Journeys›Photograph

Sunny Saturday Swim Meet in San Francisco

·San Francisco, California·#summer#bay area#swimming#kids#swim-meet
Two children in swimsuits hold hands; the middle child, with text on her back, also holds an adult's hand.

Swim meet Saturday. The Penguins host their meets at their own pool on Saturdays, and this one landed on a hot one — tents crammed along the deck, the East Bay Swim League set-up with lane flags strung across and the red starting blocks stenciled PENGUINS.

The team runs from four-year-olds up to eighteen, and the small end of that range is the best part. Every little swimmer had a name and event list Sharpied on the arm — 10 free, fly — so the teenage coaches in yellow SSC shirts could sort them into the right lanes. There was a lot of sorting. A whole cluster of kids in caps and goggles behind the blocks, most of them barely taller than the blocks themselves.

Ours came away with a Heat Winner ribbon and held it up under the shade tent, goggles still on, next to the little one in the pink sun hat. The ribbon went up like a trophy. Season runs into mid-July, so there are more of these coming.

Two children in swimsuits and caps hold hands, led by an adult on the right, on a paved surface.A group of people stand around an outdoor swimming pool with starting blocks and tents under a clear sky.Children and adults stand by a six-lane outdoor swimming pool with starting blocks and numbered flags.Two children, one in swim gear holding a 'Heat Winner' ribbon, and another in a pink hat, pose outdoors.Two young girls pose outdoors; one in a swim cap holds a 'Heat Winner' ribbon, the other wears a pink hat.A group of children in swimsuits and adults stands by a swimming pool with starting blocks under tents.Numerous adults and children, some in swimsuits, gather around a pool with red starting blocks under a blue canopy.Children and adults gather around red 'Penguins' starting blocks next to an outdoor swimming pool.

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