Go Fo-Jo!

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I was at Allison's first swim meet (Fonda-Johnstown against Glens Falls) and was so proud to see her tremendous improvement since last year and also her drive and commitment. My child swam the 500 freestyle. Understand that the pool is 25 yards. the 500 is 20 laps. 20 LAPS! I could do 20 laps if we spread it out over a few days. To see her swimming that kind of endurance challenge, under competitive circumstances, just blew me away. Immediately following the 500, she was leg four of a 200 relay, meaning each girl had to swim two laps. Two laps is OK, but doing it after swimming 20 laps is mind boggling to me. As you can see, I am quite proud. The reason I do not have photos is because I was acting in the capacity of an official timer. That's right, yours truly was pulled from the stands to help out because each lane needs a dedicated timer. They put the new volunteers (me) on the outside lanes, where the novice competitors generally land. This way no mistakes should be made in the center lanes where the faster girls are swimming, possibly with a close outcome. This turned out to be a really good plan, because I, as an official timekeeper, failed. At some point during the meet, I started to have a little bit of a low blood sugar. Not terribly low, just enough of a low to make me realize (after zoning out for a few moments) that I probably should grab some kind of snack and suspend my pump for a bit. Not a really big deal under nomal circumstances, just diabetes management as it happens every day. Except the zoning out I did occurred during a competition event. And when the official approached me and asked for the time for the girl in lane 6, my response was "There was no one in lane 6. Oh. Yes there was. Shit." In the process of enjoying my daughter's swimming finesse and the whole pool scene/excitement of competition, I completely zoned out and forgot that Lane 6 was my responsibility. I was just watching the event and taking it all in. Having a great time. Go Jen. My embarassment was palpable. But apparently, this happens all the time (according to the official who assured me it was OK, he had done it a number of times over the course of his 20 year career as a ref. I chose to believe him and not assume he was just being incredibly gracious.) I took a quick break (during an event in which I really didn't have anyone in Lane 6) and grabbed my glucose tabs, popped a few and headed back to the starting position for the next event. For the rest of the meet, I was the epitomy of efficiency and accuracy. I was the Michael Phelps of timekeeping. Focused, energized and dead-on. Too late for the girl in Lane 6, but I tried. Counting the laps, hitting start, stop and reset, recording the times and being "in the moment" is very difficult for me during a low blood sugar episode, but I managed to pull it off without further incident. I also think I may have secured my status as someone who won't be asked again to help officiate. This may work in my favor. Congratulations Allison. I am so proud of you! If anyone asks why the girl in Lane 6 had no recorded time, you can pretend you don't know me. I get it. :)