In the swim

The girls train so hard for swimming, usually five times a week including an early morning session, that they, and we, may sometimes wonder why they do it. Today, they/we got an answer as they both won a gold at a big gala at Prestonpans.
Gigi made the finals in three of her four races, winning the 50m freestyle and a fifth and sixth place in breaststroke and backstroke. She got a personal best in all four races and was competing in an under 12 category as a 10 year old.
Kitty won gold for the 100m freestyle and a bronze in the 100m butterfly. She was in the final of the 100m breast stroke too, coming sixth. It's her first gold at this level and to see how chuffed she was, well it was a delight. It was as if she suddently realised that she was actually pretty good at this swimming lark. We have been to many of these events when they have missed out and clapped other children's successes. Today, they were the ones being clapped. (The pen that Kitty is holding is the prize given for those coming fourth to sixth in a final.) It's really an awful picture in many ways, what with the sheet behind Gigi and her medal cropped out, but it was the one that best captured their pleasure before my battery ran out and Kitty rushed off for a sleepover.