Spitz. Phelps. McGuirk?

Bode had a swim meet last weekend, and he put in a performance for the ages.  Sort of.  The meet, admittingly, was not a large one.  "A great meet for early swimmers" is how it was described.  Still, there were other kids swimming in Bode's age group in all the events.  To spoil the ending, Bode earned three first-places, and likely would have had a fourth one had he not been DQed :-)  The first event of the day was the 25-yard butterfly.  Here's Bode getting ready to swim.

Note the boy next to him--slightly taller and older.  The heats were not done by age, but rather qualifying time.  Bode was near the top in all his events, so he was swimming against the older boys.  I tell you this because in the video, it's obvious he doesn't win the heat, but the boy in the lane next to him was 10.  Thus, Bode had the best time for a 9-year old.

Next up was the 50-yard backstroke.  Here's Bode's start

I thought he might have been DQed on his turn, but I think the judge was feeling generous (being a small meet and all).  I was scared when I went to see the results, but was thrilled when I saw Bode's name at the top of the list.

Bode also swam the 100-yard freestyle.  Here he is executing one of his turns.

Bode managed another first in this race as well.

The final event was the 50-yard butterfly.  Bode would have won this one (he was the only 9-year old in the event), but he was DQed due to a bad kick.  When he gets tired, his legs start to come apart which cannot happen.  The other three first-places softened the blow of the DQ :-)  All winners got a first-place trophy, but they only gave one trophy per swimmer, so Bode only got one trophy even though he won three events.  I was outraged and had to be dragged from the pool--do the Olympics do this?  I think not :-)  Here's Bode with his trophy

School is almost out; soon he'll be a 4th grader.  Pleasant day.