A Brighter Sunshine: Swim Meet 2013

Cate had her fall swim meet last month and again it was awesome! You'd think we'd get bored of this or at least lukewarm but it is so much fun to watch these kids swim. They all have worked so hard to get here regardless of their challages - on this team they are all equals and that is a great thing. Cate swam in 4 races - 50 yard freestyle (new for her), 25 yard freestyle, 25 yard backstroke, and 25 yard breaststroke (new for her).

I did get a cute pose before the first race!

She started with the new 50 yard freestyle race and got 3rd place because she wasn't really sure she wanted to swim after the shock of cool water. She wasn't the only new one to the race so finishing it without stopping got her 3rd place even though she spent way more time doggy paddling and looking around than being the competitive swimmer. Cate has to be invested in something to do well and after that first race I was worried she was more interested in the birthday party for afterwards than the races at hand. I don't know if she used that first race as a warm-up, was inspired by the ribbon she got, or just clicked into gear but the 25 free race was a totally different story.

game face on - ready to go!

#1!!!

Not only did she finish first, she did it in 48 seconds which is almost 10 seconds faster than her time in the spring. Cate's stroke looked good and she was moving fast!! She rushed over to show off her to cheering section which included my parents, my aunt and my cousin the blue ribbon!

first stop was to show her proud daddy!

and then "surprise" grandma and Kim

Of course because she won that one she was ready for the backstroke which she placed 4th in last season.

ready for backstroke

off she goes

First Place for Backstroke!!!

a hug for sister!

Not only did she get first place she got her time under a minute!

One of Cate's friends was doing her first backstroke race and so Cate decided to give her some encouragement just like we gave her the first time she when she took 4 minutes to finish!

After this we set up for breaststroke which is the new stroke she just started this season. She had a little problem getting started since she wanted to do free but there were a couple new to this race so she wasn't the only one. But she got into it after a little while and did a great job.

Cate is the middle lane slightly ahead of the girl next to her at this point.

a little "I did it wave to the crowd"

Even though it is awesome that Cate did so well and made us so proud with her competitive spirit and hard work the best thing about this meet was that she sought out her friends. They aren't really new friends but somehow this day it seemed that the relationships had matured which is awesome because they are great girls!