Swimming lessons

The girls have been taking swimming lessons all fall and winter (except between sessions). C6 has risen from Beginners II, Beginners III, and is now in Advanced Beginners. Q4 was initially placed in Beginners I, but was dropped (sensibly) back down to Beginners I for 4s and then Beginners II for 4s.

So this past Saturday was the last lesson of this session. Q4 passed out of Beginners II for 4s and was placed in Beginners I (admittedly, there was nowhere else to go, but let's not focus on that particular aspect of it). C6, however, did not pass Advanced Beginners and into Intermediate. If she had, actually, I would have been quite concerned. She is a flailing mess in the water. Her report card said the areas she needed to practice were the front crawl and the back crawl. The two biggies of that class. I saw her dive, however, and that needs work, too.

C6 was kind of droopy after not moving up to a new level. Sad. Disappointed. A little dejected. Frankly, I'm impressed that she's in Advanced Beginners already. I had to share with her that I'm sure I took Beginners at least 3 times (er, I remember "cheating" on my test one year in mud pond. I didn't pass), and Advanced Beginners -- who knows how many times I was held back at that level. Swimming was never something I was particularly good at. I think knowing that made her feel a little better, or at least a little less like a failure.

But I've been getting better. As C6 and Q4 take their lessons I've been swimming. Back and forth, back and forth. I don't go fast, and who knows what my form looks like (I got some tips today from someone who was on her HS swim team), but I do feel more confident about my strokes and ability to make it across the pool.

So this summer we'll get a lot of practice at the pool and all be that much better.