It was another gorgeous day, so we had lunch outside in our garden. Josh and I discussed our upcoming schedule, which will necessarily be altered because of Charlotte. Miraculously, the Italian Swimming Federation has granted her permission to swim in the Italian National Championships that will be held over six days beginning March 26th. And, she can compete in the meet just like every other athlete -- not just on an exhibition basis. The only difference being that she cannot score points for her team, but she can place and take home a medal (that is, if she were to really swim out of her mind fantastic). The news was really very surprising since we were told that her ability to participate would be a long shot.
The unfortunate part, is that she only qualified in one event, the 200 Breast. Unlike our earlier understanding which was that there was a qualifying time for Nationals (and we thought she had qualified in all of "her" events). We were now told that only the athletes with the top 30 times in the nation in each event are eligible to compete. Charlotte's times in the 100 Breast, 100 Fly and 200 IM were all just around 31st or 32nd. Of course, as a U.S. citizen, her coaches never expected that she would be allowed to swim at Nationals, so the qualifying part was never in the game plans. As such, they had her swimming all sorts of other events like 200 Fly, 400 IM and 100 Free during the season. We noticed that most of Charlotte's teammates always swam the same events, while she was able to mix it up. Now we understand why. The way the Italian system is organized, in order to compete at the National level, you have to ensure that you have one of the 30 fastest times. Therefore, it encourages you to swim your best events, over and over, to keep (hopefully) improving your time. In thinking it through, it's a poor system for the athletes. It's better to establish a qualifying time - as they do in the States - so that a) you know ahead of time if you've made it, and b) you have the opportunity to swim various events, even if they're not your "best" events. It must be incredibly nerve-racking for the Italian swimmers not to know if they've qualified until the last minute. But then again, the Italians have clearly mastered the art of living in a world of "last minute," much better than I have!
Anyways, now that we think we understand how it works, let's move on to the logistics. The National Championships, unlike the meets we've enjoyed at our local pool AquAniene, are being held in Riccione. Riccione is a coastal town in the province Emilia-Romana and is about a four hour drive from Rome. The reality is, it's still much better than boarding a plane and flying to another State. However, given that Josh's Uncle, Larry, is arriving and will be visiting during that time makes it a bit more complicated. Also, if Charlotte swims she will be traveling to Riccione with the team on a Thursday (thereby missing two days of school), and unless we go to (cheer for her, and) pick her up, she will remain there with the team until the following Thursday when they return to Rome. Her event, will take place on the Saturday, March 27th. So, it's really best if we drive up and bring her back. Which brings me back to my original statement: we need to figure out how to manage our upcoming schedule. This task is made all the more difficult by a bizarre lack of information.
This afternoon, I asked Josh if he could stop by the pharmacy for me and have a chat with the pharmacist. My knee has been bothering me a bit (ever since the hike in Bagno Vignoni?), and while my doctor in Chicago prescribed Voltaren for these flare-ups, I don't have any remaining medication. So I wondered if Josh brought the empty prescription bottle to the pharmacist, if I could get some more? As it turned out, it was no problem at all. Thirty tablets of Voltaren purchased for 8 euros, and it wasn't even a generic! Is Novartis not making any money selling Voltaren to patients in Italy, or is the mark-up and Rx process in the U.S. just completely ridiculous? I would bet on the latter.
The kids celebrated St. Patrick's Day at school today by wearing green, and going on a leprechaun hunt.
Morris came over to make dinner tonight. Pork cutlets, by Charlotte's request.
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