Poolside chat - new year, new racing!

[Glittertwins]

Hope this works, am rubbish at this!

Fantastic @itsgettingweird what a fantastic time he has had.

He's doing really well!

I'm so proud of him for just doing any of it!

When he was 11 he was a mess. Struggling with his autism, badly bullied and then was a victim of knife crime (in a school classroom!) that resulted in him having a complete breakdown and wanting to end his life (thank god he couldn't tie knots at this point iyswim?) this was whilst no one really took his physical challenges which were getting worse seriously.

He couldn't go to school after that (did get him in a new one eventually) but loved swimming and wanted to join a club.

He could barely even manage a meet hiding under a towel with ear defenders on.

Then he's dealt with diagnosis of a rare degenerative condition and further reduction of his mobility.

How he's managed to build up resilience and confidence and get to where he is amazes me everyday. The fact he even does what he does amazes me. The fact he's actually doing it well is just a bonus. (Imo!)

But yes his big decision to move from a small town club to a big city one (another massive thing for him) certainly seems to have been a good one.

I just hope he continues to enjoy it because that's all I care about!

Oh my goodness, @itsgettingweird . That’s a hell of a time you’ve both had. I’m so glad that miniweird has found his thing.

You will be so proud of DS (as are we all), but even more so you should be proud of yourself for being the mum he needed to get him there.

Wow @itsgettingweird - that's quite a lot your DS has been through. I'm so glad swimming is so good for him (and that he's good at it).

@itsgettingweird your DS is an inspiration.

We are travelling to regionals but I'm not sure why as DS has been poorly this week and actually collapsed at school earlier in the week. DS and his coach both seem to think it will all be fine.

Good luck to him. Hope he manages and if he's struggling he can always withdraw from some of his less strong events and stick to distance? (Which I get are harder when ill than a sprint 🫣)

Our regionals is next week. Ds is competing. I'm not expecting much 😂 (think he'll be knackered!)

Good luck to anybody swimming Regionals this week. Let's hope all the multi-tank pools stay in the right position and get well soon mini Hellocats.

We have a free weekend. I am hoping for a warm(er) sunny weekend down in Plymouth for the Seniors next week.

It always seems to clash with a football match next-door, which adds to the fun.

Aquatics champs coincided with Spurs v West ham - that was an experience 😂😂

I've got a quiet weekend but ds comes home Sunday so I need to collect him from Gatwick!

@itsgettingweird he’s done so well to get through all that and achieve what he has. His achievements are amazing

@Hellocatshome hope he is feeling better tomorrow and can still get through his events ok

We’ve got regionals too this weekend. Last year’s regionals weren’t great for my younger DS so hoping for a better experience this time round!

DD has her first regionals tomorrow in Winchester! She's 12 age group but not 12 till November. Should be a fab experience for her - she's got the hoodie which is what she was most pleased about 😅

Good luck to her today! Hope she enjoys the experience and wears her hoody with pride

We are SE region too. Best of luck to your DD. Ds is youth age so he races next weekend in High Wycombe (think all paras are?).

Winchester is a lovely pool if you haven't been there. If you park in the park and ride it's really cheap and if you have time between her racing there's a lovely walk into Winchester high street alongside the river. I've done it many a time inbetween watching ds race!

Good luck to your swimmers at regionals.

Good luck to those swimming this weekend. We've got the weekend off. Ours were so early for us, nowhere near ready either.

@itsgettingweird SE region times are so fast! DD qualified for 11 events at counties (Sussex) and got a couple of medals and lots of finals, but that translated into only 3 consideration times and 2 accepted swims at regionals! So proud of her for getting there though . Clubs like Guildford seem to set the pace

We are Hampshire for counties.

But yes the region is fast but it's also a very large region with a vast number of clubs.

Ds is a para swimmer and it's nice it's a large region as that actually means quite a number of paras at events

Hope everyone had a great regionals and enjoyed their racing?

I got DS back last night - very tired but had a great time!

Regionals was actually ok for DS despite being poorly the week before. 4 races, 4 personal bests and an unexpected final. Weekend off this weekend to give the open age group a go.

Yay. That's amazing. Glad he had a good weekend after being off colour during the run up. That should give him confidence in his abilities!

There had been a lot of illness here to. He's done well

itsgettingweird I am so glad that miniweird found his thing, you must be so proud of him, and I am so glad he had a great time. It sounds like he had a rough few years. My DS isn't quite at regional standard, but has done a couple of other meets and has new PBs, which is impressive as he has also had quite a bit of degeneration in his legs (also a para swimmer) and his hip might be popping out. It would be a complete pain if it does as he would then need to stop swimming and do rehab. We are all hoping to avoid it but I think it is looking inevitable.

DS was ill for a week after week 1 of Regionals. He's been back at training since the weekend, but apparently loads were ill at the same time and more are going down with whatever it is this week.

Yeah schools are full of illness atm. There's a sinus type cold that is lingering for ages.

Hope those ill make quick recoveries, and @Hellocatshome well done to your DS, glad it went well for him in the end.

Eldest had one event at regionals, he was just outside his best so a little frustrated as he didn’t get a good start and knows he could have been faster. Younger DS had an amazing weekend with some huge PBs, and three medals including a gold! He’s swimming again this weekend