His Best Time Ever: 1:05.76

I downloaded prom and state meet photos this afternoon. I should have written about the state meet weeks ago but a certain DQ slowed progress. By the time I realized the DQ issue would not resolve, Sam was wheezing again and doc appointments distracted from good memories.

Docs have since increased two asthma meds, stabilizing his health -- until his hand was cleated during a round of ultimate Frisbee after school Thursday. I might have ignored the swelling if it weren't for the fact he has one last swim meet next Friday. It's not broken. But I don't know if he'll be swimming next week.

So it's time to relish memories. A lot of family came to GA Tech for Friday night prelims.

Drew, Jess, Nate, Josh

Grandpa (on the phone), mom, Don, Aunt Rara

Aunt Deb and Sam.

Brothers.

Sam had three races during prelims: two relay events and the 100 breast.

He visited us in the stands shortly after the 200 yd medley relay. Back on antibiotics and wheezing a bit, he pulled off his best 50 yd free style time ever: 22.64 sec. He'd wanted to break the 23 sec barrier all season. To achieve it at state was amazing. And the team earned a spot at finals.

After a family celebration in the stands, Sam went back to his team and most of the family went in search of food. Two hours later, we were back to watch his second race.

The second race was good, but not fast enough to advance to finals. Thirty minutes later, we readied for the 100 breast.

I didn't know what to expect. Would he be tired after such a long day? Would he even keep the state time?

He dove into the water and looked strong. And stayed strong. And my excitement grew.

When he hit the wall and I looked at the clock, I saw: 1:05.76. Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable.

Sam swam the 100 breast in March 2011 in 1:06.90. That earned him a state cut for year round swimming. As the fall season cranked up, though, he struggled to come close to that time. He didn't break the 1:08.00 mark until he swam the year round state meet in early December. But even then, he swam it in just under 1:08.00. The week before state, I think he swam it in 1:09.00 or 1:10. 00.

To break the 1:06:00 mark and race his best time that night was simply a gift from God. I don't know why the break through occurred after months of struggle and asthma limitations. But I sure was thankful. And so was Sam.

He placed 38th in the state for the 100 breast. And the following night, at finals, his relay team placed 10th before being DQ'd because one swimmer jumped off .01 seconds too fast. Discrepancies in the officiating left us wondering if the call would be reversed. But it wasn't.  And that's OK.

I'm still thankful for 1:05.76.