Swimmer Boy

One, two, three, four. Breathe. One, two, three, four. Breathe. One, two, three, four. Breathe. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Rhythm. Rhythm. Rhythm. That's what this is all about. The simplicity. How nothing else matters. All you need to focus on is the count. One, two, three, four. Breathe. Hit the wall, flip, push off, and count again. One, two, three, four. Breathe. That's it for me.

That's all I'll ever need.

The feeling of getting on that podium. Crouching down, getting set, waiting, waiting, waiting. Then as soon as I think I can't wait any longer the little bell goes off. Its a sound like nothing else I've ever heard. A low frequency bell sound. Almost dull. Alerting me to push off. Nothing but me and the cold water consuming me. Moving my arms and legs, my entire body moving together, as one. One whole thing, pushing and pushing, all to something so simple. An easy four count. One, two, three, four. Breathe. One, two, three, four. Breathe.

I reach out my arm and lightly touch the wall in front of me.

"Already?" I think to myself as I pull out of the pool.

"New Record!" I hear the animated voice yell over the loud speaker.

"Ash! Great work! You beat the standing record by four seconds! Four friggin seconds!" My coach full on hugs me, not even caring that he's getting soaked.

"Thanks coach." I smile and look at the clock.

"2:31. Two minutes and thirty one seconds. New record." I think about it.

"Coach, this means I qualified right?"

"Not yet Ash. I just got off the phone with registration before we came here. They said that a school in Chester just got enough money to have a swim team. So we have to compete against them too." He looks down at his feet. He always does this when delivering bad news.

"Another meet? Why do we have to compete against them? There's no way they can rise in rank before the qualifiers. Can they?" I'm getting upset.

"Ash, calm down. Apparently, Chester has their own...you. So they're rising pretty quickly in rank."

"How quick?"

"They're in third place right now."

"Third? Jesus." I breathe.

"Hey, there's no way you'll loose though Ash. Don't worry. You'll smoke them next month, then you'll go to nationals, and then try out for the Olympics by this summer. You have nothing to worry about." Coach calmed me down.

"Thanks Coach." I say and walk to the locker room.