Life of Two Best Friends:College CHPT 47

CHAPTER 48

I was ready, but oh great, “I need a lap counter.”

“Already got that covered, George!”

The girl from before. I seriously need to learn her name again. “Thanks! Lane 3.”

“Yep!” She yelled as she headed towards the other side of the pool.

As I stretched, I saw her stand behind lane 3. But stayed out of the way of the current lap counter. I definitely need to learn her name to thank her properly. I focused back to active stretching. I was actually excited for this race. I normally don’t swim this event. Because I suck at it, but also the 50 Freestyle is just before this, and normally I put everything into that race. So turning around to do distance would be like asking to fall unconscious again.

‘Focus George. You are getting distracted. Focus. Henry. Chase down Henry. Twenty laps.’ I had never seen Henry swim this race. But I knew he loved distance; he never seemed tired after those kinds of sets. As Coach said, he will hold a great pace. Which means this is a sprint to him. So to catch him I’m going to have to find a new gear in my wheelhouse of speed. But I can beat him on his turns. My streamlines have gotten stronger with all my breath control sets. ‘You can do this George. You have to do this. Coach is watching. Get this done!’

“Heat 4. Tweet tweet tweet!”

‘That’s me.’ I step up to the blocks.

“Take your mark.”

‘Chase him down!’

“Beep!”

I was off!

…

Turn. ‘Go!’ I felt like I was flying! Nothing was going to stop me. Turn! ‘Go!’ I had forgotten to tell my lap counter the signals, but I didn’t need them. In the corner of my eye I could see Henry’s steady bubbles from his kicking. I needed to catch him. I had to catch him. Coach was expecting me to do so. I had to! Turn! I knew my body was probably dying, but I was ignoring everything. Pain was not going to be my stumbling block today. ‘Catch him, George!’ Turn. Only six laps left. I needed to find that new gear, but I seemed stuck. I couldn’t catch Henry. He was within reach but still out of my reach. ‘Come on George! Get there!’ Turn. Henry was beginning to pull away. ‘No…’

Henry continued to pull away. This is what Coach meant. That Henry would stay strong even at the end. His pace would not falter. That he was trained for this. Only four laps to go. ‘Do it George. Straighten them. If you die, then die trying something new!’ I straightened my arms. I used my technique I use for sprints. Crazily at the end of this grueling 500, but I was going to give it all I got!

Turn. Two laps left. ‘Get it done, George!’ Henry’s kick came back into view. ‘I can do this! Go, George!’ Turn. ‘Streamline! Keep it strong! Up! Pull! Pull! Keep that kick going. Don’t stop the kick!’ I could see Henry’s arms. I’m getting closer. ‘Catch him!’ Four, three, two, …one. ‘Finished!’ Once my hand hit the wall my body exploded with pain. Every inch of my skin was on fire. I was exhausted, but I didn’t feel like I would pass out. There’s no way I conserved energy, but I wasn’t completely dead. So I must have, somehow. I looked to Henry. He too was breathing hard. But he looked more exhausted than I was.

He looked at me and swam over to shake my hand. “Nice race. You made me swim faster than I ever had! Knowing you were chasing me down gave me an edge. I’m guessing that’s why Coach did this. Not to just help you, but to get me out of my groove. Did Coach tell you to ignore the whole ‘I’ll be a 50 ahead of you’, and that’s why you dove in at the beginning and didn’t wait?”

“What? What do you mean?”

We pulled ourselves up out of the pool and walked over to the cooldown pool.

“You were supposed to wait until after my first 50 to start, but you dove in at the same time. So I assumed Coach wanted me to kickstart my speed. That I was still expected to beat you. I panicked, but then I just did my normal plan, but just starting out at seventy percent and building. That last one hundred was brutal. I didn’t know if I could stay ahead of you. You seemed to be flying at the end. What did you do different?”

“You did start to pull away. I wasn’t able to find a different speed, so instead I changed up my technique. I started my straight arm pull and I’m feeling it now,” as I rubbed my shoulder I could feel it burning. “I didn’t realize I dove in too early. I guess it’s just habit. Hopefully Coach is not too angry at me for not following his plan.”

