You made the cut!

I guess a little bribery goes a long way with an 8 year old.  Back to that in a minute.  We got up early today for day 2 of Spencer's swim meet.  He was swimming in 6 events today, including a 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle.  If he was going to make a Divisional cut, it was going to be in one of these events.  Although, if he didn't make a cut today, there are still 2 more swim meets in the next couple of weeks to complete the cut. 

There is a local mexican restaurant that has a Sunday brunch/buffett that we sometimes attend.  Spencer really likes to go there, especially since we don't do it that often.  Back to the bribery.  I told Spencer this morning before we left that I would take him to Cebolla's (aforementioned mexican joint) if he made one of his Divisional cut times today.  He was excited about the possibility of having his favorite meal after swimming today.  On the flip side, I told him that if he didn't make one of his cuts, he would have to buy lunch.  Now, I had no intention of actually making the boy pay, but it was worth his reaction!

So, fastforward to the swim meet.  His first event was the 50m backstroke.  It's a good event for Spencer, but not quite as good as his 50m freestyle.  We thought he'd do well...and he did.  Not only did he shave over 7 seconds off his personal best, he beat the Divisional cut time by almost a full second!  What a great way to start the day.  Spencer was really excited, as well as Coach Cody.  It seems all the hard work was paying off.  Here's the video from his 50m backstroke.  He placed 1st in his heat and 1st overall for this event.

http://youtu.be/DF1OdWt3dZM

Next up were a couple of 25m events, the butterfly and breaststroke.  He killed it on both of these too, scoring personal best times in both.  Then came the fourth event, his 50m freestyle.  This is the one I had been waiting for all day.  The Divisional cut time was 37.29 seconds and his personal best was 40.32 seconds...he needed to shave over 3 seconds off this personal best to make the cut.  He's been working hard in practice on improving his flip turns and breathing, along with stroke technique. 

He was waiting on deck for his heat and I saw him give me the thumbs up, so I knew he was feeling good about this race.  He got up on the blocks, adjusted his goggles and waited for the starting sound.  The starting horn went off and away he went.  He had a strong stroke, good breathing and made a great flip turn.  After it was all said and done, he finished 2nd in his heat and 2nd overall with a time of 37.26 seconds, just 0.03 seconds faster than the Divisional cut time.  More importantly, he made his Divisional cut time in a second event!  According to his coach, no other Barracuda swimmer (his swim level) has ever made two Divisional cut times.  And all Spencer cared about was the fact that Dad was going to buy lunch today!  Here's the winning race.

http://youtu.be/oVtl01ocuMc

More updates to come in the next few weeks on his progress.