Chlorine for Claireen

Yes her name is Claireen. Yes it sounds like Chlorine. Yes it was on purpose.

Swimming is a huge part of our life. Chris and I both have been swimming since we were young, he’s the high school swim coach, we met at the pool... So when we started talking about names for our kids Chris (maybe jokingly) said we should name them something swimming related. Obviously not many swimming related words work for a first name, but when he spun Chlorine into Claireen (Claire for short)…it worked.

So now, with a name like Claireen obviously we expect big things from her in the world of swimming. Since she was born in the beginning of June we couldn’t wait to get her in the water. So we googled (because that’s how you look up things you don’t know as a parent) “When can baby go in the pool?” We found lots of different answers, some said 6 months, some said 6 weeks…we went with 6 weeks. While we waited the 6 weeks we visited the pool, and Dad worked with her on her different strokes and kicks. 6 weeks on the dot, off to the pool we went, and she did great! As long as the water is warm enough (I think she gets that from me) she loves it, whether it’s a pool or the bath tub.

As the summer came to a close we started gearing up for Dad’s high school girls swim season. Claire got to cheer on Dad and the Boone Toreadors at many swim meets. Even though she slept through some of them, I’m sure she learned a lot. Now we’re getting ready for boy’s season and I know Claire is already eyeing the school records and planning to see her name up there before she heads to the Olympics. You can follow Claire’s swimming journey with her hashtag #chlorineforclaireen or her blog www.mannclan.wixsite.com/chlorineforclaireen.