My Personal Best; Too!

I spent the last few days in Washington State at the Western Sectional Championship Meet at the Kings County Aquatic Center. My son Taylor qualified for sectionals in two events which allowed him to swim 4 events as well as swim time trials. All races count toward best times. I am extremely proud of his accomplishment to get to this event.

He is here with his coach Roger and team mate Jackie Cromer who has been accepted to Texas A&M and will be swimming for them in the fall. She has had a great meet as well. She has come back in a number of finals and we have had the chance to see Olympic Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists and many Olympic trial qualifiers swim at this meet. The competition has been awesome.

Taylor just turned 15 this year and I know he has a great future in swimming if he continues the dedication he has shown at this meet!

He had best times in his, 200 Back, 200 Free, 100 Back, and 100 Fly. The only event that he struggled with was the 1000 Free.

The 200 Back which was a bonus event turned into another sectional time. He swam a 2:01:02. He swam the 100 Back twice, once in the main event and once as a time trial. He had best times in both. He swam a 57:22 in the first swim and a 56:74 in the time trial. He swam the 100 Fly and he swam a best time of 57:98 and his 200 Free was a best time of 1:53:05.

Overall he had a great meet. I am so proud of my two swimmers, and the discipline and dedication it takes to achieve swimming success. Watching this level of competition is humbling for many of these kids. I keep telling Taylor with a 4 second drop in his 100 back (that’s 1 second per 25 yd length) and a 7 second drop in his 200 Back (that’s less than a second per 25 yd length) he would have made the finals. Many of the finalists are 17 and 18 years old. He just turned 15. That gives him sufficient time to get where he wants to be. I know he can if he wants it.

In the meantime I am so proud of where he is now and how he got here - no matter what he chooses to do in the future. This son of mine is AWESOME!

Congratulations on a great meet!

No swimming pools in this money…

Joe Biden has specifically targeted swimming pools as something that the states should not spend OUR stimulus money on at the state level. OK, here’s where we agree, the federal government should not be spending money of ours on swimming pools. Here’s where I disagree.

I am in Tacoma Washington at the Western Sectional Championships swim meet at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. It is the most beautiful swimming facility I have ever been in and I am with about 1000 of my “closest” swimming parents from a number of Western states. It has the capability of hosting any level of swimming including the Olympics. They host the Nationals, Junior Nationals, as well as Division 1 college competitions.

There is no facility that compares to this in Colorado and I would argue is much needed. Here are the facts Joe Biden; it is our money not yours to spend on our needs. Me and another 100 plus families from Colorado flew here and I think Frontier, United, and Southwest Airlines would disagree that a swimming pool should not be built. We are staying in hotel rooms all throughout Tacoma and I would suggest Days Inn, Holiday Inn, Marriott and other hotels would disagree building a pool is a bad deal for the taxpayers. We ate in Olive Garden last night, Subway, and a Pizza joint so far with 4 days to go and I bet if you asked these restaurant owners whether or not a pool should have been built they would support it heartily.

I have been loading up on drinks and snacks at the local Wal-Mart, and have been driving around in an Alamo rental car. I am one parent with a Coach and two swimmers from our team and we will have spent a couple of thousand dollars when all is said and done. At the facility vendors are selling programs, tee shirts, swim wear, and goggles to the tune of thousands of dollars.

If you multiply the number of families that this event has attracted from a half dozen states because of a “swimming pool” I ask you Mr. Vice President; do you think building a swimming pool is still something we shouldn’t do?

You see, a smart a__ like you that has no idea how the economy works should shut your mouth and let us determine what we believe is best for OUR money. You having any control on this economy should scare the death out of every American.

The economy that is created by this “swimming pool” in Tacoma Washington beats any program you could ever come up with. You should ask a swimming parent and this local community if building this world class facility was worth the investment.

Every state would love to have a facility like this if they knew the benefits and didn’t have blow hards like you talking the great sport of swimming down…

My personal best!

As a Dad I have to occasionally brag about my children. I don’t do enough of it but I am so sick over the incompetence of our government that I must focus on the future leaders of our country. My kids are building a solid foundation for a comeback for this great nation!

This past weekend my daughter turned 13 but not before she swam her final State Meet in the 11-12 age group in Fort Collins Colorado. Her results:

• 100 Back 7th overall in the State of Colorado
• 200 Back 7th overall in the State of Colorado
• 200 Free 8th overall in the State of Colorado
• 500 Free 11th overall in the State of Colorado
• 100 Free 18th overall in the State of Colorado
• 50 Back 20th overall in the State of Colorado

These swimmers that make the State meet are to be congratulated just for that honor. Making the top 20 puts them in a special category in itself. Being my daughter that makes me extremely proud and gives me hope for the youth of America; priceless!

Taylor is off to swim in the Sectionals this week where he will compete with some of the best swimmers in this country. I am proud he has qualified and is seeing results of all the hard work he has put into his sport. 5 – 8000 yards of swimming per day is no small feat.

Swimming is a sport of extreme discipline and I am so proud of these two future leaders of this great nation. No matter how each meet turns out, these two children are always my personal best! A Dad’s prayer…