Thursday, October 2, 2008

I made a 9-year old cry today

I really feel bad. Truly. And actually while I am now thinking of it I made 2 kids cry today (no not my own!).

But I'll stick with the one. I guess kicking backstroke with your arms above your head streamlined is a little harder than I thought. It was only 25 yards.



But apparently she couldn't keep her head above the water and got very scared. I am such an evil coach! Lots of the 2nd and 3rd grade boys couldn't do it either, but apparently they didn't get freaked out.



So I assured her it was okay. That yes I had asked them to do something very hard and, of course, she could always turn on her stomach or go to the side if she felt scared. She was better. We swam one 25 freestyle and I was elated to see most of the kids kept their ears in the water as they rotated to breath! Huge progress!

The rest of the time we worked on starts with some kids having open swim. Then I taught the kids how to tread water so we can play water polo next time.

4 comments:

Ange said...

I didn't know you were coaching! Tell me more! You guys did awesome at teh race by the way! I can't remember if I commented!
I dont' remember our 100 interval times in HS. I bet it was never below 1:20. Seems like we did some of those. In college we had lots of 100s on 1:10. No way could I do it now. In my 100x100 set last year we did some on 1:20 and some on 1:15 and it was basically a continuous swim. I really want to work on this.

Swimming for ME said...

I am so with you on this. It is such an easy way to gauge my improvement. I can almost hold 1:15's but I should hold my tongue before I say that bc I haven't tried in a while.

yes I am coaching! Kerry and I are doing a Nautilus swim session through community services. It is fun and I am learning a lot. Like 9-year olds can't kick on their backs without a kick board. oops!

maria conley said...

Hi Alina, I am not a swimmer. I think if you were coaching me I would probably be crying too (just kidding). Way to go Team Triple Treat you guys rock.

GetBackJoJo said...

You are so mean!! haha.
Cut yourself a break. How could you know? Kicking on your back, streamline doesn't seem hard to me, either! These little guys are your guinea pigs... :) I'm sure your reassurance made it all good. Don't worry. I wish you were my coach!