Penfield's Greatest Swimmer

🌊~30

A couple of minutes later, Ethan emerged in the lobby with a small smile playing at his lips. But it vanished the minute Coach Sarah appeared.

"What the heck was that, Ethan?" She bellowed out.

The entire room fell silent.

"I'm sorry Coach, I-"

"That is not the answer I want! I said what the heck was that out there?"

He paused. "It was a late start, Coach."

"A late start! I trained you for three good years, then you give me a late start?" Her eyes were wide with anger. "Where were you before the heat and don't you dare lie to me!"

Princess fumbled in her spot.

"I..." he hesitated "...left the stadium, ma'am," Ethan's voice was the only one ringing in the room. "I left the stadium to go see a couple of friends from high school and I'm truly sorry about that."

Coach Sarah looked like she was minutes away from exploding with rage. Her jaw was tightly clenched and a vein in her neck just kept twitching like a flickering light bulb. "Appiah!"

"Yes ma'am." I shot out of my seat.

"Get ready, you're taking the rest of Ethan's heats. We cannot allow fickle-minded beings to drag the entire team to the ground. Let this be a warning to all of you." She turned around. "Any reckless or stupid decisions and I will not hesitate to cut you out of the competition! Is that clear?"

"Yes Coach." The team chorused.

"Good." The tall woman exited the lobby, and with that, returned the regular chatter, diffusing the tension that had built up in the room.

As Seth and I walked up to Ethan, Princess quickly threw herself at him. "Oh sweetheart, sorry about the things Coach said."

"Yeah it was totally wrong of her to humiliate you like that, we all make rash decisions," Seth added.

"Look guys forget about it ok," Ethan laughed the matter away. "The harm has already been done. The sooner we accept the consequences, the better, so we can support Akwasi here." He placed an arm on my shoulder. "You ready to take on the world?"

I could only nod because I was still surprised that Coach had entrusted me with the rest of Ethan's heats. These were races meant for pros and she just handed them over to me. Does this mean she sees me as a pro?

Well, you have been practicing your ass off for Regionals, my subconscious replied. Maybe she noticed your efforts and decided to give you a chance.

A chance. The word echoed in my ears. If this truly was an opportunity to prove myself, then I had to give it more than my all. I had to swim better than I ever had in my life.

Receiving my new heat sheet from Coach, I took note of the races; one individual medley and one medley relay. Individual medleys took a lot of effort, but thankfully, I had an hour break before the medley relay began.

When the announcer called for IM swimmers to get ready, the entire team cheered me on as I warmed up. I had to admit, it felt pretty good having this many people rallying behind me. So much so that I didn't even feel a shred of anxiety as I mounted the starting block and pulled on my goggles. This was my moment to make Penfield shine!

"Oh, so you're the rookie replacing Ethan?"

My head shifted to the side, meeting a brown-skinned guy with a snake tattoo on his left arm. It sort of checked out because the grin he was sending my way was similar to a python's. "Get ready to have your ass whooped."