The ranks of my daughter’s swim team had swelled rendering fitting everyone in at their home pool a daunting task of scheduling. To make it a little easier they scheduled my girls at another fairly local school. Unfortunately they don’t maintain the heat on a daily basis so the pool is cold. To illustrate, if you’ve ever been in the bleachers of a high school pool, at this school, it helps to have a fleece pullover or a jacket. An average temp at a normal pool is 83-85 degrees (F)… When I say the water is cold in that pool, it’s cold.

Last week, it was particularly brutal outside so that meant inside was even worse. Normal practice lasts, for the younger kids, an hour and an hour and a half for the elder group. The young kids’ practice was cut to 45 minutes but the older kids kept at it. With maybe 15-20 minutes left, Bella complained that it was too cold. My wife explained that if she tried to swim faster she might be a little more comfortable.

The coaches were sending the kids off in waves of four, two by two, off of the blocks and for the first time ever Bella pulled away from the other kids. On seeing this unfold and her finish the 50 well ahead of the three others, I went down, gave her a hug and told her what a great job she’d done. To prove it wasn’t a fluke, she did it again. And again. We took her out for the dinner of her choice and made quite a big to-do over her effort.

Her next practice, at the home pool, she kept it going in much better conditions. She’s turned a corner. Taken her swimming to a whole new level she thought was out of her reach.

All over a swim in some ugly conditions.