Swimming Update

Sofia is still really enjoying swimming.  She practices 4 days a week and has seen some ups and downs this season.  She had a great 100 yard freestyle race where she really pushed herself and took 8 seconds off her time.  It was a huge accomplishment.  It was a chance for Sofia to push through the mental challenge of feeling tired.  She has been struggling with "what is 100%" effort.  She struggles with pushing herself to the point of discomfort and actually racing versus just swimming laps.  She is also a talker and during practice has had trouble really focusing since she loves to chat with her good friend Cici.  We have spoken to Sofia about focus during practice and from that her friendship with Cici has really grown.  She asked if she could see Cici outside of practice so they would have time to talk outside of the pool.  We love that she is making good friends.  She has had sleepovers at Cici's house and it does seem to make a difference.  Whether that is because they have more time to talk or they both know it won't happen if they are messing around in the pool I'm not sure but either way it seems to be working.  I'm spoken with Sofia's coach about how to get through to Sofia that she needs to push herself to get better and her coach said that she thinks Sofia is a kid who has to fail in order to make that step.  I think she is probably right.  Sofia is going to have to really want to win and not just want it in the abstract.  It will be interesting to watch Sofia for the rest of the season.  She says she wants to make the time cut in order to go to championships but she will have to dig deep to get it.  As a parent it is very difficult to sit on the side lines and watch helplessly when you know your child is capable but just isn't connecting the dots to reach their goal.