Swim Team Champion

Our "Big E" as Nate now calls him is slowly overcoming a new fear this summer - the swim team! We 'made' him join in June (as all good parents make their children try new stuff); soon finding out practices are 5 days a week for an hour a time with intense swimming the entire 60mts. Yes, he cried - screamed - had stomach aches - pleaded with mommy (not daddy) to please not make him go - made me cry (behind his back of course) - but stuck with it...well, he had no choice with that part! (We are so mean). But after two weeks of practicing strokes he had his first swim meet this past Tuesday. This "ain't for the weak of heart" I realized after sitting in the sun at Sports Com along with about 200 other kids and parents for 5 (yes I said 5) hours of waiting. He swam 4 competitions (I still don't know swim team lingo) that took about 30 seconds (give or take the slowest swimmer) each time. Then we went back and sat and waited and waited and still waited for his next meet (another term - don't know if I'm using it correctly).
I have to tell just one funny story - the first time he got to race he was so nervous; he had been waiting now 2 hours to do this, but the time came and he got up on the block (via pictures you can witness). Well, he started the relay (there were 3 of them on the lane on his team racing the breast stroke). He went down the other end of the pool and the other swimmer jumped over him to start his lap but our little Eli (I guess so eager to help his team winning and for goodness sake he had been waiting two hours to swim) turned around and kept swimming after the kid on his team. Everyone was yelling at first but of course that is futile b/c SWIMMER CAN'T HEAR YOU IN THE WATER! Luckily a time keeper stopped him at the other end before he turned around and swam another lap. Yes, they were disqualified (oh yeah - they disqualify you over a kick rather then a frog foot - I made those terms up, cute huh?) He didn't quite realize what happened. Luckily he did better after that one.
So, he ended up helping his team come in second place for two races he was in "relays for the butterly" and Nate tells me the butterfly is the hardest stroke to do.
After he got his ribbons this week (AKA - why we took the picture of him cheezing with them) he has a changed attitude of swim team. Does he love it yet? NO! But he doesn't cry anymore - that's a big improvement.
p.s. After a practice this week he and Ian JUMPED OFF THE HIGH DIVE! Yes, IAN JUMPED OFF THAT THING. Both Nate and I were shocked as I admitted to them I would still not jump off that thing!