I took on a new title in 2021. For the first time in my 14 years of motherhood, I was a “swim mom”. I really didn’t know what to expect. I was blown away by what a lovely community I was introduced to. I understand now why families who do swimming refer to their “swim family”. There is a lot of time spent sitting at practices and meets together and you really bond.
We had a lovely first year of swimming and my daughter seemed to have some natural talent. She is humble, but I’m not. I will brag on her for a moment. She took home ribbons and medals from each meet. I was happy for her that she was not only making really sweet friends, but she was exceling in this sport as well. This was the first sport she has ever participated in.
Our season with the Brentwood Dolphins came to a close, but there was a swimming clinic coming to town. It was a bit of an investment, but we decided to sign up for the butterfly clinic. Fitter and Faster is an organization that hosts clinics all over the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas.
This was pretty cool, the coach that ran our local clinic was just getting back from Tokyo. Coley Stickel ran the clinic and packed in so much information in 3 hours. It was a lot to take in, but Annabelle did great. She had to ask a lot of questions because she is a newer swimmer, but Coley was so patient and took time to make sure she understood each drill.
The clinic was intense. There were moments that Annabelle was overwhelmed, but it was also over 100 degrees and she was the youngest there. She rallied and was able to do all the drills. If you have a dedicated swimmer, I think they would greatly benefit from one of the Fitter and Faster clinics.
Swimming clinics are always more fun with a friend. Annabelle had her buddy Cecily with her. All swim season they pushed each other to faster times. I’m glad they could have this opportunity to learn more about the Butterfly stroke and embellish their swim caps. 🙂
