Between Pools and Pitches

gorgeous

Kaiden

"Sam, isn't Kelley's cousin a swimmer? The one who almost broke an American record?" I heard Ellie ask Sam as I was about to be done eating. I looked up from my plate and saw Sam look at Ellie, fork halfway to her mouth.

"Who? The one we met after our Tournament of Nations game?" I scrunch my eyebrows wondering who they were talking about because this was way before I had my first call-up.

"Yeah, remember? She was all shy when you introduced her to Steph, Emily, and Chloe." The trio looked at Ellie when she mentioned their name. I was even more curious about who they were talking about.

"Wait, are you talking about Rae? Like shy little Rae?" Chloe responded.

"Rae as in Raegan that we met?" I looked at Ellie beside me wide-eyed. Chloe looked at me and gave me a smirk already knowing about my slight admiration.

"Oh, you met her?" Sam told us a bit shocked. "I didn't know they were staying here in the village too. Maybe I should meet up with her soon"

"You guys know each other? She casually asked if we knew you. I thought she was just another fan." I told Sam, a little bit shocked about this revelation. I saw Sam holding back a laugh about this information.

"Gosh, that kid! We were pretty close I guess. She stayed with us for a couple of weeks when she wanted to see Kelley back then. Then we'd drive together to training because the facilities we were using were near each other." Oh, so they were close, close. I'm contemplating whether I should ask more about Raegan but I was scared they would tease me so I asked about her sports career instead.

"Ellie said she almost beat an American record? So how fast is she really?" I said acting curious. "I kind of teased her that she's going to have a hard time beating the Aussies but I think I shouldn't have said that."

"Like fast, fast. I think she was on course to beat some records during her Olympic qualifying but I heard she got sick before it. She's only swimming in two events this Olympics I think." Sam replied in awe of the younger girl. Well, now I felt stupid for saying that she was going to have a hard time. I sneakily took my phone out to make a quick Google search about Raegan. I found an article about when she almost beat the Junior World Record they were talking about.

Raegan Guevara: A Rising Star in the World of Swimming

Guevara is causing a stir in the world of competitive swimming at the age of just 14. She is rapidly emerging as the next big swimming star after putting on a strong showing at the 2017 Speedo Junior National Championship. Raegan's impressive accomplishments, which range from challenging the junior world record in the Women's 400 LC Meter IM to winning the Women's 200 LC Meter Butterfly and 100 LC Meter Freestyle, speak volumes about her talent and tenacity.

At the tender age of 4, Raegan started her swimming career, and it took her only a short time to show that she had extraordinary potential. She has consistently displayed her skill in the pool while excelling in a variety of competitions. Raegan won the gold medal in the 400 LC Meter Individual Medley at the 2017 Speedo Junior National Championship, just missing breaking the junior world record. The crowd was in awe of her incredible performance. She also achieved a commendable second-place finish in the 200 LC Meter Butterfly and won the 100 LC Meter Freestyle competition.

Raegan acknowledges her flaws despite her success. Although swimming the breaststroke continues to be her greatest challenge, it hasn't stopped her from striving for excellence in other strokes. Raegan is motivated to compete at the Olympics following her cousin's footsteps, Olympic gold medalist and World Cup Champion, Kelley O'Hara. Her ambition to follow in her cousin's footsteps drives her to push her limits and strive for greatness.

Beyond her swimming accomplishments, Raegan's life revolves around her homeschooling and her passion for music. As a devoted "Swiftie," she finds solace and inspiration in Taylor Swift's music, which fuels her drive and determination. With a supportive family background, Raegan's mixed heritage—her father being half Filipino, 1/4 American, and 1/4 Japanese, while her mother is full American—adds richness and diversity to her story.

As Raegan continues to make a splash in the swimming world, her talent, dedication, and aspiration to represent her country on the Olympic stage set her apart as a rising star to watch. With her promising future ahead, the swimming community eagerly awaits more of Raegan's groundbreaking achievements in the pool.

Well, I learned a lot about her from that one article. I opened up Instagram and searched her account hiding my phone from prying eyes. Thanks to that article I knew her surname and how to spell her name correctly. It was also fairly easy to look for her account because a couple of the Tillies follow her too. I saw that she was already following me. Interesting. So why did she act like she didn't know me? I scrolled a little and saw that almost all of her posts were of her in the pool or a swimsuit. She's very like me in the sense that we only post about our sport except she's very active on Instagram unlike me who only posts when necessary. On a side note, she has very great back muscles. I'm jealous. I felt someone hovering over me and I immediately looked at who it was. I hid my phone, but by the way Ellie's smirk rose to her face she saw that I was stalking Raegan.

"Please don't say a word. Don't make a big deal about it, I was just really curious about her." I told Ellie sternly. She was holding a laugh in and wiggled her eyebrows at me. I can feel Chloe staring at the both of us curiously from my other side. Ellie looked at Chloe and smirked. I knew she was going to tell her, "She already knows about it." I smirked back knowing I disrupted her plan. Ellie looked a little defeated when I told her.

"Okay, well you know I won't tell the others. I respect you too much for that and I really like to be the first one to get front-row seats in your love life." Love life? I think it's too early to call it that. We only met just a while ago and I think of what I have for her as simple admiration. I can see how dedicated she is to her sport and I admire her for that. She's also gorgeous but I want to focus on the Olympics right now. If something happens with me and Raegan then I'll see where it goes.

"Thanks Els, this is why you're my favorite teammate." I told Ellie, aware that Chloe was listening in.

"Hey!" I hear Chloe complain from beside me which makes me and Ellie laugh at her for being so offended. I turned to Chloe and smiled at her.

"Of course, I'm just kidding Chlo, you'll always be number one." She smiled back at me and pulled me into a side hug. I stayed leaning into Chloe's side and put my head on her shoulder. I turned my phone on and decided to follow Raegan back on Instagram still smiling at her antics earlier. "You know, she knows who I actually am. She's following me on Instagram." I whispered to Chloe. Chloe looked down at me and laughed.

"I think someone has a little crush." I smiled at the thought of Raegan having a crush on me. I decided to mess with Raegan a little bit so I decided to send her a DM.

Kaiden Moore

i see someone knew me already :))

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a/n: World cup officially started yesterday (my time zone) so here's a little update! I know I update slow but I'm on the last push for my summer semester right now so I'm a little occupied with studying and doing final my final presentation. I hope you enjoy knowing Raegan a little bit more this chapter. More to come I promise! Also, enjoy the world cup and watch as many games as you can! The swimming worlds is starting this Sunday too so I'll see if I can update in honor of that! Thanks for reading! <3