Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "What A Difference 31 Years Makes" Story

Monday, July 18, 2011

The "What A Difference 31 Years Makes" Story

It was an ordinary day. Sitting under a tent, trying to stay cool, waiting for the next heat to start. I am at a youth swim meet. FLASHBACK: Years ago my daughter, Brynn, wanted to swim on the local swim team. We were members of Skyline Pool, so she tried out for the team and became a member. After a few weeks of practice, she was ready for her first "official" swim meet. An away meet at Golden Meadows Pool, which was a few miles from our house. She was 6 years old and had just finished kindergarten. Her first race was the 25 meter freestyle. Eight 6 and under girls lined up behind the starting blocks and waited for the official to start the heat. "Swimmers, step up," was the first command, as the girls climbed on top of the starting blocks. "Swimmers, take your mark," was the next command, as the girls held their hands in front of them and prepared to dive off the starting blocks. And then ...... the official's starter pistol left out a loud blast. All dove in .... except Brynn. She was standing on the starting block, crying. Holy cow, what happened? The pistol scared her and she started crying. A week ago my wife shared this story with our granddaughters who were preparing for their first ever swim meet. Courtney is 10 years old and Camille is 7 years old and they swim for The Village of Urbana Sea Hawks Swim Team. Approximately 200 boys and girls swim for the team!! Camille just turned 7 so she is officially in the 6 and under group while Courtney is in the 10 and under group. They have been practicing for a few weeks and invited Carol and me to watch their first meet. You could see the excitement and nervousness in their eyes and body movements. They each had chosen 3 events to swim in during the meet with another local team. The meet is being held at their home pool which is a few blocks from their house. Both are dressed in the really neat green and black swimsuits which signifies they are Sea Hawks. Courtney is swimming first in heat #8, the girl's 25 meter freestyle, with 7 other girls. Same scenario as 31 years earlier, except no pistol is used. An electronic "beep" signals the start of the race. Courtney finishes in the middle of the pack with a respectable 26 seconds. The jitters are gone for her, now! Heat #12 will start soon and Camille is standing behind the starting blocks. And again, Camille finishes her 25 meters without any problems. The day continues with waiting and talking and many exciting girls visiting Carol and me as we sit in the shade of the tent waiting for their next event. About an hour later Courtney swims in heat #28; the 25 meter breaststroke. How do I remember the heat numbers? I have a photo of them on the desktop of my computer as I type with the numbers on the back of their hands. They put them there in indelible marker so they wouldn't come off in the water. Everyone does the same! Again, a few seconds later, Camille swims the same event during heat #30. Both girls find the breaststroke slightly harder to perform and their times are not as fast as the freestyle times. Time for a few snacks to tide them over until their final event. About an hour and a half later Camille is standing by the starting blocks, waiting to get in the pool for event #46; the 25 meter backstroke. She told me that she was pretty good at this stroke. I stand by the blocks with my camera ready, set on continuous mode so I don't miss a thing. She's in the water, grabbing the stainless bar, waiting for the "beep". And off they go. And she really is pretty good. My camera is catching her as her hands come out of the water and reenter again and again. Them I zoom back and ....... my gosh, she's ahead of everyone! I catch her as she touches the other end ahead of the other 7 girls. Her face lights up as she is handed the ribbon for winning the heat. She really was pretty good at the backstroke! She holds up the ribbon so I can take a photo of it. Finally event #54 arrives and Courtney is ready for her last event of the day; the 50 meter freestyle. She has practiced this event many times in practice, but it is always so much different in a meet. She has a smile on her face as she gets on the starting block. One of the few who doesn't like to wear a swim cap, she gets a good start and heads toward me. I keep my finger on the button and record her every move. She's trying her best!! Makes the turn and heads back to the other end of the pool to complete the final 25 meters. We wait for her as she gets her time and then heads in our direction. As she get near you can see the smile on her face starting to shine through. "I beat my best time. BY 18 SECONDS!" she told us. Didn't matter if she won her heat or not, in her eyes she was a winner. And in my eyes, also! I don't remember much from 31 years ago when Brynn was on the swimming team, but it sure was fun to watch my granddaughters first swim meet. I'll be back for more. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - check out the photos that follow:

The Villages of Urbana swimming pool