Sunday, August 17, 2008

Cooper and the Butterfly Stroke

Verbage and video by Coop's dad:
So, Cooper has been watching the Olympics on TV. He has enjoyed watching the swimming. Click on the video to see how Michael Phelps has influenced this three year old boy. To set the stage, Coop and I were swimming today and I simply asked him to show me the butterfly stroke. He said ok and off he went. No coaching went into the video, he simply mimicked what he has been watching on tv. My apologies for the video being sideways. I couldn't figure out how to rotate it. You'll have to turn your head.





In other swimming news, our swim lesson season has come to a close. We've still got two more months of swimming weather here, so practice sessions haven't ended, but no more driving clear out to lessons 4 times a week to bake in the sun.. yea! It was completely worth it, though, to see Cooper improve as much as he did this summer. His teacher is fabulous and has a great balance between being supportive and kind and being tough and not letting coop get away with laziness. He loves Miss Erin and was so excited to show her what he'd been practicing at home.





I love her too- she has helped him become such a great little swimmer. Cooper's milestones this summer include floating unassisted on front and back, doing elementary backstroke with arms and legs together, front crawl stroke with breathing, sometimes to the side... he can do a knee-dive by himself as well as surface dive to the bottom to get dive sticks. It's so fun to have him enjoy the pool with our family and with his friends. His confidence has improved significantly.

Seneca and Beckham have also enjoyed the water this summer. No more tears when they go under the water... Senny knows that when we count 1, 2, 3.. she closes her eyes and holds her breath. She'll jump in the water with a little help and float around with us all day. Her backfloat is almost there, she's learning to relax when her ears are under the water. Bex gets over the initial shock quickly and keeps up his jolly kicking even when dunked. He was such a great sport sweating in the hot sun each afternoon while Coop has his lesson.



Thanks Erin, for fantastic swimming lessons! Coop will turn all credit over to you when he wins his first gold medal!!

9 comments:

Emily said...

I am dying over Cooper's butterfly stroke! Seriously impressive.

Croslands said...

Wow! Way to go Cooper that is amazing. I will be expecting him at the Olympics after that video.

Sandi said...

That is hillarious. I love the triumphant wave at the end. Who says sports figures are not rolemodels.

Jana said...

What the heck?!!! How old is he? That is pretty impressive. Those swimming lessons were totally worth it.

Amy said...

I missed his butterfly on Saturday, so I'm glad you guys caught it on video. What a cute boy you have!

Erin said...

I love this boy! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for letting me teach him! He makes me so happy! I wanted to send you this link, (http://www.azswimming.org/index.html) once he is five you will want to check on a team for him. He has talent that is totally worth letting grow. Love your family!

Scrap Happy said...

That video is awesome. Go Coop! I'll get to say I knew him when...

Lindsay Renee' said...

Very impressive swimming by your little man; maybe he'll be the next Phelps! Continue to enjoy the Olympics, they're great this year, eh?!

Stephens Family said...

What a stud!! Keep working on that and when he is the next Phelps, he can bring you home 40 million in endorsements!! FOR SWIMMING!!! How would that be!?