Into the world of red times

So Donald has been swimming for about 9 months now and I am still continually amazed at his progress.  Today we went to a swim meet in Palm Springs.  The drive is not the funnest, but this is our second time at that pool and both times Donald has gotten red times, so I really have enjoyed the Palm Springs meets.
Today he swam in 5 events.  The way that USA swimming works is the times are divided up into different divisions.  These divisions determine whether you qualify for certain meets.  When you start out you are automatically in the white division.  Red times come next, then blue, then Junior Olympics times.  There are kids on Donald's team that have been swimming for years and still are waiting to get red times.  As of today Donald has four red times and 5 events that he is about a second away from a red time.

His first event today was the 100 IM.  He came in 1st for his heat and got 4th overall, but he got a red time in the event so we were all pretty excited.  Then he swam in the 50 Butterfly.  He won his heat again, but missed the red by just over a second.  Still very proud.  Then he was in a 50x4 freestyle relay.  He was set as anchor because even though he has been swimming a shorter amount of time than the three other kids, he has the fastest time.  He got the fastest split and pulled them up from 5th to 3rd overall.  The video shows the race.  He swam last in lane 3.  Also during this race his split was .08 seconds away from a blue time.  

Then he swam the 50 freestyle, won his heat, got a red and was 1 second away from a blue time.  Last he swam the 50 Back.  He has always disliked the backstroke and it has always been his weakest stroke, but he won his heat again and was only 1 second away from a red time.  He smashed all his goals and had so much fun.  That winning heats really builds confidence although he still gets really nervous before each race.  I was so proud of him and we had a blast as a family and with our team.  I can't wait to see what he will accomplish next.