Down to the Second

Chapter 1

Finn took one last breath and plunged into the cold water. It was almost 8am and more people would be showing up to train soon. It wasn't like Finn didn't like the others, he was very social, it was just that he got more done when he had no distractions. Group Training started in three weeks and although he was in significantly better shape than everyone else on his team, a little extra pre-training never hurt anyone, especially if what you're training for is the Olympics. In three weeks time, Finn would yet again start training for what could possibly be the biggest moment of his life. Representing the United States in the Olympics. Although it's been his dream since he was little, he still had a hard time believing that soon it would actually come true. This year the Summer Olympics were being hosted in Rio. Although they were over 8 months away, the group training had to start immediately. All divers that had been selected had been instructed to train for a year before and to make sure that there would be nothing standing in their way. After what he felt was a satisfactory number of laps around the pool, he dried off and began to wander over to the diving boards. Training was one of the most important parts of Finns life. It most certainly took up the most time.  All throughout high school he had pushed himself to be able to get to where he is now.

For someone who spent nearly all their waking hours at a pool, Finn didn't care much for swimming. For him, it was always about diving. The rush he got as he plummeted towards the water, never knowing how it was going to turn out until the last second, and most of all the height. Most kids had been scared to go on the diving board during the sixth-grade field trip to the pool. It toppled over them, seeming like I would take an immense amount of bravery to get up there, let alone jump down. But Finn was different. The idea of jumping exited him. The other children watched in awe as he climbed up the ladder, took a deep breath, and jumped down. Reminiscing on it know it really wasn't that high but at the time, he felt as though he was on top of the world. He convinced his mother to sign him up for diving lessons shortly after, craving that feeling. He spent almost all his spare time at the pool from that point on.

Finn is almost halfway up the ladder to the 10-meter platform when he sees his synchronized diving partner, Leo, walking towards him. About four years after he began lessons, he fell in love yet again, this time with synchronized diving. He had been staying late after practice to try to improve his inward pike dive when he first saw it. It was two of the older boys in his swim club. The made eye contact, walked forward onto the board, and jumped into the water, flipping and spinning in perfect synch. After that there was no going back to regular diving. Synch was like a new form of art. It had taken diving to a new level for him, one that he never wanted to step down from. He had been partnered with Leo for a couple of years now. Leo was 25, two years his senior, and had been diving for almost as long as Finn. They made an amazing pair. It was like they shared a brain, both of them being able to anticipate and time each and every move down to the very second in perfect harmony. When they first started training together, Finn had only ever trained with one other person before. He was new to the synchro world and quite frankly terrified. Leo was also fairly new, but it had a head start seeing as he always knew that he wanted to be on the team.

In men's synchro, there's six rounds and both had discovered the perfect formula. First round, something simple yet impressive. Something that you could execute so perfectly that you know you'll get the points. For the second round, they would go with a back tuck of some sort. First round forwards and second round backwards always leaves people wondering which way they're going to go next. To grab people's attention and that's a good thing. For the third round, they would do a trick that would set them apart from the competition. If everyone was doing a reverse, they would do a forward. Even if it wasn't the most wonderfully executed, seeing as they often changed which dive, they performed, the judges would be watching them. The Fourth round was the same every time. Do the trick that you could do best to make sure that you get the points but also keep the attention. Finn and Leo's signature trick included a closed pike. Leo and Finn both had abnormally long legs, making their pike tricks even more impressive. Fifth round depended on the competition. It was like a game of chess; you see how the others respond and continue with your next move. If they were surrounded by people trying to be extraordinary, they would simply be ordinary and stand out with that. If they were around people who were playing it safe, they would do the opposite. For the Sixth and final round, they would do a forward 4-1/2 somersault tuck, a trick that their swim team was known for perfecting. It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it had gotten themselves this far. Although they had some room for change and variety, they had one rule that they never broke. You don't repeat tricks. If someone in the competition had done a trick you were planning to do, don't do it. Figure something else out.