Last meet, last chance

Lucy has been kicking tail in all of her swim meets swimming "25 freestyle" and at practice she chooses freestyle every time.  You see, she has been avoiding the dreaded backstroke.  And for good reason.  For  the first few weeks she a bit like a drowning victim than a backstroker whenever she gave it a go.  There was even a time when her coach held her in midair in the middle of the pool so that she could practice her stroke without actually hitting the water since it seemed that the water was what holding her back. 
So for weeks she has adamently denied any requests to attempt backstroke in a meet.  And I wasn't pushing.  But then the last meet was coming up and the drive for more ribbons took over.  She loves ribbons and ribbons are a great motivating factor in her swimming. 
She was nervous as we arrived at the meet.  She was jabbering about nonsense and when we found her team, my normally cheerful and excited swimmer was clingy and whiny.  I reassured her and told her that she could skip backstroke if she wanted.
She went out and swam freestyle and did great.  It was a close race and she got beat out of first and second by only a touch.  It was a busy meet so we had lots of time before backstroke began.  We went over to the concession stand for pizza with friends and overheard a friend's parents also trying to talk their daughter into doing backstroke.  And Lucy stepped in.  "It's your last chance to try for the season.  Don't you want a backstroke ribbon?  I'm going to do it, maybe we could try together." 
Her friend was not convinced, but now Lucy had made a declaration and began getting excited about her upcoming race.
And then it was time for her heat.  Never having started a race in the pool, she took her cues from her fellow swimmers and curled herself up into a tiny start position.  And then she was off.  She led the entire way until she tired out toward the end and gave up her lead.  She finished third.  But there was no struggling, no swerving, no running into the lane line.  She popped out of the pool pleased as punch, so proud of her accomplishment and eager to tell everyone she saw.  Not a bad way to end the season and we are all so proud.
By the way, Lucy finished the season with only first, second and third finishes.  She is one of the youngest in her age group so this is phenomenal.  Better yet, she improved her freestyle time everytime she raced but once, so her "personal best" ribbon collection is impressive as well.  We have another week of practice and Lucy is already talking about winter swim so I think we may have found something we can stick with for a while!