On Saturday, April 9th, Madi participated in the "Long Course Kickoff" swim meet with her club swim team, Swim Belton. This was her first ever long course meet as well as her first time swimming at the University of Texas' Swim Center.
The location was actually called the "Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center". The building was really nice and as the crowd wasn't all that large we were able to sit right in the middle of the stands on the lower level. This was a treat for the family since we are normally forced to sit or stand at the very end of the pool or maybe scrunch into metal bleachers for hours on end. Instead, we had fairly comfortable stadium seats and two jumbotrons that showed the event taking place and the swimmers by name and club, as well as, split times and final times for the event. Pretty cool!
The 'Madster" getting her warm up on.
Nervous as usual before the start.
Making some last minute adjustments before her first event.
Well, we knew someday we'd see her name in lights!
Hard to see in this one but, she's on her mark on the block for her first event...
The buzzer sounds and she's off, slightly behind the girl in lane 6 it seems. You can see swimmers from the previous heat still in the water. They climb out right after the next heat starts.
Fuzzy picture, but it was a pretty good looking dive...
While Madi starts her underwater kick for the 100 breaststroke, the girls from the other heat get out as coaches look on.
Still underwater; this is what having a high-speed action setting and telephoto lens on your camera will give you...lots of pictures of something that only took a second or two to happen in real life. Pretty cool for capturing your kid's swim meet, though!
And away she goes! Madi has opted for the ear flapper look in this event. Maybe it helps her head to cut through the water or keeps her centered in her lane? We always joke with her about leaving her ears "hangin' out", but really, whatever works for her is fine with us.
It's a long way back to the wall in the 50 meter pool!
Madi's next event was the 50m backstroke.
The breaststroke is not her favorite stroke {though it use to be, but she's "over it now"}and especially not in a strange pool. Here she is getting ready on her start.
One thing that hurts here is for the girls who don't have the upside-down underwater, dolphin-kick thing down for the start of the backstroke. See how Madi's already swinging her arms and the girl next to her is still under, going pretty fast. It looks like one of Madi's teammates at the top of the picture is having the same difficulty.
The girl next to Madi is out of the water now, but her start gives her an edge for the rest of the way. Gotta practice that for next time!
Madi said later that she splashed a lot of water into her face and choked a little in this event. It sure wasn't noticeable from the stands and her technique has really gotten so good! She shaved off time in every event in this meet. Way to go, Mads!
Here Madi is starting out for her third and final event, the 100m freestyle. She looks to be beating the girl next to her in lane seven off the block but, let’s hope she's not diving too deep and giving up some momentum...
This is one stroke where Madi has had mixed success in her techniques. Her arm technique has improved big time over the past year; therefore she looks super smooth above the water. She even takes multiple strokes between breaths to increase speed...
The only thing that can really still use a little work is her kick. She relies so much on her arms and shoulders to pull her body through the water and she needs to use her legs to really drive herself like a propeller. Nonetheless, Madi managed to drop a full two seconds from her best time!
One of the other club team's coaches is pictured here with a great quote on swimming, competing and life in general. This is the message that we encourage Madi to keep in mind at her meets. It doesn't matter whether you win any of your events or even any of the heats you are in, just that you did your best each time. She gets better and better every meet and we couldn't be prouder of her!
Thank you Mom & Dad for taking the day to drive to Austin and attend this meet! It really means a lot to have you guys there, cheering Madi on!
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