Active Kids Weekend: An ACT Champion in the Family!!

This week Flash represented her school in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) School Swimming championships.

The carnival serves mostly as a selection for the Australian school sport Nationals to be held in Sydney later this year. Only kids 10 and over can qualify for the Nationals.

 Flash swims in the 9 year old age group and there is only one race available exclusively for that age. …The 50 m freestyle.

Our school didn’t select Flash for most of the other strokes or distances that are available for 10 & under because the 10 year olds have a chance to qualify for the Nationals. I thought that this was fair enough, because I didn’t want Flash to deny another child the opportunity of qualifying for the Nationals by taking their spot....hopefully, she will get her chance next year.  Having said that , they still let her swim her favorite event, the 50m butterfly, even if it was an event for 10 year olds!

It was a very long day to sit on those hard seats. Flash had to miss a day at school…just for two races…. That take about 40sec each to complete, without any possibility of qualifying for the Nationals.

….and Flash really loved it! She was on the edge of her seat, just busting out of her skin for  her chance to race. Because she was only allowed in two races, she really wanted to show them what she could do! Several other parents commented on how enthusiastic she was.

Flash swam personal best times in the free and fly events to win her races. Flash now holds the 9 years 50m free and 10 year 50m fly ACT titles.  I honestly thought the whole thing was a little melodramatic….but flash was happy!

It was great to see that two of Flash’s friends from our swimming club qualified to attend the Nationals. It was fun to cheer them on and feel happy for them! I loved that Flash cheered, supported and celebrated with her friends. She was super excited that they had qualified for the Nationals!

I thought that one of the real highlights of the day was watching a couple of other younger swimmers from our school in the 8 & under age group…it was the first big swim meet for these girls. Having had a little more experience at this swim meet thing…I tried to help the girls and the parents as best I could. It was really wonderful to see the scared, nervous girls conquering their fear, participating in the warm-up and  standing up on those blocks to race. It was really exciting to watch them swim and finish 3^rd and 5^th in the ACT!

…So, Flash has a year to train and improve and next year she will get a crack at qualifying for the National schools swimming championships…..she is excited already!

One of the aims I have for this SportyMummy blog is to create a community of parents interested in sport and a healthy lifestyle for their children.

If your kids have participated in a sport or a fun energetic activity this week, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. You can also comment on the SportyMummy Facebook page. If you have written a blog post about a sport or activity your children have participated in this week, you can add it to the linky tool at the end of this post. It is my hope to create a supportive community that will also motivate others to get involved with an active lifestyle.