Swimming in the Rio

Okay, we're actually swimming in the pool. But it's the Rio Salado meet. (That's Salt River, and yes there is such a river nearby, and no it is not salty, and no we will not swim in it, although you can tube down it, but it helps to be a college student and requires a certain quantity of beer to entice you into that cold water.)

Back to the meet....

And by the way, we're still playing catch up. Because even though we are, in fact, at this very moment, at a swim meet, I wouldn't want you to confuse the Rio Salado meet in Arizona from last April with the meet we are swimming today in San Diego. I'm not really sure why I you need to differentiate between the two, because, quite frankly, they are all pretty much the same.

There's swimming...


And of course, swimming...


Followed by a little bit of swimming...

With a little extra swimming thrown into the mix.

Yes, swimming in the dark. Not recommended, but I do have to admit it is cooler once the sun goes down, even in Arizona. I actually got in trouble after this shot for using a flash because it interferes with the starting mechanism.

One other note (okay, two): the kid in the dark is not Brian, but his friend Cameron. You can tell it's not Brian because Cameron knows where his swim cap is while Brian has absolutely no clue as to the location of his. Also, take note of the location of Brian's goggles in all of the above pictures. Out of the water, on his eyeballs, where they belong. In the water, around his neck, where they are useless, although they do make a rather fetching necklace.

Where to Begin

Well, when you walk away for a week or so, it's kinda hard to get your groove back. To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure where to start. I've got basketball games, birthday parties, trophies, ribbons, state championships, pinewood derby, and a host of crafty stuff to share with you. Because, you see, although I was away from blogger I wasn't exactly sitting on my tushie eating bonbons all day.

I have 726 pictures to offload from my camera. Lucky for you, I'm only going to show you 725 of them. For no particular reason, because it certainly isn't chronological, we will start at the pool.

Arizona Age Group State Championships, Short Course (that means yards instead of meters for the swimspeak illiterate)

Here we have some fine examples of the backstroke. No one particularly related to us, just practicing with the camera on some unsuspecting team mates.

Okay, now here's the little brother making ready for the 50 fly.

just breathe

And here he is again, getting ready to take off on the 50 free. If it seems rather chaotic behind the blocks, that would be because it is. Chaotic, I mean.

Breathing on the 50 free is overated, I say. Don't breathe. Just swim. Really fast.

Disclaimer: I'm not a swim coach. Don't take your coaching tips from me. I don't want anyone passing out in the pool doing lungbusters, so breathe if you must.

Only 713 more pictures to go.

Unseasonably Warm

Yep, that's what they're saying on the news. I'm so sorry if your weather isn't exactly cooperating. You're more than welcome to come visit. Word to the wise--come now. Unseasonably warm in February is downright chilly in June.
Unseasonably warm makes activities like this ever so much more enjoyable. Especially considering this is an outdoor meet.

A little butterfly action...followed by some backstroke...

This kid has a tan even in the dead of winter!
Okay, for brothers and grandparents who care about such details: Brian dropped time in 5 events, deaked in the 50 back for not having a continuous turn (turned too soon; let's just not mention that the flags were moved after warmup, so all stroke counts were rendered invalid, but I'm not bitter), Q time in the 200 IM.

For all you non-swimmers out there, sorry for all the swim speak I just threw at you.

Unseasonably warm. It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow (81) then a cold front is moving in and we'll be dipping down to a chilly 65-70. Brrr!

I'm boasting now, but I'll be griping come July.

Confessions of a Braindead Swim Mom

If you're thinking all we ever do over here is swim and play football, you would be correct. Well, that's what the kids do. I drive. A lot.

So, last week we had another swim meet. Guess what? We have another one next Friday. And probably the next Friday too. And lucky for you, I'll be there with my camera to catch every blessed moment of it.

Confession: Sometimes I can't even tell which one is my kid. At football games they have numbers, so that helps. But when I go back and look at pictures, I usually look at the shoes and socks to verify identity. Unfortunately, in swim, they don't wear shoes or socks as a general rule.
So I'm forced to look at tan lines. This could be Annika, but then again, maybe not.


You would think this is Annika, based on the Radcliffe on her cap and all, but it's not. You know in football they don't allow you to share jerseys. You know why they do that? So the moms can tell which kid is theirs. Swimming oughta have a rule. I'm just sayin'.

This kid? Not a Radcliffe. Nope. Not even close. Those dang Radcliffe kids are everywhere.

Oop, here comes one now. This one is the real deal. Hint for non-family readers: it's the freckles. We're kinda famous for them.

And in he goes.

Here' s Papa Rad doin' what he loves best...yakkin' about sports...on the mike...to anyone who'll listen...

And I'll just keep taking pictures.....

Firebird Swim

Brother and sister moment

talking to Coach Jane



and a few random pics...this is one of the Chaparral divers

and this one just shows how hard it is for an amateur to catch swimmers in action!

A Reason to Drive

Here's why I'm hauling kids all over the Valley of the Sun. So they can do stuff like this...








Keeps my life interesting!