Pride

She scored a podium finish at her first short course swim meet. I'm proud of her. Not for her performance in the event itself, but to see her rewarded for persistence and training. She spent many years in swim lessons working on stroke mechanics. She swam long course over the summer, building up her endurance and perfecting her technique to avoid disqualification. Since starting short course earlier this month, she's spent more time in the pool doing both sprint and endurance training. There's no doubt that running cross country, playing soccer and taking dance lessons have helped with her athleticism (I'll not call it physicality or explosiveness) in the pool. But in 6 months training, she's gone from never having swum competitively to a podium finish. The pride I feel in her isn't in her finish, as much as it is in the strong start to her journey.