After over 6 months out of the pool, the girls joined the swim team at ISA (their school).
It has been nice to see them back in the water. They enjoy competing for their school. They only practice 2 times a week for 1 hour. No dry land. They don't love getting up early in the mornings....practice is at 6am on Mondays and 7am on Tuesdays. On Mondays I drive them, but on Tuesdays they go straight to school from practice and we all ride our bicycles to the pool and then to school.
Don't they look cute? You'd never know they were grumbling the whole time I took the picture : ). The competition level is much lower than what the girls were used to, but that's ok. Many of the kids are swimming on a team for the first time...its more like summer swim league. This has been more about just staying in the water, meeting new friends, and being a part of the school community.
The first swim meet the girls attended was in Brussels, Belgium. In their league, they compete against other international schools. For the age groups in this league, both Grace and Amanda are considered U12. It was based upon their age as of August 31. It is their first time having to compete against each other. Grace won all of her individual events and the girls swam together on a relay and finished first as well. Amanda is pretty much one of the youngest in the age group. She still had top 5 finishes in all of her events.
Grace also swam in another meet in Antwerp, Belgium. She enjoyed riding the team bus in addition to the swimming. Amanda was not able to attend due to a soccer game. Grace again won all of her individual events.
The pictures above were taken by another mom at the swim meet. The swim team has given them a chance to meet people, represent their school, and to help others that are swimming for the first time. The coaches have had them demonstrate strokes, flip turns, etc. for some of other swimmers. We are proud of the girls and appreciate all of the coaches the girls have had at OSSC, Buckeye, and Westerville JC. Without you they wouldn't be the swimmers they are today.
The girls have their championship swim meet in Luxembourg at the end of March. They will travel with the team and we think they will stay overnight in a youth hostel!! There are twin sisters at their school that swim competitively and will swim with our girls for the first time at that meet. Hopefully they will get to all do a relay together. Dave and I will travel there too to watch them. It is about 4 hours away. We'll be sure to post a few pictures after the meet!
