This week I swam laps with my girls. Someone said, “Oh did your kids get their swimming skills from you?” No. No. Noooooooo.
Honestly, we have no idea where their love of swimming came from. I did swim for the Langley Club as a kid, and knew I wanted my kids to have the same summer experience. But I was not a competitive swimmer. I think I was the equivalent of the class clown, but of the pool.
When Izzy was little, we introduced her to every sport. I had played soccer and field hockey and tennis growing up, so I was certain she would like one of those. No. No. Nooooo. So we tried lacrosse. Nope. Volleyball. Nope. But when she jumped in the pool, she was so happy. So we stuck with it. (Never in a million years did we expect her to become a collegiate swimmer.) Her love of the sport was truly organic and so fun to watch.
Liliana liked many more sports and actually had picked travel soccer over swimming at one point. But one of her swim coaches saw her sitting in the stands watching Izzy practice and told her to get in the pool. Lil explained that her (mean) parents had made her pick between travel soccer and year round swim, and she had picked soccer. So she wasn’t signed up. Coach Mason told her she didn’t care and to hop in the pool and join the practice. That was the day Lil changed her mind and decided to swim competitively. Mason and her son were at Lil’s senior meet, and is a dear family friend to this day. There is just something special about the people you meet in the swim world.
Lance and I loved seeing how happy our girls were in the pool. Summer Swim took the happiness to a new level. Countless hours at the pool with friends from different schools. Swim team “social” events that totally took them outside their comfort zone, without them even realizing it. They made so many memories on the deck of the Langley Club. Lance and I never aspired to be swim parents, but when you see your kids so happy, you kinda jump in.
After Bensten’s accident, he obviously had a lot to relearn. When summer rolled around, we knew we would have to reintroduce swimming, but we were scared and not certain how to go about re-teaching him to swim. An amazing human, who was a senior swimmer on the team and junior coach, offered to take the lead in helping Bensten learn to swim again. Nate Johnson spent countless hours in the pool with Bensten, not only helping him rehab, but being an amazing role model. Over the course of that summer, Bensten fell back in love with swimming, despite his body not cooperating most of the time! Nate stuck by his side, and refused to take a cent from us. He did it all out of the kindness of his heart, and he might never know the impact he had on Bensten, and our family. (Nate is currently in med school and will likely be the best doctor ever!! What an amazing guy!) And Bensten is still, 8 years later, working back to being a competitive swimmer. He has worked so hard, but it’s been tough. But the friendships he has made during summer swim have given him the confidence to keep trying. It’s such a healthy environment, where competitive swimmers and not-so-competive swimmers (picture me as a kid) can all hang out and have fun together!
I think the best part of this summer has been watching Boeden develop the same love of summer swim. And let’s just say Boeden’s love of the water was not inherent. He used to cry going to swim lessons. I just wanted him to be water safe, so I kept taking him. Iz and Lil had given him countless lessons, and it just didn’t click. This winter, we did one lesson a week at Machine Swim School. He loved it. Like, woke us up extra early on Sunday mornings dressed and ready to go. But I was still cautiously optimistic when summer swim team began. Oh my God, he has loved. He didn’t miss a day of practice. He swam in several developmental meets- despite being scared out of his mind. The older kids were so sweet with him. (Veronica, he definitely thinks you guys are best friends, despite the 4 year age difference!)
The swim season is a grind, but I cannot tell you how much my kids have benefited from this amazing team. And Lance and I have benefited in so many ways as well. Watching Iz and Lil coach, and now Bensten junior coach, honestly makes my heart explode. Many years ago, I started Coach Appreciation Day….but several years ago, when my kids became coaches, I had to pass the torch. I LOVED running CAD, so I was really sad. Today, another swim mom ran the most amazing Coach Appreciation Day. All I did was bake some cookies, and watch the amazing event take place! My heart is so full.
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