Maxime wins the 100m crawl at the competition in Caen !

Maxime has been into swimming since he was about six years old. I remember taking him to his first lessons, not far from Sereville. He didn't like to get his head under water!

The teacher, Yves, told me and Natalya when we took him to the very first lesson: "Just leave it to me. You can go home, and come back in an hour. Just leave him with me."

When we returned, he was swimming, and would put his head under the water, and loved it.

Now, at twelve, he is in a swim meet, and he wins the 100m crawl.

I have been telling him and Natalya for about a year that I am always amazed when I watch Maxime in practice (3 times per week for the Vire team), that his style is by far the most minimalist, the cleanest. There is just zero extra movement. Every movement of arm, hand, leg is purely efficient. It's graceful really. And I'm not just saying that. I believe the video of the race shows this handily.

Maxime liked when I would say this, that his movements were hyper-efficient, and that he just knifes through the water, where others plough through the water, but he probably only half-believed me, thinking it was more than likely that Papa was just being nice. Natalya, I think, saw what I would point out, but she did not seem to see it as so manifest.

The swim meet in Vire

In this heat, off the block, he was in second, but it was close. At the half-length, Maxime started to catch him. By the far wall, he was ahead. And he never lost this lead for the three more lengths.

The others, just like in practice, seem to splash more, and they appear to be trying so hard. When you look at them, then glance back at Maxime, you are struck by how effortlessly he makes it look. And yet, all the while, his little feet are whirring like a propeller.

He is just a beautiful swimmer.

Further, as a typical "Maxime", he didn't even know he had won, and got casually out of the pool, and his friend told him he won. He barely reacted.

I know he was happy inside. Who wouldn't be? But he is not, actually, the competitive type. He likes to swim and improve. If he wins, he wins.

Starting block

At the finish