We all have our strengths and weaknesses and it’s pretty great when you finally identify what those strengths are.  I can’t contain my excitement for Morgan this week.  I’ve been taking her to Lenexa Lazers swim team practices every weekday this summer 8-10 a.m. and attending swim meets every Thursday night.  I love that she makes this commitment as a 14 year old and sets a great example for her siblings.  We could use a little work on limiting phone use, but I’ll take any great examples at this point!  The entire world is glued to their phones, so I’m fighting an uphill battle there.

Morgan’s swim times from meets this summer qualified her to compete in the All-City Championships this past Wednesday.  Only the top three times from each age group and stroke can qualify, so it is truly an honor to even be eligible to compete in this meet against 8 other city teams.

As we pull into the parking lot of Black Bob Bay pool in Olathe KS at 6:45 a.m., I couldn’t be more excited for her.  It’s a total mad house, but I got my chair right up front by the finish and proceeded to sit there for 6 hours to watch my baby girl swim a total of 130 seconds.  I love watching her swim but that is a long time in the blazing sun!  The heat index was probably 95 degrees and there were times that I found myself daydreaming of jumping into the pool to cool off!  I wonder if any spectators have actually gotten delirious and done that at a swim meet!?  That would be hilarious!  The truth is, I would do this time and time again for Morgan because she works very hard.  She’s not always the fastest in the pool but she is a beautiful swimmer and always has a great attitude. Who knows, maybe this strong young lady will swim for the Olathe Northwest Ravens someday!?She swam the backstroke with a qualifying time of 45.5.  She wasn’t able to beat that time and didn’t make it in medal contention (top 8 swimmers), but again, she’s just happy to be there!Next, she swam Butterfly and came in 1st in her heat and 6th overall with a time of 40.58. That’s almost 7 seconds faster than last summer!  Way to go MoMo, you rocked that Butterfly!  There are lot’s of kids that don’t even swim that stroke because of it’s difficulty, and to come in 6th out of 21 swimmers….that’s amazing!  Personal best time and super proud mama.The 200m relay did not turn out as she had hoped, she was the first leg of the swim and there was confusion at the start.  She didn’t realize she was supposed to be swimming until they were nearly half way down the pool already.  So she had to frantically jump in and swim.  oops!  She felt absolutely awful that she had let her team down and so many people had crowded around me, I couldn’t even see her swimming!  Back off crazy swim people – I got there very early to get that spot!  In the end, all of her teammates made her feel better about it and we moved on to the post-meet lunch and awards with smiles.Morgan, I will always love watching you swim.  I will get up super early, I’ll sweat to death, I’ll endure crazy swim parents yelling in my ear, buy expensive swim gear, and I will never ever complain because I’m super proud to be your mom!  You go girl!  

Congrats on a great swim season MoMo!

On a side note, this little swimmer won the John Farmer award at the Lenexa Lazers end of season party!  The award is given to participant who has always shows a positive attitude, has great attendance, works hard every day and is always there to uplift teammates.  She never missed a practice or meet in her first summer swimming on the pre-competitive team.  Twice a week she would come straight from gymnastics.  Way to go Reecie Cups!