And that’s a wrap on another sports season for my son… He participated in a couple relay races this weekend at the Illinois state tournament… in Indiana. Yeah, go figure. All good though; let’s make it happen.
On Saturday, he was part of the 12U 200 medley relay. He would be going first, swimming the backstroke. There were 16 teams competing for medals in this category, which meant, there would be prelims in the morning, and finals in the evening, which would make for a very long day for someone just swimming in one relay all day. His team was swimming in the 2nd heat, so I already snapped a picture of all the times in the first heat; I knew what they had to do to get to the finals. My son did fine. Backstroke isn’t his personal strongest, but I guess in the mix of the team, it made the most sense to put him there? The team did OK, and as it came down the stretch, in the last 25M of freestyle, it was neck and neck. They finished just ahead of this other team, and according to my calculations, put them in 10th place, which would qualify them for the finals. When they announced the official results however, his team’s name was NOT called; huh? After further review, I guess there was a “soft touch” in the first heat, which resulted in an inaccurate time. They finished 11th and missed the finals; that sucked. This was his big chance to medal at this year’s state. On the flip side, we didn’t have to stick around for the rest of the day… Still, I would have much rather did that, than go home early.
On Sunday, he was part of the 21U 200 freestyle relay. Yes, it’s not a typo; 21 and under!!! WTF?!?! Yeah, so the rest of the 12U relay team were not in attendance, which bumped him to another age group. There is a 14U team, but I guess they didn’t want to break that team up? OK, so my son was “taking one for the team” per his coach; that’s cool. Surely don’t think he can beat a 21 year old, especially one with a full beard swimming with his sons in the relay team… haha; just kidding, although there was a “kid” with a full beard walking around the meet. Yeah, this one went about as expected. My son swam fine, but in a pool full of the best kids in the state that were all older than him, some by many years, this wasn’t going to go well. The rest of the 21U team was pretty young on our side too, so… anyways. Only prelims on Sunday too; no need to return to the finals.
We knew it was going to be a “down year” for state due to his age and the way his birthday falls, but that’s cool. Last year was awesome; next year should be really good again too. Still, a very successful swim season, as he improved on all of his times across the board. On to the next sport…
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