"I'm a champion!"

Last week, Lukas passed his survival test when his instructor threw him into the pool with all his clothes and shoes on, and he rolled to his back to breathe, then swam to the edge. He was not expecting this to happen, and we were all happy that he did not freak out, but did just what he was supposed to do.

This week, he swam the short side of the big pool (probably around 20 yards) with no help (meaning no kick board). It took a long time because he prefers to spend most of the time on his back, breathing, and less time on his front, swimming...but he did it! After he got out of the pool, he wanted to ask if he could do something else, but his instructor told him what to do, so he turned to me (holding the video camera) and said, "I'm a champion!" So when you see Lukas at the Olympics in 2024, we'll be able to provide that snippet to enhance the television news coverage.

We're very proud of Lukas for these two great accomplishments (here he is, standing on the podium with the ribbons he received for these two feats). Go Lukas!