This week was the annual swimming carnival (I still have to say “gala” – sorry). Last year it was not a full on gala due to there still being covid restrictions – ugh, spit!!!. No more mention of that. Promise. This year the weather seemed changeable and that is exactly how it turned out. Rain to begin then a fair amount of sun with the odd clouds. But it all went ahead as planned and the kids were excited to be back at the wonderful Drummoyne Swimming Centre. An historical Olympic sized pool. It is just over three years since Dani’s first experience of this event. And here are two photos to compare, now and then…

Dani now (2023)

Dani back in 2020

He hardly seems to have grown LOL. But of course he has…

So, how did he do? Well, he came 7th (out of 8) in the freestyle race. That sounds bad but the winner was well ahead of the pack and the eighth placed swimmer was well behind. there really was only a few seconds between 2nd and 7th places. But he was disappointed. Understandably I guess.

He missed the backstroke – don’t ask how! Obviously not paying attention to the announcements. It does get chaotic at times but still… So, he tried to make amends in the breaststroke competition. He actually did quite well. Again the winner was way out in front and there was not much between 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Hardly anything between 3rd and 4th. Dani finished 4th but I honestly think he could have finished 3rd if he hadn’t spent part of the final 20 metres looking around at the other competitors. Not really a problem as now he has seen the footage he knows he can improve. That’s the main thing to take away from this day. He was a lot happier after his effort in the breaststroke.

Just for context, Dani clocked just over 1 minute (62 seconds) for the 50m freestyle. Not very good but not bad. Yet the school record for that event for that age group is just under 37 seconds! Now that is a bloody good time. As if that is not good enough, the girl’s record for that age group is even better at just over 33 seconds! Incredible eh?

Anyway, here is a quick video – mostly a series of photos taken from the opposite side of the pool – with footage of his two races. Apologies up front, as for some reason the quality is not good. Not sure why, but take a look. Enjoy…