The excitement soon ended though on the day of the try outs in April. Dallin hadn't swam in a pool since last summer. At the end of the summer he could swim the 25 meters by himself although I was usually in the water with him encouraging him. This was the requirement to get on the team. Swim across the pool without touching the lane ropes. Unfortunately for us (but great for the rest of the city), we had an unusually cool April and the unheated outdoor pool was very cold the day of the tryouts. I didn't think this would be that big of deal because Dallin is daring and loves being in the pool. I learned a few things about my son that day though. Dallin really hates cold water. He is very sensitive to it and on that day of tryouts, nothing was going to entice him into the pool (and believe me I pulled out a few incentives to get him to do it.) I asked him if he wanted me to just throw him in and he said yes I think jokingly and then backed out saying no. I heard the yes though and threw him in. This method of getting Dallin to do something has worked in the past because usually he is playing some sort of game by pretending not to do something until I push him to do it. This was not the case here. Dallin screamed, swam to the stairs and hopped out. A temper tantrum began because Dallin wanted to swim to get his reward but really didn't want to swim. I chalk this experience up to one of my worse mommy moments and Dallin let me know he would never swim again the rest of his life. Coach Brandon told us that Dallin could come to rookie camp the next week and swim all week and try out again. I looked at the coach like he was crazy since Dallin was definitely not acting appropriately and if I was the coach I wouldn't want him on the team. Coach Brandon laughed and said let him try it out. I love Coach Brandon. I hope we are lucky and always have a coach like him.
Dallin had a great time at rookie camp because tons of his friends were there and then we got the great news that if you came to rookie camp you made the team and didn't have to try out again in the freezing cold water.
We tentatively showed up to the first day of practice and Dallin joined the team while I went to a parent meeting. Half way through practice Dallin came to find me saying he didn't want to swim. That night Zane and I debated long and hard (because we needed to pull him out of the team soon if we wanted our money back) about whether we should try swimming this year or wait a year. We both knew that Dallin would love it if he gave it a chance (hanging with friends and concession stands on Saturdays during the meets is like heaven to Dallin). We just didn't know if he would give it a chance. As a parent, it is hard to know when to push and when to wait until they are ready. Dallin is teaching me this lesson over and over lately. In the end we decided to push knowing it could be a great experience for Dallin. The next week was rough at swim lessons. Dallin only went because of the reward he was earning if he practiced. By the end of the first week though, Dallin loved it and was excited to go to practice. This is the only activity that I have ever put Dallin in where he cheered every time I told him it was time to get ready to go. He practiced 5 days a week and cheered every day.
Three important lessons learned:
1. Dallin is extra sensitive to cold. He isn't just using it as an excuse not to do something. He really hates being cold.
2. Dallin struggles with new situations. My super social kid really struggles to act appropriately and participate if he is put in an unfamiliar environment. I started learning this lesson when I put Dallin in a large afternoon TaeKwonDo class a few months earlier and started car pooling with another mom. This lesson was reenforced with swim team and now I got it! When I put Dallin in science camp last week, we prepared and handled the situation completely different and Dallin was successful.
3. Dallin needs to know where I am at all times. He gets anxious if he can't find me.
Our experience with swim team was all uphill from that first day. Swim team is a great sport because even if the team doesn't win or you don't win your event, you feel like a winner if you beat your time or in the beginning for Dallin, made it across the pool. Thank goodness Dallin wasn't competitive at all and didn't notice what place he came in. There were enough 6 and under boys to have three relays so Dallin got to swim in the free relay each week. This was a lot of fun for him. After one meet, I told him his relay was really close to getting 3rd place (out of 4 teams). He ran back to our camp telling everyone he almost got third place! Another time I told him he got second place in his heat and he thought about it for a second and said, "First is the worst and second is the best though." So right. Dallin was just excited to swim and get ribbons. Some teams handed out heat ribbons right after you raced and then you could earn time improvement ribbons after each meet. Super reinforcing for Dallin.
Dallin at his first meet sitting at the ready benches. Waiting and down time is really tough for Dallin. This is when mischief usually happens. Swim team gave him lots of practice at waiting and except for two incidents, Dallin handled it great.
Getting ready to swim.
Dallin never really mastered diving off the block. He can do it off the side but gets worried about water in his goggles so he just jumps in. During practice he would actually yell "cannon ball" as he jumped in. He can be so silly.
The first few meets Dallin figured out he didn't have to worry about swimming across the pool because he could grab onto the lane ropes. He would pull a Lindsey (my little sister who used to hang on the lane ropes and wave to the crowd) and grab onto the ropes, look around at what his friends were doing, smile for the camera etc. He was DQed in his first meet and swam a 1:36 in free style. He refuse to swim backstroke because he wasn't very good at it yet and was scared.
The next meet he swam backstroke without using his arms and rolled on his front to check to see how far he had to go still. He only swam it because he wanted something from the concession stands.
Since Dallin would ask for food from the concession stands every Saturday, we would set goals for him to accomplish in order to get one treat. Right before the 3rd meet, Zane told Dallin that if he would swim without touching the lane ropes then we would take him to get ice cream as a family. That did it. The next meet Dallin did what we knew he could do all along and swam across the pool. We were really excited.
From that meet on Dallin was on fire making improvements each time. Soon he was swimming with either rolling on his back to breath (which is fine for free style) or breathing to his side. During divisionals, Dallin swam a 47 second free style and a 1:03 backstroke using both arms and legs and staying on his back. Huge improvements!
This is what the boys did while waiting for Dallin to swim. Within a few meets, Dallin had met a couple of new friends on the team and then he would hang out with them. He is always the social butterfly.
This is what Lili did during meets. She received a lot of attention!
This is a real swim team dad!
Dallin never liked to wear a swim cap during the meets, but each week the coaches gave out a Seal of the Week swim cap and Dallin got it one week. Super proud moment!
Reasons I love swim team:
1. After having swim practice five days a week for all of May and June with swim meets on Saturday, you get to be a very confident swimmer with great endurance.
2. Swim team helps you get to know people in your neighborhood better.
3. Swimming is great exercise!
4. With all the ribbons and trophy at the end, swimming is a very positive and motivating sport.
Looking forward to next season!
