Following the Feet is an 8-week summer series on SwimSwam. Written by Stina Oakes, the series follows the eight weeks of summer club season at Silver Spring, Maryland’s Daleview Swim Club, whose team mascot is the “Feet.” In relaying stories from the Feet’s season, Oakes hopes to capture the beautiful and unique connection each swimmer has to his or her local pool and club.
Part 1 – Opening Day
Part 2 – It’s Worth It
Part 3 – Time Trials
Part 4 – First “A” Meet
Big Foot / Little Foot
The older swimmers just finished their practice. Now, all the swimmers, Bigs, Middles, and Littles, stand in front of the coaches, waiting to hear the line-up for Saturday morning’s A meet. They listen as names and events are read off. I can see some swimmers smiling shyly when they hear their names, and others grimacing when they realize their name isn’t going to be called. But, despite the disappointment some feel at not making the upcoming A meet, generally everyone is happy.
To outsiders, it’s the first Friday practice of the summer. To us, it’s Big Foot / Little Foot Day, also known as Colossal Donut Day.
***
The coach calls out: “Okay, eight and unders, nine and tens, you line up on the right. Eleven and twelves, you go in the middle. Thirteen and ups, you’re on the left.” The swimmers sort into the age groups, chattering and trying to find friends.
Photo credit: Stina Oakes.
“Bigs, find your Middles and Littles!”
The somewhat orderly lines turn into a mass of kids. Each Big picks at least one Middle and one Little, but due to numbers there can be as many as four Littles in a group. Small groups of three and four kids peel away. For the next half hour, the Bigs and Middles work with the Littles.
Each group does its own thing. If the Littles are in the next A meet, the Bigs and Middles help them with the stroke they’ll be swimming or show them how to dive. Or, they may decide to work on a new stroke. Some might simply splash and play.
For the rest of the season, the Little Feet will look up to their Big and Middle Feet. And, the Bigs and Middles will delight in guiding their Littles.
***
Photo credit: Stina Oakes.
On the deck a Little is lying face-down on a kickboard with a Big moving her feet in breaststroke form while the Middle tries to move her arms. All three are giggling at the absurdity of it all.
A few feet away in the water a Big is propping up a Little who is floating on her back. The Middle is moving the girl’s feet, showing her the backstroke kick. While balancing the Little in the water, the Big has another Little clinging to her back.
***
“Time for ten and unders practice!” the coach calls out. The Bigs and Middles leave their Littles in the pool. (The Littles will practice for the next half hour.)
The Bigs and Middles rush the donut table. The second best part of Friday morning is here – colossal donuts. They all go for the ones with sprinkles with either chocolate or vanilla frosting.
“Take only one!” parents remind them. In a matter of seconds, the donut boxes are empty, just bits of frosting and a few sprinkles left behind. We parents know to save a few boxes of donuts for the Littles. Around us swimmers are scarfing down donuts the size of their heads.
One Big asks, “Oh, wait. What about the Littles? Will they get their donuts?”
***
Photo credit: Tim Male.
The girls line up for their relay race. It’s two days later and we’re at Relay Carnival – a meet of nothing but relays. The girls are about to swim a graduated relay, meaning that four girls from four different ages swim the same stroke. The senior girl takes the relay card – an index card with the swimmers’ names listed in order. She holds the card to her mouth and bites off a bit from the corner. She takes the bitten-off piece and tucks it into her suit. She hands the card to the next girl, who does the same thing.
The youngest girl in the group watches this scene with a bit of confusion. She looks questioningly at her Big Foot.
“It’s for good luck,” the Big explains. “We all bite a corner and put it in our suit. It’s tradition. If you’re going to be a Daleview swimmer, you need to learn these things.”
Photo credit: Tim Male.
The Little beams at her Big. “Okay, I can do that.”
***
A senior swimmer who is in four relay races gets out of the water. He’s had a busy morning of swimming and cheering. He returns to the team area and an eight and under boy runs up to him.
“Hey, I brought my coin collection! Wanna see it?” he asks the senior.
“Aw, that’s great. I have to go get ready for my next swim. Maybe later, though, okay?” he responds.
The little boy’s shoulders sag and he looks at the ground. He mumbles quietly, “Okay. Maybe later.”
The senior starts to walk away, then stops. He comes back to the boy and says, “I’ve got about a minute before I have to line up for my next race. Want to show me that collection quickly?”
The boys eyes light up and he goes to his swim bag to grab the coin folders. I wonder if they’re Big Foot / Little Foot pairs.
The senior looks at the collection of state quarters. He makes the appropriate comments, noting which quarters are missing and pointing out the ones he has.
“These are awesome! Thanks for showing me! I have to go swim now.”
The senior walks off and the little boy grins to himself.
Whether or not they are a Big Foot / Little Foot pair, in that moment it doesn’t matter. Daleview is filled with scenes like these: Bigs and Middles working with Littles, Littles relishing the attention, and Bigs and Middles exemplifying what it means to be a Daleview swimmer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stina Oakes is a member of Daleview Swim Club where she swims with the Masters group. She is new to swimming, having only learned how in the past year. She is the mother of two swimmers (ages 12 and 8) and one future swimmer (age 2). She is a Professorial Lecturer in the Writing Program at American University.