I'm a subpar blogger.

Nothing will make sense unless I start from the beginning (which I failed to chronicle on this blog). You see... in true "Classy Chaos" style, I missed swim team tryouts in Chicago and instead appeared at the swim team registration. Even though I was in constant contact with the head coach via email all summer long, somehow "swim team registration" was flagged on my phone while "swim team tryouts" was not. So of course... my child was the only one ready to swim while everyone else was fully dressed for registration, on that one day in August.

It was like a bad dream, the only person in a swimsuit amongst hundreds of fully dressed people. At least my child will have great fodder for therapy!

Luckily for Lola and I, the assistant coach saw the desperate look in my eyes and opened the pool for a private "tryout" while everyone else was registering for the year. "You know, Lola, anyone would be happy to coach you." he said after her first couple of timed laps. "Wow, Lola. You are keeping up with the clock!" he screamed. "You are a really great swimmer but our team has hundreds of kiddos try out. I'll talk to the head coach." he finally said, and paused.

"Hundreds of kiddos?!?" Lola repeated.

"I guess so. Sorry. I had no idea, girlfriend!"

"We will try again next year, right?"

"Totally!"

Fast forward to now.

She made the team (in August)! I received an email (in August) saying: "We'd love for Lola to be a part of our team!"

"But he said hundreds of people tried out."

"And you are one of them that made it on the team!"

Since then, Lola has quickly become one of the powerhouses of the team during competitions. In Illinois. In Michigan. In Indiana. She keeps winning and improving and blowing us away. Each weekend she breaks her own personal best times. We keep asking for her to give us a weekend off for some relaxation; but, no. She's determined, for now, to take the swim world over. One stroke at a time.

100-Freestyle eight and under.

Please send us some cushioned stadium seats. A million thanks to her swim team for giving her an opportunity to try out when tryouts were over. You never know what's coming your way. Go, Lola!!!