Proud owner of a red swim band

Every day Thomas is becoming a more and more confident swimmer.  He is fully going underwater and swimming and jumping in where he can't touch (with me nearby).  He conquered his fear of swimming with help from the swim teacher!  Once he gets past a fear, there is no stopping him.  It's just getting him over it- that's the hard part.   We had been asking him over the past month if her wanted to try for his red band at our swim club.  Basically this is the initial swim test that allows you to be in the 3ft. without a parent.  It involves swimming from one side to the other without touching bottom.  He has done it several times, but the thought of a lifeguard "testing" him was, no surprise, terrifying to him.  We tried it once and he just froze, so we let it go.  Ever since then, I have been thinking up some ways to test him without him knowing- talking to lifeguard manager, video of him doing it, lifeguard watching him without him knowing, etc.

Today, he had swim lessons and I spoke to his teacher about her having him swim to the other end while I got a lifeguard to secretly watch.  We both knew he could do it, so we tried it out.  I had explained the situation to the guards earlier
, who were very understanding and when it was time, a girl sat at a table out of sight from Thomas to watch.  I held my breathe as he swam across.  He did it!  I wanted to jump and cheer, but because he didn't know he took the test, I got his band quietly and surprised him after his lesson.  He was confused, but excited!  I told him the guard was walking by and saw how great he swam across the pool.  "She saw that you could do it and wanted to give you your band."  Other parents overheard and made a big deal about it, which he hated.  He was super quiet until we got to the car afterwards and couldn't stop smiling and talking about it.  He kept asking to hear the story again.  He was so proud of himself and so was our whole family.  It was a goal of mine to have him get his red band this summer, primarily as a confidence booster for him.  He did it!  He is now a proud owner of a red band and wears it all the time!