Fact versus Fiction

Everybody Safety Dance.

Sigh.

One thing I have always hated about swim season is the way we handle DQ of little kids for false starts. The older swimmers get it. But those 8 & unders... sometimes I think we're giving them PTSD. They false start, and then we make the kid get out of the pool, totally embarrassed, often in tears, and march away in front of everyone back to the team area in shame. I've always thought that there is no real harm in letting the kid swim. A DQ is a DQ, we get that.... but no matter how bad things are, we all just want to participate. And right now I feel like we are all that kid, and 2020 is that mean old NVSL official kicking us out of the pool with no opportunity to participate.

Sigh. 

I've struggled with kicking off the blog this year. I have been challenged to find my motivation. Generally, when I get out out onto the pool deck and see all the swimmers, parents, coaches, and other friends around the pool the energy and excitement of summer swim builds. I think it is that energy that serves as my muse for the blog articles. So, without the swimming, the muse seems to have stayed in hibernation.

Starting is the hard part. You just gotta jump in.
Yes, this is a blogging metaphor. 

The teens are doing great, but don't necessarily love
all the social distance stuff... 

In case you haven't noticed, we have a global pandemic going on. So, not only are we lacking the excitement of summer swim, but we are anchored down by the malaise brought upon us by social distancing and self-isolation. That's where the fact versus fiction comes in. (No, this blog is not about any particular politicians or news networks... I'm going to really try to keep it apolitical. There's enough of that fact vs fiction debate on the cable news.) This is about fictional swim meets. When we first started isolating, I thought about writing a fictional blog that went through a lot of the pre-season and pre-meet analysis that I normally do and then expounding upon the "virtual" meets and results. (Spoiler Alert: we were going to do a LOT better in D2 this year than most people think... yeah, we would have been back next year.) But, the problem was my muse. I couldn't bring myself to start typing away without getting out there on deck and being part of it. So the digital printing press remained quiet. No clicking-clack of the keyboard and no fly photos to post at the end of the blog.

...but I've heard the dad's are all generally fine with it. 

But then... we emerged from the darkest days of swim isolation and made it to Phase 3 of the COVID-19 reopening plan in Virginia. And that meant we could swim! And time. And DQ. But no cheering (because airborne particles). And actually, no spectators at all. (Which is probably good, because if spectators were there, the announcer would have been heckled pretty badly for mispronouncing just about every swimmer's name. He even whiffed on his grandkids, I think. To be fair, the mask should probably take the blame.)

Really taking that "wear your mask" thing to heart!

So, our unofficial time trials kicked off the swim season. An actual, non-fictional, event with Gator swimmers in the pool racing. Monday. July 6th. 8am. I love the smell of chlorine in the morning. Let's do this! 

We've missed a few weeks worth of swim blogs.

We have the luxury of our huge park with space for all the swimmers to spread out and keep good social distance while awaiting the events. We had a very temperate day. It almost felt like a normal MVP summer day. Almost. We did still all wear masks. 

And that means we've been robbed of all those Fly photos.

While not a full team, we had all the age groups represented, with lots of good swims taking place. All of the times were technically unofficial for this meet, since we only had one timer per lane and kept a few official positions vacant to help with social distancing requirements. But all in all it was a good event. It was a swim meet. Not the greatest one we ever had. Not the climactic, drama-laced final meet of the year versus High Point that elevated us into 2nd place in the division last season (and landed us in D2). But yes, it was a meet. Fact.

And we all know that Fly photos are the best swim photos.

There were even results (unofficial) which you can check out here. And lots of pictures that you can see here.

So, since we're blogging again...

It was a good, and needed, spark to the swim season. It's good to belong to a pool where the leaders have worked hard to take the necessary safety steps to enable us to have this little bit of competition and fun in an otherwise challenged summer. (Thanks leaders... you are officially the Gator's of the Week!)

And since we've missed those weeks... 

And it was a needed spark to the summer blog. I think my muse has returned. So, check back for some more blogs in the days and weeks to come. We've got a couple more events planned (a virtual meet and a Green and White B meet coming up... and maybe more). Whatever may come, I'll put together a few of those fictional meet entries, too... just to show you how the season would have likely played out. And to be clear, my plan for these blog entries is not fantasy-fiction, its historical fiction (i.e. based on facts that actually occurred, posed in a realistic scenario, that didn't actually happen). 

We might as well catch up a bit... 

Go Gators. 

And see more of those great Fly photos.