Carter was signed up to do the 25 meter freestyle and 25 meter backstroke. The meet started at 9 am and Rylan had his annual checkup at 9:45 am so Carter only had time to do freestyle (I'm not sure I could have coaxed him into doing backstroke anyway).
When we got to the pool (it was a home meet at the Brentwood Y), we asked a random mom to help us figure out what we needed to do and where to go. The Brentwood Y has an enormous team. I'm not sure on the size but there were probably over 100 kids in the 10 and under divisions (the older kids race in the afternoon but have fewer kids).
We got to put Carter's name, "BY" for Brentwood Y, and his age on his back.
Then, on his arm, we had to write the race, heat, and lane number of his races. Since he was only doing freestyle, he only had one race.
Carter did one warmup lap and then joined the other kids in the staging area. He didn't see anyone he really knew so Rylan and I hung out with him. About 10 minutes before each race, the parent volunteers pull the kids for the next race and line them up in order. They then get to sit in the next staging area (in order) where they will then proceed to their race lanes. It's very hectic but organized at the same time. As soon as the last kid is out of the pool from the previous heat, the next one starts. They have to move quickly to fit in all the heats.
The 6 and under boys freestyle was the second race of the morning and Carter was in the 4th heat so he raced close to 9:10 am. He was nervous but actually doing really well at hiding it :) Once Carter lined up, Rylan and I found a spot along the pool to watch Carter's race. Carter was in lane 6 which was on the end.
I filmed his race but please don't listen to it! I was so excited for Carter and cheering for him (which he later told me he couldn't hear) and it's obnoxious on the video!!! (I split the video into 3 parts so it would upload.)
Carter got 2nd in his heat!!! And by less than 2 seconds! He was definitely in a race with the slower kids but who cares! It was his first swim meet! He had a time of 53.7 seconds and overall placed 16 out of 20 when the 5 heats were totaled. I was cheering so obnoxiously because if you win your heat, you get a ribbon. Since Carter is so obsessed with his medals and trophies, I knew he'd be over the moon if he won a heat ribbon - he was so close!!!
Carter was very proud of himself. He was telling people all day that he got second place at his swim meet. He also wanted to show off where we'd written on him.
After Rylan's doctor's appointment, we headed to Sweet CeCe's for Carter's celebratory treat. He ate all but about 2 bites!!!
I am so proud of Carter for doing the swim meet. It was a very scary thing for him but he faced his fear and did it. And he did great too! Last year he couldn't swim at all without floatation so this is some amazing progress.
Last night was the last night of junior swim team. Carter was generally scared to go everyday, but this week he was finally looking forward to it. Before practice last night, he said he was sad that it was the last day. I'm so glad he made Carter stick with it (I felt horrible the first few weeks pushing him to do it when he was crying before and sometimes during practice).
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