CTAGS!...Holla!

Our family had a great weekend and a busy one, as usual. This past Friday and Saturday, Madison and her fellow Swim Belton swimmers took part in the yearly Central Texas Age Group Swim Championship held this year in Belton. It was a great meet and a lot of fun to watch! Madi and her friends really did well and there was quite a large crowd in attendance both days of the meet. Unfortunately for spectators, and if you've attended any youth swim meets you already know this, there isn't much seating and what there is isn't real comfortable after about 4 hours. Added to that the nasal-searing, eye-burning air quality of the pool house and you've got your very own test of strength and endurance. The great thing about these meets is when your child who has practiced for hours a week for months and months gets into the pool and shows what she has been working on. Olivia and I, as well as, the rest of the family that came out to support Madison, were blown away with how well she is doing. Her swim strokes look really great and she just gets better and better and faster and faster each time out. Madi and her friends all improved on their personal best times and Madi swam in two different events that she'd never swam before in competition. She set new personal records in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. She also swam the 50 yard breaststroke for the first time and finished second in her heat and seventh overall!!! Madi also got to swim in a 200 yard medley relay with three of her friends and that was a lot of fun to watch also. There was a little bit of confusion about that last event since we almost made the fatal mistake of taking the advice of several 10-12 year olds who told Madi that all the relays were over. So, after drying off and walking to the car, Madi ran back in, found out she was, in fact, swimming in the relay and had to throw her cap and goggles back on and jump back in. Yikes! Thanks for all the support from everyone and especially to her family for coming out and putting up with the chlorine, the bleachers and the periods of forced starvation that go along with these meets. Olivia was able to put her telephoto zoom lens to good use during the meet and captured quite a few shots of the action. We got an email that the results from the meet have been posted on Swim Belton's website and the girls got First Place overall and the boys came in second! Can I get a holla! Well, holla or not, we had fun and are super-proud of Madi and her great performance! Here are a few pictures from the event:

~Madison during warm-ups

~Backstroke warm-up

~Madi diving in her second (and best) event of the competition, the breaststroke. Her dives are looking better and better!

Her goggles fell off her eyes, but she ~keep going. *She would have gotten yelled at by the couches if not. They really drill that in - if your goggles come off, KEEP GOING!

~Just after this shot, she smiled at us. Always time for a smile from this sweet one!

~Madi watching one of her friends/teammates swim.

~Jack comforting Madi after her freestyle event. She was bummed about that one.

~Giving Aunt Gennie a wet hug. Aunt Gennie doesn't mind a bit.

~Papa giving Madi some love.

~Getting in position for the backstroke.

~During backstroke

Great job Swim Belton! Great job Madi! We are super proud of you!