Why are people hitting those swimmers?

I thought I would share this little anecdote for my Friday post. I think it just gives a little glimpse into the innocence of a child’s thoughts….

My daughter at her first swim meet

..The swimming meets my daughters participate include differently abled children. There is something truly inspiring about watching these courageous children swim. No matter what the final result theses children have overcome so much just to be in the pool. The smile on their faces at the end of the race just says it all….and invariably makes me cry. I think it effects many others in the same way because the loudest cheering from the spectators is always for the wonderful efforts of these children.

In my opinion, this is what sport is all about. It’s challenging your self to participate and improve. A chance to show yourself and the world that you can do it….regardless of your ability.

The visually impaired swimmers have a helper that carries a long stick with a soft ball on the end. The helpers touch the swimmer as they are approaching the end of the race so that they know that the wall is coming and when to stop.

At my younger daughters first swimming meet, she was very interested in the differently abled swimmers and enjoyed cheering and supporting them. She also had many, many questions that I answered honestly, to the best of my knowledge. I wanted to ensure that my daughters respected these swimmers and thought of them just like the other competitors. I wanted to make sure that my girls would see the person and not just their disability as this is a topic very close to my heart. (See the post about my son here)

It was at the finish of one of the races where my daughter turned to me in shock and indignation…she said…

“…Mum, why are those people hitting those swimmers on the head…it’s not their fault that they are blind! They don’t deserve to be hit….”

Well, I guess I hasn’t explained the situation as well as I should of to her, that’s for sure!

I don’t mean to be offensive in any way…this is truly what my daughter said. In a way I was glad, at least, that was very concerned for the swimmers. But I was very quick to set her straight on the real use for the ball sticks…..

I'm flogging this post for Flog Your Blog Friday over at With Some Grace .