Hi All,
Hopefully the new season is underway and everyone is enjoying this (much elongated) transition into the fall season. We'd like to take this week's post to highlight our special group of athletes who competed in Reggio Emilia, Italy at the 7th Tricolore Youth Games to close out the summer. Notably, several came home with a little hardware to show for their efforts! If you have not seen our send-off post, please feel free to go take a look HERE on SwimSwam to see our full team, and for more information. These athletes garnered the paramount opportunity to represent not only our DFW community, but the broader honor of being a representative of the United States on foreign soil. Over the course of multiple competition days, our world traveling fish raced their way to 3 gold medals (!), 4 silver medals, and 6 bronze medals (!). Clearly, the Mediterranean is just another body of water to our esteemed group, and they duly showcased their skills.
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The full list of our medal performers is indicated below:
Jackson Beck (C): Bronze 200 FR 2:09.77 Gold 200 BK 2:26.46 (won this event by over 10 seconds) Bronze Mannequin Carry 46.74
Victoria Crews Bronze 100 FL 1:10.96 Gold 200 BK 2:48.02
Abby Mitchell Bronze Mannequin Carry 1:00.09
Bella Mitchell: Silver 50 FR 28.24 Bronze 50 BK 34.17 Gold 200 IM 2:34.21 Silver 100 BK 1:14.73 Gold 100 FR 1:02.52
Harris Purcell: Bronze 100 BR 1:13.32
Valeria Venegas (C): Silver 200 FR 2:27.26
Daniel Zimpleman Silver Mannequin Carry 46.46
During the course of The Games, our band of American representatives had the opportunity to explore Reggio Emilia, immerse themselves in the local culture, and in the true spirit of competition, interact with teams from several other nations. For example, the following is a noteworthy story from our team - and favorite from the Reggio Emilia board - regarding the bond between American and Tunisian swimmers:
"We had to take a 20 minute bus ride to and from the pool twice a day. Every morning we rode the bus with the Tunisian swim team. Some of the American and Tunisian swimmers began chatting and small friendships had formed. On Friday, our 2nd day of competition, we took the bus for a light morning practice.
That day, a water polo team and part of the South African team were on the bus as well. Tunisia was last to get on and we were 6 seats short, and although they had the option to stand, they decided they would wait and have the bus come back for them. Rather than have them wait and miss out on part of their practice, we had some of our swimmers stand up to give their seats to the Tunisian swimmers. As I was walking to the back of the bus to make space, a South African boy asked his friend, 'what’s going on?' and his friend said, '[some of] the Americans stood up so the Tunisians could also sit down.' The boy replied. 'oh wow!'
That afternoon at the swim meet, the Tunisian swim coach came to me during warm up and asked for my email so that we could do a training exchange. From that moment on our teams were completely united.
The following day, we went to the pool for our last practice, and the Tunisian coach invited us to join them for some racing off the blocks. The swimmers were ecstatic and couldn’t understate how much fun they had. Later, we were planning to go watch USA Boys Volleyball play for gold and invited the Tunisian swimmers along. All 28 of the Tunisians came, donning USA gear they had acquired throughout the week from apt trading - a favorite activity among athletes in international competition. During the volleyball match, they began 'USA' chants. Thus, it was apparent that a very small and simple gesture ultimately forged an unbreakable bond between our two teams."
Co-captain Jackson Beck cites:
"In Italy, I experienced many different cultures and traditions that changed my perspective. A memory that will make me smile forever is playing cards with everyone and just having a great time."
Swimmer Charlotte Ewert mentions:
"Something that changed me from Italy was how easy [it can be] to make friends if you actually go and talk to people."
Swimmer Harris Purcell similarly chimes in:
"Meeting new people also changed how I see the world. I started to realize how everybody is different in their own unique ways. It was a life-changing experience and I'd do it all again."
Consequently, this trip was not only meaningful for the sake of competition, but also for that of cultural relativism, holistic worldview, and perhaps more than one opportunity for authentic gelato.
Fact of the week: Swimming is a lifelong activity, universal sport, and culture-bridging opportunity. You NEVER know where your swimming journey will take you. Our athletes were afforded several fun opportunities, such as:
Spending an off day in Florence and enjoying an 11-mile excursion through the art and culture
Trading American cowboy hats for Tunisian Fezzes
Gaining recognition for the very video shown in this post
Whether you're just beginning your journey, or it's well underway, we're happy to be joining this journey alongside you. Let swimming be your liaison to new heights. Will your swimmer join the group that attends the 8th Tricolore Games in 2027? Check out our most recent post on Habits Part 2 if you have not done so! Stay tuned and check out YouTube for more!
How does my child move up? Come to every swim class, bring your progress report, earn those stickers, and ask your child's instructor or location's deck manager if you have questions.
How do I move up? Attend as many of your classes as possible, communicate with your instructor on your struggles, goals, and where you're at in our curriculum. We also have many adults who purchase a gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness or LA Fitness while they are taking lessons so they can practice 2-3 times between classes.
Let's congratulate our wonderful athletes from team USA! Glad your swimmer is learning to swim with us!
The Sigma Team