The Smile She Gives You

Chapter 6: What just happened?

Image credits: @kittyeong on Pinterest

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Swim meets.
They have been with me for almost ten years now. They have caused me to experience many emotions I would have otherwise not been able to understand. They have made me cry. And they have made me laugh. They have made me hate my sport. And they have also made me love it even more.
I cannot imagine my life without swim meets. The shivers that run down my spine when I stand behind the starting block. The burning in my muscles when I cut through the water. The feeling of relief when I touch the wall at the finish. The feeling of taking off my goggles and looking at the time board that determines my success. The feeling of sharing this experience with my team mates. All of these feelings are the memories I treasure most in life. The feelings I would never want to give up for anything in the world. The feelings that I could not live without.

Early in the morning on Saturday at around 6:30, while most of Islington is still fast asleep, my mum and I leave the house in the car. The ride passes by in a rather quiet matter. After what happened last week, my mum has stopped laughing and cracking jokes as she usually does. She is unconventionally closed up and avoids my dad as best as she can. This has happened before but my parents usually forgive each other after one or two days. I am a little worried for them but I should not get too involved. This is a problem between the two of them. They will surely find a way to get over it...

My mum stops the car in front of Nya's house. She is already standing at the front door, waving as she sees the vehicle come to a halt and even more enthusiastically when she notices me wave back from inside.
She opens the back door and sits down on my left side.
"Morning, Tori. Good morning, Beatrice."
I greet her back. And my mother asks her how she is feeling: "Are you ready for today's race, Nya? Trained hard enough?"
"I sure hope so. I'm ready to shine and show everybody what I have been training towards in the summer holidays."

Only five minutes later, we stop at Amy's house. She is even more enthusiastic and motivation is radiating out of her as she takes a on my right side and we continue towards the pool.
"You don't seem nervous at all, Amy. Alright?", I ask.
"I feel amazing and you're right, I'm not the least bit nervous. Today I'm ready to show everyone the new dance my parents taught me this week. Dance coach Ametihita is back in business and ready to keep the mood high in our swim team today."

We all laugh. Amy's parents are both professional dancers. She learned to dance before she could walk. In our team, it is custom that she teaches us a small dance sequence that we then perform at competitions to get warmed up and to loosen up. It is therefore surprising that even though Amy is the one who keeps our spirits high, can sometimes get very nervous herself.

Very soon we reach the pool at which today's competition is held. We all exit the car and my mum turns around to face me.
"Good luck, Tori, and remember to have fun today!"
"I will, thanks mum!"
My mum turns on her heel and walks off to her colleagues from the swimming association.

I turn around and, together with Nya and Amy, go looking for our team in the pool. After getting changed into shorts and the squad t-shirt and passing through into the pool area, we find our team near the warm-up pool.

At 7:15 we begin our warm-up session. First everyone warms up individually and then we all form a big circle. Amy lets the song "Happy" by Pharell Williams play through her boom box. I shift my weight so that I feel lighter on my feet and then the fun begins. We jump, slide, twist and turn, reach our hands up, and the mood immediately brightens. Any sign of nervousness and discomfort is gone and everyone is having a good time early in the morning.

As soon as we finish, we all put on our swim caps, take our goggles, and head for the pool edge. Back to reality.
I place the small bag with my towel and spare swimsuit on a bench, take off my shoes and t-shirt, adjust one of the straps of my swim suit that I wear underneath, and then take a look at the pool. Crowded as ever at meet warm-ups. Oh well, what is there to be done...
I put on my goggles, pick a lane that looks just a tiny bit less crowded, and then jump into the pool, cold water hitting me from all sides and making me long for my warm bed. But despite this feeling, I keep pushing because I know that today will be a good day.