Butterfly and Speedos

My brother, Jonathan was a strong swimmer. As a Sophomore, his 200 Free Relay team broke the school record at 1:42.95. I promised some photos of him in a speedo . . . so if you're not too grossed out, come with me on a journey through my Senior Yearbook!

That REALLY THIN GIRL is me. I know . . . you can hardly recognize me, without all my padding. I look at that flat stomach and ask myself, "How in the world did I turn out so fluffy, enough that I get asked 'When is the baby due' at least once a week?" And then I remember that I had 5 children in 7 years and I pat myself on the back!

Speaking of Fluff, what's up with John's hair? Did he use a blow dryer? I conveniently cropped myself out of this shot, just so you know! John and I went on a trip to Mexico with our parents after swim season and he wore that speedo around.

Here is another question I ask myself, "Were my parents too cheap to get him some trunks after spending $50 on his swim team suit, or did he just have a lot of self-confidence?" Please John, share your thoughts with us. Mom, shed some light on this SKIMPY situation.

This is half of the Valdez Swim Team '91-'92. I cropped out my coach who mostly just yelled at me to stop "lollygagging" and be a good example. What in the heck is lollygagging? And I cropped out all the boys in speedos. I didn't think I could stomach anymore of that.

There were three Senior girls on the team: Emily (in the white shirt), Jennifer H. and myself (both sitting on the diving block.) FYI: There is a pink dot on my thigh. My brother, John and his best friend, Nathan W. are the two boys on the back row. John's girlfriend is the tall girl behind Jennifer. The girl I wish he would have dated is on the front, far left. What a cutie.

Yes, don't be too shocked, that girl flexing is me, YIKES!! I was really proud that I was built like a man . . . for some reason?!! I would get on the diving blocks before each race and FLEX. How embarrassing now, to remember how full of myself I was. I guess I still must be, if I'm posting swimsuit photos of myself!

My friend, Jennifer H. is in the lifeguard chair. She and I became lifeguards together, along with 2 of our guy friends and we LOVED that job. I think I could say, we paid for college lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons. She was so fun to work with and is a very good friend.

The last photo is of Emily, my best friend in High School, the one I visit in Alaska, each year. She was our team manager.

Here we are 17 years later: Me, Emily and Jennifer. We have 10 kids between us (OK, half are mine!) We recently visited with each other, in our home town. I had a really fun time reminiscing and laughing.

FYI: My senior year, I helped break 2 record with my relay teams. I broke the 100 yd. Butterfly on my own. I swam it in 1:13.43. When I went back to Valdez this summer, I noticed it had been broken recently and the girl could swim it about 12 seconds faster than me. Which is huge. So she must have REALLY BIG PECS and BICEPS!! Or maybe she just didn't "lollygag" in practice so much!

This is the record breaking 200 Medley Relay Team. Our time was 2:10:90. We aren't standing in our relay order but Katholyn R. (Backstroke), Me (Butterfly at about :32), Tracie L. (Freestyle) and Adrianne G. (Breaststroke). Adrianne is the one I wish John would have dated. She went to state that year, as a freshman. She was a powerful swimmer and a really nice little girl. Our INTIMIDATING swim caps have a picture of a shark on them! We didn't hold that record more than a few years.

This was our record breaking 200 Free Relay Team, with a time of 1:55.29. We kept the record a little longer, I believe . . . Jennifer (where is her shark nose?) and I were Seniors, with one freshman and a junior. I'll have you know, I was having a REALLY GOOD HAIR DAY.

WOW, did this picture just shock and mortify you? I really do have muscles like a man. Of course, now they're all flab. Ooops! That makes an even more disgusting mental picture. I can still FLY, but I gasp and swallow water like nobody's business! My kids are impressed, though, and that's all that really matters.