Swimming Update

We had our last swimming lesson of 2012 today!  Both kids have done so great this year, even when the pool was so cold they came out with blue lips.  I just love the Wichita Swim Club, and what I have loved even more is that for some reason our time slot that we've picked has hardly any kids in it, so both Jayden and Willow were in classes by themselves for the majority of the time.  So if you ask what time we are swimming, I might just lie about it to keep it that way.  :)

Jayden started out the year in Level 3, which he quickly passed in 1 session and has spent the rest of the time in Level 4a, where besides backstroke and freestyle, he had to put together his dolphin kick with the butterfly arms and learn both breast stroke arms and kick.  Because he is the only kid in his class, he doesn't get as many breaks and has to keep swimming and swimming and swimming.  He started complaining about his legs being weak and his head feeling dizzy when he was looking at the bottom of the pool.  So I started making him protein balls (protein powder, peanut butter, oatmeal, honey, flaxseed, coconut oil) and he eats a bunch of those right before swimming and hasn't complained since.  Poor kid is burning through fuel fast!   Just this week he swam backstroke for 100 meters, when he started he could only do 25.

His butterfly I couldn't get a very good picture of without it looking like he was drowning out in the middle of the pool.  It is still by far the hardest of the 4 strokes for him, but he can almost make it the length of the pool without stopping.
I guess he's a bit of a natural at breaststroke, at least that's what they told me.  He's been working on his arms and kick separately this whole time, but earlier this month his teacher had him put the two together to see what would happen, and he swam the length of the pool.  So, I guess that one just clicked or something. :)

It has been really fun to watch Jayden work so hard and get better.  And all his hard work paid off today when he was handed his certificate and he had all his skills checked off.  So starting in January he will be in Level 4b, where they get this snorkel thing so they can keep their heads in the water while working on their strokes.  Jayden's a tad bit nervous about the snorkel so I told him we'd buy it before he started in lessons again and he could practice breathing through it in the bathtub.  :)

Willow started the year out in Level 3 and will continue to be in Level 3.  At this point, I'm pretty sure we are just waiting for her motor skills to catch up.  She has mastered everything except for freestyle arms.  She gets one of her arms really big out of the water and the other one looks more like a chicken wing.  :)  It's pretty hilarious, but she loves swimming so she just keep going.  She is so fun to watch and never complains about the temperature of the water, but she never turns down finishing her lesson in the smaller, 10-15 degree warmer pool.  :)