“Don’t worry about it. If he gets mad I’ll tell him it was great for me. I don’t think I would have swam that well unless you had been there the whole time. Again thanks George.” Henry jumped into the cooldown pool.

I stood there a moment longer. Glad I was a help to him. But I completely forgot to look at places. Did I win or not? Was Coach going to be doubly disappointed? I pulled my goggles back on. Time for a long one thousand cooldown. “I’ll find out the results later. Let’s get this done.” I jumped into the pool. My arms were burning. I felt almost numb since my limbs hurt so much. But I pushed through the pain, or later would be unbearable.

…

Life of Two Best Friends: College CHPT 46

Chapter 47

The day was here. I wasn’t as anxious for today as I had been, when I would be against Bryan. The drive was gone. I knew I would still swim my heart out today, but the urgency was gone.

But the atmosphere, arriving on deck today was way better. Everyone seemed relaxed, excited even. But I think they were in the same funk as me. That without the stress of Bryan, they didn’t know how to act accordingly, so they just relaxed. Which may not be the best; because today was a racing day. And only top 12 would be A-strings. And currently, unless the newer athletes are here to do business there is only five spaces available; after the people I believe will fill in the spots.

“Hey George,” Chad was walking towards me, “Coach wants to start the stretching. I’ll gather everyone over there. Can you check and see if there are any stragglers? I think people will be cut from the team if they show up late today. For Coach being in an upbeat mood last night; he seems to be in a bad mood now.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem. Start them on the stretches. The stragglers will just get to do less.” I walked towards the exit.

Being co captains seems to be going well. Chad has been stepping up to the role. I looked out the doors. I called out, “Anyone coming to the mock meet better hurry up. Coach is in a foul mood.” Nothing. Just as I turned I heard a “Wait!”

Looking back I saw a girl running up. It was the girl from orientation. What was her name?

“Thanks for the reminder George. I was down the hall tutoring my student early. I didn’t know how long this mock meet would take. Am I late?” Stephanie was flush and loaded up with bags.

‘A freshman is already a tutor. Impressive.’ “You’re good. Just go get changed and join the group.”

“Will do, George!”

I checked the hallway again and saw no one else. I closed the doors, and headed back to the group.

…

“As follows. Every athlete today will be swimming every race. The only difference is if you want to tryout for the A-Strings you will swim the 200 Freestyle, 200 IM, 100 of each stroke, 50 Freestyle and the 500 Freestyle. If you do not feel like you can race all those events today you will still compete but you will compete in 200 Freestyle, 100 IM, 100 Freestyle, and 50 of each stroke. Do not worry. We will have another mock meet at halfway through the season. So that those of you who would like to tryout again you will have a chance. B-string and C-string events will be first. A-string after. If you have any questions you can find and ask your co captains. But know they have races today as well. Okay let’s get racing!”

Coach wasn’t kidding. When he said being captain is a big job, it was. Suddenly I was surrounded with teammates with questions. I looked over to Chad, and he was surrounded so much I could barely see him. Thankfully I had his help too or I would have missed all my races.

…

Yeah. The my drive was at a standstill. I didn’t feel a push or a need to beat anyone today. I knew I would win. Even if it wasn’t my favorite race, I would win. It’s like everyone else knew it too, so I didn’t have anyone to push me to be better. And Coach knew it too.

“Well George. I’m surprised at your times. They are not bad, but they are the same as they were at the end of last year. Not what you have been showing me in practice lately.”

“I know Coach. I just don’t seem to have the drive or push anymore. I had planned to use Bryan to push me to be better. But now that he’s gone I don’t feel driven. If you understand?”

“I do understand. However, George, you cannot use anyone or anything else to drive you to be better. You have to be that role too. You chase your current self. Your drive should derive from you wanting to be better. Do you think that current Olympians use others to be better? On their teams? In practice? No. Some may, but several of them don’t have the luxury of having a sparring partner. They all have to push themselves.”

