Breast Man

This past weekend we traveled to Tempe, AZ for the Rio Salado Long Course Opener. This was the first time Evan had competed in a long course meet. What's that, you may ask? Meters instead of yards. His eyes got a little wide when he saw the length of the pool (50 meters).

Evan did so great. It was really cool to see that "competitive spirit" because-believe me-it was there. And why wouldn't it be when you are competing for fabulous prizes such as:

This one of a kind gold top hat.

(for winning his heat in the 50m breaststroke)

Not only was it awesome to see Evan embrace/enjoy the competition, it was awesome to see how he could actually *compete* with quite a few of the 10 year-olds. Seeing as how he's only 7 years old and he's competing in a 10-under age group, you can imagine that the odds are against him finishing on the podium. That being said, Evan held his own in the 50 meter breaststroke. He finished 9th overall out of 25 competitors AND earned a qualifying time for the state meet. Just to give you an idea of how close he was to finishing better than 9th place...

6th place finished in 52.03

7th in 52.09

8th in 52.18

9th (Evan) in 52.36

.33 seconds away from 6th place

1st place-5th place were all 10-year olds. There were no other 7 year-olds in the event.

Here's some awesome action shots from the events this weekend. I really do think that I may have a future at Sports Illustrated. Check these out:

Wow. Look at that elbow. Amazing.

Evan's body, which appears to be headless.

Right before banging arm/head into wall during 50m backstroke. OUCH! 

This one might be my favorite. Heil Hitler!

I know what you're thinking, and I'm sorry. I'm just not available at the moment to give you photography lessons. You'll just have to find someone else with the same mad skills that I clearly posses.  

I did manage to get an endearing one, so I'll close with it.

Coach Dad talking to Evan about why he got DQ'd from his 100m backstroke. It was a bit of a bummer because he would have finished 1st in his heat.