Hi everyone! Sorry I haven’t done any blog posts in a really long time, but I will catch up on other things that I have done here in Grenada soon! I am going to write about a super fun event I was super lucky to be part of right now though, The Grenfin Invitational Swim Meet. The swim meet was a really cool experience, one I will never forget. The Sailfish swim club swimmers, coaches, helpers, and parents were all great people and inspirations.
It all started about one and a half weeks before the swim meet. We were asked if we wanted to do a swim meet if we were still in Grenada. We all thought that would be fun but didn’t think that we would still be in Grenada. We decided we would stay in Grenada, so, we would be able to go!
We started going to practice. We had about a week to practice and when we got into the pool for the first time in about a year and a half, it was much harder then I remember. But with Coach Mandy and Coach Deb I was very excited and ready to swim more!
When I first got to the swim meet on Thursday night, I was very excited to start swimming! When we got there we met some more super nice people on the team. There was good music playing as we quickly warmed up. That day we were doing only one event which was the 500 freestyle. The event was 9 and over for the event and since I had no times I was in the same heat as Sally. The 500 was good. We had the first heat so we spent a lot of time cheering with the rest of the team. The swimmers were so dedicated and were sooo fast. I talked and met more people which was fun. Later that evening, we found out that the Sailfish were leading the meet for the first time in 7 years! That was exciting to us all.
Friday night we were going to swim the 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke, and 100 freestyle. But…Friday night was filled with rainstorms with lots of thunder and lightning. We got into our dinghy a few minutes before we were going to be picked up because it was raining hard and thundering and lightning right in the harbor. We got up to the swim meet and before the meet even started, they postponed it. Well, the Sailfish were still leading the Grenfin 2 days in a row. When we got back to our boat, it was still thundering and lightning. We found out that one of the boats in the harbor even got struck by lightning! It was definitely a good call to postpone the meet.
The next morning we woke up early and Coach Deb drove us up for a 7:15 warm up. When we got to the meet, we found out that we would be swimming Friday’s and Saturday’s events. They eliminated 2 events, the 200 back and 200 breaststroke, so there would be time to do both days. We were all warmed up well before the meet started. To start the meet, there was a march around the pool with everyone in their team jackets. It was fun and I will post some pics of that! Next there were announcements. I started off just standing by where we ended with other people, but I was informed that, “You will be old by the time that these people stop talking,” by Coach Mandy. So I sat down and half listened to the ongoing talk about Lucozade, basically gatorade, and all the other sponsors for the meet. After about 5 false ends to the talking, the meet was finally beginning! The little kids swam the 100 freestyle and then it was time for the 9 and over 200 freestyle. Heidi, Sally, and I were all in the same heat. No one else was swimming with us.
So, when the announcer was announcing us, it was, “Heidi Vannini in lane 2 from Sailfish, Lucy Vannini in lane 3 from Sailfish, and Sally Vannini in lane 4 from Sailfish. Well, they are all Vannini’s and they are all Sailfish.” I looked at Heidi and Sally smiling. They both were smiling too. I adjusted my goggles and soon the race began. It ended Heidi first, Lucy second, and Sally third. We had fun doing the rest of the races, talking and laughing with the team, and cheering. By the time that the two days put into one were done it was dark and about 7 at night. It was a long day and soon after we ate dinner, I went to bed, thinking of the fun and swimming that the next day would bring us.
It was Sunday. We still had the lead in the meet, only by about 20 points though. And there was one event that the other team could win 20-30 points. It was the last day and the winner would be determined that day. It was going to be the most competition… I got up, ate breakfast, got swim stuff together, then we left. We decided yesterday that we would warm up on our boat so we didn’t have to wake up so early. But when we got there we warmed up a little more with the little kids on the team. The first thing that I swam was the 200 IM. It is my least favorite event so I was pretty happy it was the first event. After that I swam some more races. The others sailfish events were super exciting. At the end of them everyone on the team was jumping up and down and cheering for them. It always seemed to be less then a second that a least two swimmers ended from each other in the last eats. Grenfin seemed to be getting in the lead but still it seemed very close. We had lunch break. They had all different types of foods there and it was cool to see the differences between their food and the food at swim meets I went to. They had rotis, bake with salt fish or cheese, barbecue with rice and salad, and lots of other good food. After the lunch break, we started going over some of the medals before we finished the meet. There were lots of Grenfin and lots of Sailfish winning prizes but I thought that the Grenfin might be a little ahead still. There was the 100 breaststroke and relay after that. We finished and there were more awards.
Heidi, Sally, and I got changed quickly and headed over to the side where people were getting the medals. About halfway through the medals Coach Mandy came over and told everyone that if the sailfish won that we would run around, act mad, and jump in the water. Heidi said that she would do the running around and acting mad part but she was already changed. I agreed. When the time finally came for saying which team won, everyone was super excited and nervous. The last two teams left were Grenfin and Sailfish. For seven years before this, the Grenfin had always won. The Grenfin started cheering like oo, oo,oo.
“It was super close, only seven points difference,” the announcer said. Everyone fell silent. 7 points was only one race. “The winner for this years Grenfin Invitational goes to….…Sailfish!” The whole team was jumping up and down and cheering like crazy. It was so exciting how happy everyone was. People started jumping in the water. Sally went to change back into her swim suit and I was just about to when Coach Mandy told us, “Go be in the water with your team.” Heidi and I looked at each other then started going to the pool. I jumped in and was greeted with lots of splashes and “you came in!” Heidi was in soon after me. It was so much fun, they had great music playing, everyone was so happy, and hugging each other! It was so so so so much fun! After lots of hugs, congrats, and pictures we headed back.
I am so glad that I got to be part in this super fun event. It was very inspiring to be part of a swim team that everyone was encouraged, super nice, and dedicated. Coach Mandy and Coach Deb were great role models, people to look up to, and amazing both as people and coaches. The swimmers on the team were some of the most welcoming people that I met. Even though we just came and barely met one another, everyone was sure nice and welcomed us to be part of the team. It seemed by the end of the weekend that we had been friends with the rest of the team for a lot longer the just a weekend. The Sailfish Swim Team was a great team filled with amazing people. I would stay in Grenada just so I could be part of this swim team. It was a super great memory, experience, and something I will remember for the rest of my life.