2018 Swim Team Banquet (Plus Champs & Spirit Week)

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There are no words for what an amazing summer it was for these kiddos.  Andrew did great in 9-10's, which might be the toughest age-group jump of all.  When you start at 4 or 5, you're rocking 7-8's.  Then at 9, you're suddenly swimming all 50's rather than 25's, you're swimming against kids that are nearly (or already) 11 and HUGE, and swimming against many year-round swimmers.   But he beat all of his PR's, fell in love with butterfly "because it's the biggest challenge), was heat winner is ALL of his individual races at the JSL league meet and shaved SIX seconds off of his 100-free!   He remains completely committed and such an incredibly hard worker.

Margaret was swimming at 3 and started the team at 4, so we've long been waiting for her summer in 6-unders when she would be almost 7 and crushing it.  But as it turned out, the team was unusually light in girls' 7-8, so she missed her opportunity altogether to light up 6-unders as JJ swam her up in 7-8's.  Flattering, sure, but sometimes it's just fun to smash it, right??? Of course JJ knew exactly what he was doing and by the time she swam 7-8 in JSL's, she was winning heats and scoring points for the team, the ultimate team contributor. 

Little Man started swim team at 3.5 when he finally started swimming the length of the pool.  So he was elated to start with the team from scratch this summer.  Even though you can't compete until you're 5, he took pride in practicing each and every day with the 6-unders, and occasionally the 7-8's!  Matthew just beamed when he finally got his first banquet medal...I laughed and cried remembering Matthew's first banquet attendance as I rocked and nursed him past bedtime.  Oh, how things have changed.  The oldest of 3 was his very age now!!!

Rewinding to Spirit Week, leading up to Champs at UVA....

What a group of bearded ladies!!!

 The Greatest Showman Mom Song rivaled the best of all time, "Welcome to My House", which just may be our theme song forever. How is there no video of our, "This is Me"?!?

 It can be hard to share the mic in a trio.
 

 Our sweet neighbors, Gracie and Lily, sang the most beautiful duet...

And then Gracie graciously "Rewrote the Stars" with Margaret.

 

 Love their focus when supporting friends.

Peanut Butter Jelly lives on!

Then off to Champs at UVA...

9-10 boys ready to go with their beloved Coach Timmy!

 National Anthem - let the games begin!

 

Matthew's first walk across the bulkhead.

Almost up!  Matthew is on the far left.  Notice his little legs compared to his two competitors in the middle.  Giants.  Probably 7 already.  The only time that Matthew has ever looked small compared with his "peers"!
 
Last minute reminders from Coach Bailee.

 Matthew's relay start---awesome for a 5-yr-old, considering most just jump off the side of the pool, rather than dive from the tall blocks.

JJ's pep talk---it worked, 'cause Little Man finished 1st of all 5-yr-olds in the league!

Up close and personal - the advantage of volunteering on deck....:-)

 JJ's last minute chat before backstroke got the job done, too!  First of all 5-year-olds in both back and free.  Way to go, Little Man!

 Looking back on half of the stands....it's like a city outside in the team tents, but it's like a roaring lion inside for the events. 

 Squirt just gets giggly before her races.  I LOVE her spirit and that it's all excitement and no nerves, as it should be.

 Backstroke start series...

 Gotta straighten out that dive, but nice to be on deck to capture the evidence.

 

 These two....loving on each other since 2013:-)

 Fastest 7-yr-old in Fly, but more impressively, 2nd overall out of several hundred 7-8 year old girls, many of them year-round swimmers.  Fly is her thing!

 Nice free and back finishes for bottom of the age group...

Hard to see, but Little Man was the only 5-yr-old on the leader board for Free and was 6th overall out of a bizillon 6 and unders. 

   Session II:  Andrew's first walk across the bulkhead.  It's such an awesome feeling when the crowd joins in!

Time to party....all night long!

Matthew loving Mom's creative entry in the "Mommy Dip":-)  

Fast forward to Labor Day Swim Team Banquet...

 Patiently waiting for his first swim team medal.

Matthew's Medal - he was so very proud:-)

 

Andrew and Margaret were wonderful teammates this summer.  In addition to their participation and perfect meet-attendance certificates, what else they achieved is what has really been making us proud each summer...

 Andrew 2018

Most Improved (4th year straight!) 
Coach's Award
The Effort Award
2017:
Outstanding Championship Performance
Most Improved
Leadership Award
Team Spirit Award
2016:
Outstanding Championship Performance
Most Improved
Great Attitude Award
2015:
Most Improved

Can't confirm anything else

Margaret 2018
Outstanding Championship Performance
Most Valuable Swimmer
Most Improved
2017:
Outstanding Championship Performance
Most Improved
2016:
Outstanding Championship Performance
2015:

Can't confirm

Matthew 2018
Outstanding Championship Performance

The league does not give out age-group first place medals for 6 and unders, but Matthew's freestyle and backstroke were both the fastest for 5 year olds in the entire league, so JJ gave him Fairview's Outstanding Championship Performance award. 

All of our gratitude goes to JJ and his coaching staff for another amazing year.  The kids are learning things they know not yet, and having fun swimming while they're at it:-) 

The annual jump...