The newest Wahoo from Casa Doyle
We are so proud of her!
We are halfway through the swim season and our swimmers are improving their strokes and their times, making new friends and learning to be good sports.
Chris and I both love swimming as a sport for our girls. Chris loves the individual-effort-for-a-team aspect of it and I love it because it was my favorite sport growing up. To say that I was not a star swimmer is an understatement. I was queen of the participation award although one summer, I won the Team Spirit Award for cheering loudly and for some clever signs I made. I definitely wasn't the one taking home the blue ribbons or breaking pool records (I left that to my little sis') but I was at practice every single day and swam my heart out at every meet.
At Madeleine's recent sports banquet, her coach, Tom Walsh, observed, "Athletics is a never-ending lesson in how we handle defeat". How true. I never want my girls to be so afraid of failure that they quit or refuse to even try. My wish for them is that they have the spirit to get back on the horse over and over until they feel the wind in their hair and travel to places they've never been. I hope they invite their sisters along for the ride, thanking God all the way.
Following are some photos of our swimmers from the last few meets. Enjoy!
Madeleine
Madeleine is an amazing breaststroker
Hands in the ready position
This was a few strokes away from finishing a first place relay for her team
I think this is my favorite action shot
Mia
Flying fairy
Fairy flies again
(I didn't know fairies could swim)
Mia has a great backstroke. Long and fast. Last week, she took first in her heat.
Grace
Grace is waiting on the block in lane 2
One meet later
Her diving form keeps improving.
Grace likes to spend a little time on the lane rope during each race. She sort of checks out the scene, adjusts her goggles and is off again. During one race, we were cheering her on, yelling, "Go G!" She yelled back, "No, call me GiGi!" No time like the middle of a race to request a new nickname!
"I finished Mama!"
COMING SOON:
A Look Behind the Scenes of Swim Stories
Thomas Henry here...I like to swim too, Doyle Girls! I'm not quite as fast you three. I'm a turtle. THD
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures, Alice!! It's been hot here and we can't keep Ceci out of the kiddie pool. Today, she slid down a wet slide (that she didn't realize was wet from the sprinkler) and she flew about 4 feet off the end of it into the grass. She looked at us and we all said "GOOD JOB!!!" She then gave a super big smile. Next time we try out the Doyle super slide, I think she'll be more into it:)
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