The swim culture is huge in this tiny pocket of California, but never more so than the first weekend of August.
Every minivan and SUV in town is decked out with war paint. Cars are covered with messages like "Eat my bubbles!!!!" "Rock the blocks!!!!" and "Make waves!!!" I'm pretty sure Lamorinda exceeds its quota of exclamation points for the entire year, but that's not all... these same vans have even more action going on on the roof. Their ski racks are adorned with wooden shark fins, inflatable alligator rafts, and cardboard piranhas. And inside these cars?
Two thousand kids from two small towns (our town and the next town over), all converging on our high school for the annual three-day swim championship.
This just so happens to coincide with a certain daddy's annual boys' trip to Las Vegas, leaving a certain mommy to navigate this madness all by herself. Don't get me wrong, I love swim mania, but when you can't park within a mile of the swim facility and have to take a shuttle bus to the pool, all while lugging three kids, a folding chair, a swim bag, towels, a cooler, and a (required) potluck dish, it starts to feel a little crazy.
Luckily, this year, I got to shed one kid early on the first day, thanks to a very helpful Grandma Cecchin, who took Molly off my hands for both Saturday and Sunday!! Instead of shepherding three kids through the crowds without losing goggles, towels, swim caps, or actual children (all of which happened last year), I got to enjoy a relatively calm championship. We still lost a pair of goggles, and I did almost lose my sanity while negotiating with a five year-old over whether or not she could purchase a $10 spray-on tattoo. But I managed to document the chaos, which I definitely would not have been able to do with Molly on my hip, which is where she most often wants to be these days!
This year, we had two swimmers in the mix, both at the bottom of their age groups, making it more challenging to make the finals like Joey did last year. But Clara was as unfazed as ever, even by the massive crowds, and Joey managed to eke out two first place finishes in his heats -- in freestyle and breaststroke -- and then a second place finish in his heat in backstroke on Sunday.
But the big surprise came from our lackadaisical swimmer, Clara, who after emerging from her freestyle swim on Saturday, asked with a big smile on her face, "Wait, was that a race or a practice?" I'm not sure how she could have missed the hundreds of spectators, but at that point, I wasn't expecting much from her next race the next day, this time in backstroke. I should have known she would have chosen that moment to surprise me! In a field of 11 swimmers, and swimming in lane 11, the furthest away from my seat, she launched herself off the wall, took the lead, and kept it for the entire length of the pool. She looked like a real racer, and I had to squint my eyes to make sure it was really her! She shaved ten seconds off her previous time, and earned a necklace for popping her time, and a tattoo for being a heat winner. Who knew that swim tchotchkes were her love language?? I'm not sure I've ever seen her happier or more proud of herself!
Clara got style points for her new take on a dive...
... while Joey rocked the blocks with his first-ever use of a swim cap. No, they're not just for girls!
These pictures sum up the rest of the meet... lots of splashing, buzzers sounding, cheering, and ice cream and hot chocolate treats for tired, happy swimmers!
The kids are as cute as ever in the water, and I continue to be completely amazed by their ability in the water. While they probably don't have the makings of future Olympians, they are still "the bomb.com!!!!" in my book... at least according to my car!
