Swim Carnival

Athletic competitions are called carnivals here.  At the end of each school year my kids have a Swim Carnival.  Last year, having only been in-country for four months, I wasn't aware of this nomenclature, so when I was told Isaac had a swim carnival, I thought it was water slides or something.  I didn't think it was an event for parents to attend.   So I didn't.  Isaac was the only kid at the carnival without a parent.  Terrible mom moment. 

This year, I was READY.  Both kids had a swim carnival on the same day, Isaac at 9:00, Ruth at 12:00.  And I had to work. But I was GOING to be there.  Luckily I had an exam marking day at school so no time-sensitive duties.  My head of senior school generously said I could just come into work after the 9:00 carnival.

The school is divided into three houses, Herzl, Weizmann and Szold.  The first three finishers in each heat earn house points, just like in Harry Potter.  Isaac and Ruth are in Szold.

Isaac swam great.  He won third in his heat for backstroke, and second in his heat for freestyle (interestingly, not called the Australian crawl here).  I thought he should have won freestyle, but you can judge for yourself.  Isaac is in the dark blue swim cap.  The kid who "won" is to his right.

Highly suspicious, no?  But moving on . . . below is him swimming backstroke.

And the fruits of his efforts:

Drove back to work at 10.  Left work to return to the kids' school again at 11:45 for Ruth's carnival.

Ruth finished both her races, which for her was a great accomplishment.  No ribbons other than the "Well Done" ribbon which she lost later in the day at gymnastics, but which the awesome pool staff replaced for her when we went searching for it..

Here's Ruth swimming backstroke . . .

And freestyle . . .

Back to work at 12:45.  Back to pick up the kids at 3:45.  Next year I just take the day off.