I remember the 1972 Olympics. Yeah, I know, I am dating myself. I dreamed for four years afterwards that I wanted to grow up to be a combination of Mark Spitz and Olga Korbut.  Oh the Olympics.  I love to watch the rarely televised sports.  I remember something about every Olympics.  In 1976 I was with my family visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Virginia.  In 1992 and 1996 I remember watching from the bar as I worked.

Today we had the Olympics on the TV as we were getting some chores done around the house after the early swim meet.  The boys were ok with the volleyball that was on but when a highlight of swimming came on the kids oooohed and ahhhhed.  Ryan declared loudly, I will swim that well someday!!  I told him he could but it takes a ton of hard work.  He was tickled that one of the top American swimmers name is Ryan.  Aaron was transfixed as well and said, in an awed voice, will I ever do butterfly like that?  I said he might if he kept with it.

Today we went to the A champs.  It was a tough meet for us.  The boys had to wait three hours between events and it drove them crazy.  They are used to meets where they swim and about thirty to forty five minutes later they swim again.  It was hot even though we were in the shade.  The meet was HUGE.  It had Ryan’s sensory issues all kicked off.  Both boys were bored and didn’t want to do anything they brought.  They were intent on whining as loud and as long as they could, and fighting.  I had half a mind to leave but I was the parent of half of the eight and under relay.  I was working on two and a half hours sleep.  Yeah, I think it was the worst conditions we could of been under.

For Aaron it was a tough meet.  He disqualified the medley relay by swimming the wrong stroke.  He was supposed to swim breaststroke and he swam freestyle. WHOOPS.  He did well in the free relay but even then his attention was not on the pool.  If this had been the season last winter, Ryan would of swam terribly.  He had to wait in a long crowded gang to swim, the extreme heat, all of it would have really set him up to swim badly.  Instead Ryan swam like his feet were on fire. He had a relaxed powerful stroke that miraculously matured by leaps and bounds this summer. His attention was on the pool, not the crowd, the weather, or anything else that would distract him in the past.  Our relay did not do well but Ryan gained on the frontrunners even though he was so far behind to begin with.  The fact he could pay attention after the hellish wait, the crowds which are just so hard for him, and all the other adversities had me beaming with pride.  Today he saw the A swimmers in our region and what he could attain.  He can watch his namesake on TV and see where swimming goes for a special few.

I can’t wait to sit with the boys and watch the Olympic swimming.  Dream big kids the sky is the limit in anything you do.