I knew all of this. I knew it. But why was I still not driven to do what Coach was telling me. It just seemed to be going over my head. “I know Coach. I do. But…I don’t know…I…”

“Alright. College must still be clouding your mindset. You say you need something physical to stimulate your drive, right? All athletes go through this. Henry. Come here,” coach waved Henry over. “Alright. Henry. We both know you will be a A-stringer. Your co captain is not giving this meet his all. Can I count on you to help him out?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. You both have the 500 Freestyle left. You want something tangible to have a drive. Okay then George, Henry will get a 50 head start. Your job is to beat him. You should know George, this is Henry’s main event. He holds a solid average the entire time. You will have to dig deep to beat him. Henry you don’t allow him to get closer. Keep him a 50 behind. But know George will be chasing you down. It’s his nature. Now go. Compete!”

I asked for this. I did. But it seemed impossible. Pretty much Coach was telling me to sprint the entire 500. So death. Means death. But I felt better. I felt that spark coming alive. I felt inspired to swim. “Alright Coach. Good luck Henry,” I outstretched my hand.

“You too. Good luck,” Henry returned the handshake.

Now I had a race.

…

Life Of Two Best Friends: College CHPT 45

Chapter 46

“So let me understand. You want to be co captains?”

I looked to Chad and he nodded to me. “Yes, Coach. We both want to be captains simultaneously.”

“I had hoped there would be only one leader. However, what is your plan for this arrangement.” Coach settled back into his chair.

“Well Coach. As you know I did not choose my friends wisely these last three years,” Chad had wanted to explain our reasonings.

Coach nodded.

“So you giving us the chance to choose a captain; made me think about if I could actually do the job. Believe me, I didn’t want to listen to George when he told me that he thought I couldn’t do it to the fullest ability. But I didn’t want to blow him off, because that’s what Bryan would have done. I don’t want to be anything like him. So I heard George out. He wants us to co captain. Because then the rest of the team will slowly begin to respect me again. It will help to be working with the person they see as their leader already. George will co captain with me to show that things have changed; that the bully side to the upperclassmen is gone. That things will change.”

It was my turn to bring our proposal home, “so Coach we will co captain until closer to finals. Then around that time we will decide who should be the lead captain. But this seems to me the only way that Chad could possibly be the captain. That he needs to gain the respect of everyone else first.” Now it was Coach’s choice. He could say no and make us decide.

Coach didn’t answer. He just sat in his silent stance.

I can never read what he is thinking.

“Well it’s not what I expected, but I must say I’m proud of both of you. That fact that you didn’t just want to cover up everything; that you actually want to change things for the better is quite impressive. This is why I made you both discuss it. Because at this moment in time I didn’t think Chad would be able to gain the respect of his teammates. That there would be more chaos than leadership. But I also didn’t think that you George were quite ready to fully lead. You partially lead, but to be the full time leader is more work. So I approve of your decision. I think this will work out quite well. Maybe this way will help change everything, because then it is never just one with all the power. It will be kept fair. I do quite like this,” Coach smiled before taking a sip of his coffee.

‘It’s eerie to see Coach smile.’ “So should we announce it officially at the mock meet tomorrow? Or should we just start spreading the word?”

“Go ahead and spread the word. I actually want things to change on this team. I think that’s the only way for great swimmers to come out of this program again. That it’s less about the official roles on the team, but that the environment is more relaxed for you swimmers to focus on what matters. The pool. This is great. I’m excited for tomorrow. It will be interesting to see who will be the A stringers. Anything can happen. Especially if there is no intimidation from Bryan and his gang. Okay. Go back to your dorms and prepare for tomorrow.”

I let the breath I was holding in, out slowly. Relief flooded me. He accepted our proposal, but he seemed very interested in the outcome of this change. That was my initial intention. I wanted things to change. To do what Coach had asked of me. To change this team. And to do that, it doesn’t have to just be because of a new leader; but because of the whole dynamic of the team. That any string athlete can an A stringer. That not one person has all the power and control. That not another Bryan would happen. That swimming would be the focus! How it should be. I too was excited for tomorrow. Anything could happen.

…