Swim

My twins belong to a swim team, the Tiger Sharks.

The Tiger Sharks have been league champions since 2000. That led to my brother's famous declaration, "Break up the Tiger Sharks!"

Their mother is behind their involvement. Summer break is short for kids but long for parents. So in that vein Mom said, "They're not sitting around playing video games all summer!"

That sitting around playing video games thing runs rampant with kids. I know, I've talked to their parents. Plus Mom decided it would be good exercise for our boys, so off they went kicking and screaming.

The boys began this whole thing five years ago. At first when Griffin dove into the pool off of the blocks to start a race the vision of a man falling out of a window from a burning building came to mind.

I used to call it synchronized drowning.

They have morning swim practice as well as evening.  Evening practice begins at 5, morning practice begins at 8. Have you ever tried to get your kids up at 7:30? In summer break? After they've been up all night? When they really don't want to get up?

Difficult is a good word.

Over the years times have changed.

Oh, it's still a hassle getting them out of bed and for five years I've heard Miles say, right around four thirty in the afternoon, "It looks like rain."

But, they've gone from novices to torpedoes.

Griffin and Miles

The ribbons have gone from fifth place to third place to first place ribbons. Miles tears it up in freestyle and butterfly. Griffin is amazing in breast stroke and they both are major forces in the relays.

I grew up in Maryland.

There wasn't an outdoor pool all year round. We had a pool season. Memorial Day to Labor Day. If you were looking for a pool in November? It was indoors and it had a vague smell of feet.

What it didn't have was a vague smell of me because I never went there.

So when we moved to Florida we found out there are pools all over the place. We even swim on Christmas. I have. Water polo and swim team make big sense here.

As for my sons, the tummies are gone, the baby fat is gone, and what is coming to the forefront are lean mean fighting machines.

They're twelve now, they've expressed interest in other sports, baseball, soccer, basketball. I think those sports are on the horizon.

But for now?

Torpedoes.

#MarkMcEwen
Subscribe to my blog: Mark McEwen's World
Follow me on twitter: @mcewenmark
Like my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/markmcewensworld
And also visit my website: www.markmcewen.com