Swimming Sports

What a great morning we had at the Jellie Park Aquatic Centre.

The Wairere and Purua Learning Teams had their Swimming Sports this morning. I must congratulate Mike Lynch on his absolutely brilliant organisation of the event. The team all worked in unison to make the morning seem effortless!

The children were great, producing excellent results while showing off their abilities in both swimmer and non-swimmer events. The can do attitude shown by all children was yet another testament to the staff at Wairakei - the way they encourage children to achieve in anything they do.

I can't wait to be part of the Otakaro Learning Team's Swimming Fun Day.

Personal Commentary

Lots of people are aware of my non-pc attitude towards the "everyone's a winner" mentality that crept in to New Zealand society. Children who are good at something should actually relish in the fact that they are good at it and others should also share in that celebration!

We had a great number of children who are good at swimming on show today. They may be natural swimmers, or have parents who are able to get them to swimming lessons. Good on these children for being good at swimming!

There were also some children who were non-swimmers who took part. I was so proud of their achievements. One child came up to me after he had finished just half way across the pool in a non-swimmer event. He was so excited that this was the best he had ever done. He wanted to share this milestone with me. He was proud of his own achievement. He doesn't need a certificate to say he "participated" in the swimming sports. He did more than participate! He achieved a PB!!!! We high-fived!!!!

Sometimes by giving out these PC awards (Participation Certificates), we are actually belittling the personal achievements of those we think we are making feel better.