Swimming Stories in Seattle

PCS Zone Swimmers

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this summer I attended the Western Zone Age Group Championships that were held in Seattle, Washington. I had a blast with all my friends and in this post I would like to highlight a few of my favorite memories.

After we landed in Seattle and finally got out of the rental car place, each of us were placed into van groups that we would travel with to the hotel and meet every day. I had the best van group ever, and it consisted of my buddies Catherine, Katie, Elise, and Bella. You could say that on the way to the hotel, we got really lost. By really lost, I mean that we went fifty miles in the opposite direction. That was really a great start to the whole trip!

Bella, Elise, Myself, and Catherine

My friend Elise, being the curious person that she is, decided to experiment with Katie’s iPhone. Since Katie’s iPhone had a life proof case on it, Elise wanted to test the depths that the phone could withstand. Thinking that it wouldn’t sink quickly, she plopped Katie’s phone into the dive tank. Within seconds, the phone hit the bottom. Everyone gathered around and stared down in awe. Luckily, Elise got the phone before it exploded!

A lot happened during our van rides to prelims and finals. Bella packed Listerine breath strips in her swim bag, but they had melted together into one due to the heat. So, she decided to put them all in her mouth at one time. For the next couple of hours, whenever you were nearby, her breath was like a minty cloud. At one point, she claimed that she could breathe through her ears.

To pass time, we rocked out to the latest hits while imitating different Vines. Cars passed by us, and the drivers looked at us like we were aliens. I’m surprised that we didn’t cause a car crash.

I met a lot of new people, including this kid named Joshua, except everyone called him Chow (a nickname he clearly deserves). He had a quirky personality, but all he really cared about was food. During our team dinners, he kept going back for more. Chow and his friends were in the hotel room next to us, and every morning he would come out of the elevator complaining that breakfast wasn’t ready. 

For this meet, we wore kneeskins, which take forever to get on. It was a girl party in the locker room, and every couple of minutes you would hear a yelp of joy or cheering, which meant that someone got their suit on. Once your kneeskin was up, it was time to celebrate! To this day, Elise has ripped several kneeskins, including the Arenas, and I don’t know how that’s possible. She truly deserves a giant prize for her efforts.

The boys were going down to hot tub on the final night after the swimmer social, and they got locked out of the hotel room in their speedos. They ended up having to go down to the front desk to get another key.

Stay tuned for Swimming Stories in Seattle: The Sequel!

XOXO 

Siena