Fun Times at the Pool

I hope that all of you got out there to enjoy the sun and beautiful warm temperatures we enjoyed on the long weekend.

Once again, I missed the Pride Parade (for years, I've wanted to go down and photograph... but something always seems to keep me in the west end of the city) - this year it was to enjoy an outdoor swim in Milton.

Rotary Park in Milton is a lovely outdoor 25m pool.  I always manage to make friends when I'm there (or anywhere else for that matter... LOL) and yesterday was no exception.

As I finished off my swim workout, I made friends with a little girl named Julia (7 years old) - who was there with her daddy (Klaus).  This little girl was amazing to watch.  Her swimming still looked more like paddling and she couldn't do a whole length but she was determined to try!  She was practicing flip turns.  Now, personally I can't do them and have only tried a couple of times but (after much reading up on the subject) I was able to help her time her somersault in order to get the wall push-off and glide. 

This little girl practiced and practiced and whenever I managed to suggest a tidbit that might help her, within 3 tries she would get it - and execute!  According to a coaching source, kids are notorious for this.  I still think she is a superstar.  I gave her a HUGE high-5 after that :)  If only I could pick things up that quickly - LOL!!

I figured she'd be tired but no - she wanted to RACE!  It was SO much fun to just play with her in the water and 'race' various things like - kicking on the back with no hands - kicking on the front with no hands - breaststroke... (ok, so I waited for her and slowed myself down so she had a chance to win...) but she was such a joy to behold!

I hope that I see my new little friend again when I am at Rotary Park.  It's great for us adults to remember to play in the water :)

Life is short - enjoy every moment!

Welland Races This Weekend! Who's Racing??

This weekend, Welland will be hosting the array of races put on by Multisport.

Although I cannot race as originally planned, I will be there with my giant zoom lens in hand, ready to capture the smiling, grimacing and sweating faces of the athletes as they do their thing.

In honour of their accomplishments, I've baked my 100-Mile Chocolate Cake (rich and dark chocolate fudge chiffon cake topped with Belgian chocolate ganache...) I'm sure more than a few race finishers will enjoy a slab of that after their efforts  - photography doesn't burn off the same amount of calories so I'll be eating an apple...   :)

If you are planning to be in Welland this upcoming weekend, look for me on course and SMILE!!  I'll be the tiny girl wearing Sugoi BC gear (silver-white-red-black) with the big camera lens... cheering LOUDLY!!

Happy racing everyone!!

- Sue