Gators take third place at Championships

Out of twelve competing teams our swim club took third place at championships today, thus marking the end of another swim season. The final swim meet is held at Chabot college's 20 lane pool. The scene is a mad house with hundreds of swimmers participating. The event begins at 7am and finishes around 6pm. Families arrive as early as 6 am to set up camps on the lawn where they can hang out between swim events. It is a long day for all to be sure!

All three of my kids swam four events in each of their different age groups. My husband was a timer and I got to be a Clerk of the Course for the 8-10 Gator boys. Being Clerk of the Course is an all day job and you are on your feet the entire time, tracking down the boys, keeping them in your line of sight, walking them to the staging area where all the swimmers check in and line up to be escorted into the pool deck. Then the Clerk runs to the pool deck with all the towels and swim parkas and waits for the swimmers to emerge from the water. Then the Clerk escorts them back to the campsite only to start the process all over again with the next swim event. I did my job well, no lost little 8 - 10 boys. However, I did manage to loose my own six year old at one point!

The kids had a lot of fun and were very spirited. There was a lot of hair braiding, hair shaving, nailpolishing, and body painting going on...and that was just the boys, now let me tell you what the girls did! Really, the kids had a blast and were very creative in showing unity and team spirit. The relay teams came up with stupid and funny costumes. My eldest son's group painted Super Gator symbols (think superman logo) on their chests with sharpie markers and wore their towels as capes. Others wore wigs and hawaiian shirts and one group even showed up with rubber ducks and floatation devices. Quite the carnival atmosphere...imaginative and very entertaining.

Tomorrow we end the season with a final awards ceremony/pot-luck/dance event to celebrate another great swim season. We all heave a sigh of relief that early morning swim practices and all day swim competitions have come to an end! Yet, at the same time, endings, as always, are sad...we will miss not seeing friends every day at the pool and the unique comeraderie we share. It may be over, but it is never completely over! There is always next year! The Gators will return and they will rule the pool...again!