The TAGS Experience

Maybe it's the 100-plus degree weather, or maybe it's the fact that I don't get as much sleep as I need, but I've been feeling very tired this week, so I'm going to have to pre-date this post to when I should have published it.

Patrick and I went with Natalie to Austin again last Saturday, July 27th so that Natalie could swim in two more races at the TAGS (Texas Age Group Standards) swim meet. She swam in the 100 meter Backstroke and the first (backstroke) leg in the 200 meter Medley Relay. This was a more relaxed trip. We got to Austin by about 3pm and settled into our room. We got to eat a leisurely dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Of course, I got a head injury at the restaurant, but that is another long, embarrassing story that I'll have to relate another time (when I've recovered from the embarrassment).

This first photo is a quick one shot with my iPhone camera. Natalie had just finished swimming in the 100 meter Backstroke. We didn't expect a lot from this race since she was seeded 22nd out of 23 girls going into the race, having qualified by five-hundredths of a second with a time of 1:25.14. She ended up 7th in her heat and the time that flashed on the screen was 1:25.00. We thought she would at least be happy with dropping some time, but she came up to where we were standing and asked us to come down because she "wanted a hug". She was crying when we saw her. Patrick did a great job as usual reassuring her. In the end, the official time was actually 1:24.60. She was happier with that. The time standards get faster when these swimmers turn 11, so one of her goals at this meet was to get faster times so that she would already have "A" times when she turns 11 in a couple of weeks. She didn't get that, but she is so close.

This is a picture of Natalie and her friend Aspen (both in black and red) in Lane 5, before the start of their 200 meter Medley Relay. Natalie swam the first leg (backstroke) and Aspen swam the third leg (butterfly). The other two girls were Jesse (2nd--breaststroke) and Sarah (fourth leg--freestyle) and they were on the other side of the pool. They were seeded fourth out of 24 with a time of 2:33.35. They ended up 7th with a time of 2:33.94. She didn't seem unhappy about this one. In fact, we didn't see her for a while because she was taking a shower in the locker room. We had checked out of our hotel room before coming to the meet, so after her races, we had planned to leave for home. We thought her relay team did a great job. They added time, but really, they dropped in their ranking only because the teams that finished in front of them dropped several seconds off their times.

Hanging out with her friends really makes Natalie feel better. This is a zoomed in photo of her with her friend Jesse and Aspen. She was so far away that I had to zoom a lot with the camera plus zoom in when I edited the photo. She actually did visit us in the stands a few times, but she was with her friends during the rest of the meet.

This is Natalie's (and our) first experience with this big of a meet. I still can't believe that less than a year after starting competitive swimming, she was swimming with the best in the state. She definitely drives herself harder than we can ever drive her. We just hope she continues to enjoy this sport for a long time.