Last summer, Dashiell had to be rescued by a coach during every swim meet which was stressful for him and for us. He was never in danger but he was scared that he couldn't make it across the pool so he would grab the rope and never quite managed to really swim any meaningful distance.
So this winter we decided he would take weekly private swim lessons to make this summer more successful. Week after week we fit in a trip to a pool far from our house to meet with a super great instructor who patiently worked with him to get his body horizontal in the water (swimming vertically is rather difficult...). By April he was able to swim across the pool and tread water and his confidence was high.
When swim team started this summer, he jumped in at tryouts with a bundle of confidence and wowed his coaches (who well remembered his frequent rescues from last year). He has been swimming lap after lap at practice this year, looking like a real swimmer.
And tonight, he took the "green band" test at our pool which determines swimming skills good enough to go down the water slide and off the diving board (green is the highest level). He was super confident and indeed, he rocked that test. His giant grin when he finished was the payoff for all those winter months of work. It has been amazing to watch him work so hard and to achieve this goal.
