This year the kids had the chance to participate in the Utah Summer Games. What a fun experience it has been for them!From going to the opening social...
to marching with the athletes in the Opening Ceremony...
to the spectacular fireworks...
and of course, competing...
This was probably one of the only mid-competition shots that turned out. This is M competing in backstroke. All the other pictures (taken by Steve) were captured with the kids underwater...They all did SO well! We are so proud of them, they all improved their previous times. At the end, we were left with one puzzling question...
How did this girl, who can't even walk a mile, ride her bike for very long, or exert herself physically at ALL
end up with THIS?....
That is 4 GOLD medals and 1 SILVER medal!She was amazing to watch. Her favorite stroke is backstroke, and she was leading the way in the 100 M backstroke by 2/3 of the lenght of the pool. In two of her harder races, the 50 M Butterfly and the 200 M freestyle, she was the only girl in her age group competing, so they put her in a heat with the boys. Even then, she had a significant lead in the pool. She really has surprised us all with her ability to give it all in the pool!
Our next champion, had some tough competition...
and needed some time to realize he should be proud and happy about receiving 1 SILVER medal in the 100 M Butterfly and 1 BRONZE for the 100 M backstroke.
His greatest accomplishment was competing in the 400 M freestyle, by far the longest distance he has ever competed in. He swam a nice steady pace and finished a close 4th. We are SO proud of him!
Our other champion also faced some intense competition, but did well for her first Summer Games
After coming in a close 4th (or 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th) in many of her races, she took home 1 SILVER medal for the 200 M backstroke, 2 BRONZE medals for 50 M backstroke and 100 M backstroke.
Although these kids are definitely champions...
the real "GOOD SPORT" award goes to this one:
...She sat patiently at the poolside for 5-6 hours a day for 3 days, cheering on the other kids!She even managed to snag some medals for herself when the other kids weren't looking.
