SO Naval Academy Qualifier

Upon arriving at the Naval Academy for the Special Olympics Qualifier, I did feel a little hesitant. After having the car examined by police dogs, we had to make our way through endless small roads within the school campus to find our event location and I just hoped that my map skills would lead us to the right location. The intimidation continued when, as we walked into the gym to join our team, we were met with a sea of midshipmen (students at the academy). I even checked the surrounding signs just to make sure that indeed this was the Special Olympics Qualifier and not an unfortunate intrusion on a Naval Academy activity.
However, when I realized that all of the people there were volunteers, I couldn't help but smile about the number. In fact, they have so many people helping out, every single athlete got paired up with a midshipman. Robb looked so psyched to be back at the familiar location, and although this was my first Naval Academy qualifier, I began to warm up to the event as Robb charged into the room.
We immediately approached  a staff member to get paired up with Robb's midshipman. However, Robb decided that one midshipman was just not enough for the day. As we were talking to the girl with whom he was paired, Robb drifted over to another group of midshipmen, took one of them by the hand, and led her over to join our group. Yes, indeed. he took matters into his own hands and managed to get two midshipmen to spend the day with us, and it turned out that the additional midshipman he chose would be important in the race to come.
The Naval Academy Special Olympics Qualifier has always been the favorite for my family for one reason: the deep pool. While during the actual state Olympics, Robb has to work to keep his feet from touching the ground, Robb can swim across this pool without distractions. Yes, sometimes spinning around within the pool can be tempting rather than finishing it out. However, Robb completed both of these races with his fastest times this season.
The difficulty came when it was time to get out of the pool. Although for the first race Robb got out of the ladder without a problem, at the end of the second, Robb was about halfway between each ladder and (well aware this race was his last) uninterested in getting out. There was a swimmer on guard to help athletes out, but because he was otherwise engaged, Robb's second midshipman took matters into her own hands and jumped into the water in her clothes to help get Robb out. As she swam Robb to the wall, the other midshipman stood above them on the wall waving a sign that read "Go Robb" and cheering them on. It was definitely not what anyone was expecting to see at a Special Olympics Qualifier, but Robb got out of the pool laughing the whole way. He then continued to smile and look questioningly at the midshipmen as we all paraded out of the pool. Clearly Robb had a plan in mind when he made sure to get two volunteers!