Samoa Nationals 2008

As part of the Tutuila junior swim team, Emma was invited to attend the Samoa Nationals swim competition in (Independent) Samoa. The team of 5 kids (ages 9 - 13) have been practicing several times a week for the past couple months to prepare for the big event. Emma is now a pro at swimming, as this was her second appearance at the Samoa Nationals (the last one was held in May of 2007). In Samoan fashion, we wore matching t-shirts and lavalavas on the plane and to the swim meet. Emma even pinned a diaper cover on Ona of the same material and everyone kept referring to Ona as the team mascot. I have to put on a brave face for Emma, but I honestly hate flying on these little planes, and to make matters worse it seems every time I fly on one, the weather is crappy. As usual, we had to walk on the runway in the pouring rain. This was Ona's first plane ride and she enjoyed every moment of it. Since Samoa is a different country, she got her first stamps in her passport! The weather cleared by the time we reached Samoa and Ona was fascinated by looking out the window at the island and the coral reefs.Emma loved sitting with her friend, rather than next to mom.After arriving in Apia, we headed to the swimming pool so the kids could get some practice. This was especially important for our swimmers as they train in a hotel pool that is only 18 yards long. Samoa's pool facility is Olympic sized - 50 meters long. The kids spent a couple hours swimming in the outdoor warm-up pool and diving off the blocks, another thing we don't have to practice with in American Samoa. The kids woke up on Saturday morning to a great breakfast. Samoa has much more fresh fruit and veggies than we do in American Samoa. Then, it was off to the big event. The day started with photos and the teams paraded around the pool facility in an opening ceremony. The Prime Minister of Samoa gave the opening speech, and even stuck around to pass out ribbons to the winners of the first few events. Emma started the races off by swimming in the 50 meter freestyle for the 11&12 year old girls. She came in 2nd place and here is Emma on the medal podium. Where else would we live that she is presented her ribbon from the leader of the country? Emma's next race was the 100 m freestyle and she also placed 2nd. It was Emma's dream to get 1st place in the breaststroke races, as this is her favorite stroke. Emma's dream came to fruition as she got 1st place in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke races! Emma finished the 100m way ahead of her nearest competitor! I was quite the proud mom, watching from the sidelines. I wish I could have brought the good camera and taken action pictures of the swimming, but with all the baby stuff I had to lug, I opted for the tiny camera. The only disappointment of the day came when the 200 meter breaststroke race was cancelled. Emma had trained very hard for that race by doing many, many links in our small pool. Emma also swam a 200m Individual Medley, but she had to swim it as an exhibition race with some older kids, as there were no girls her age that would swim the 200m IM. Ona was a wonderful baby, even as it turned into a full day event. This is how she spent a good part of her time at the pool... All of the kids swam so well. We were worried in the couple weeks leading up to the competition as 3 out of the 5 kids had dengue fever! Thankfully, the kids were (mostly) healthy on the big day and our swim club came home with a total of 17 ribbons. Well done, Tutuila junior swim team! The kids were treated to a yummy dinner at Giordano's that night and they had a great silly time celebrating their success.