it much, and still has quirky timing. As long as it's not DQ-able, she doesn't care.

Shi won handily.

A good final personal event to end her pursuit of swimming excellence.

(I was going to call it a swim career, but didn't think career was the quite the right word.)

Mar loves a new t-shirt.

Someday I will make a fun quilt out of all those t-shirts I have forked over good money for.

Both girls began and ended the meet with relays.

Here's Mar's 200Free relay team:

 (FYI - Alex, middle right, is one of those 15-year-olds-swimming-the-13/14-age-group, and Rachel, the girl on the far right is 12 - "swimming up" for the relay.)

A word about Mar's suit:

I am cheap. I do not apologize (most times). Because, as previously mentioned, Mar alluded to not swimming next year, I figured we could squeeze one more season out of this tired, 3-year-old suit, rather than spend $60 on a new one. Mar did not complain ONCE about having an old suit. I love that about her. We did, however, have our fingers crossed that this baby wouldn't disintegrate at the meet. I have seen suits do that. There were visible signs of lycra rot, but it held out. Reminds me of this awesome saying (President Hinckley shared once upon a time):

Use it up,

Wear it out,

Make it do

Or do without.

We obviously couldn't have "done without" (all of Mar's practice suits had recently rotted out and she only had what we call "fashion" suits), so I count it as a tender mercy.

Here's Shi's 200Free relay team:

Ahhh..... the end of a meet always feels awesome.

Mar's results: (2) 7th place, (1) 6th place medal, (2) 3rd place medals (for her relays).

Shi's final-swim-meet-of-the-foreseeable-future results: (5) 1st place medals (2 for relays).

(I'm sure there are a few girls happy to see Shi go - cough, cough.)

I am so proud of both of these beauties.

That evening the team held the end-of-season banquet.

The coaches get together to make "Paper Plate Awards" - Shi had to work the day they wrote them (and thought some of them were ultra-corny), but told Mar hers was the Rainbow Hair Award. We decided it would be fun to spray some color in her hair for the banquet, so Mar dug through the Halloween box and found some funky purple spray. It actually looked pretty darn trendy, in a fun, non-permanent way (wink).

It was a good season, but I'm not sad it's over.
There are exciting new things ahead for Shi, and Mar is such a talented gal, there are lots of options.
Can't wait to see where these amazing girls go!

P.S. Darling newborn pics + birth story of sweet Scarlett here.