Journeys›Photograph

A Summer Saturday at the Swim Meet

·Lafayette, California·#summer#bay area#swimming#kids#swim-meet
A child in a yellow swim cap and an adult coach stand by a pool, with the coach raising a hand.

It was a bright, hot mid-August day somewhere in the Bay Area, the kind perfect for a swim meet. The water in the pool was a startling, chemical blue under the direct sun. I spent some time watching one of the coaches with a young swimmer in a bright yellow cap. He knelt down to her level, giving focused, last-minute instructions, pointing down the length of the lane she was about to race in. She listened intently before climbing onto the starting block. It’s a familiar scene of concentrated quiet just before the explosion of a race.

So much of a swim meet, though, is spent waiting. Away from the main action, rows of kids sat in folding chairs, organized by event and heat. In their colorful caps and suits, they waited for their few minutes of intense effort in the water. There's a particular kind of patient energy to these staging areas, a mix of nervous anticipation and boredom that defines so much of youth sports.

Two adults and a child in a swimsuit stand by a bright blue swimming pool with tents and a hill in the background.A child in a swim cap stands beside a pool with two adults, blue tents and distant hills under a sunny sky.A young swimmer stands at a pool edge with an adult beside them, facing swim lanes and blue tents.A child in a swimsuit and an adult with a raised hand stand by a pool with blue lane lines and tents.Young swimmers in colorful caps and swimsuits sit in rows of black chairs outdoors, some looking at the camera.Young swimmers in swimsuits and caps sit in rows of chairs, an orange safety barrier visible in the foreground.A young girl in a blue and yellow swimsuit and yellow cap smiles while sitting with other children.Several children in swimsuits and caps sit in black folding chairs, one in front smiling.

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