Watercolour

Eighteen

Also not proofread... sorry :/ 

Alana's P.O.V

As soon as we were out of the train station, we were faced with the view of the Olympic Park; the stadium, the velodrome, the orbit tower and, of course, the pool.

"So, if this is the London races, when are your nationals?" I asked as Harvey zipped up his coat again. "I know trampolining ones are at the beginning of February."

"They're normally in April," he replied. " but there's rumours that they've been pushed back this year, for whatever reason... I haven't heard anything official though."

"Are you sure you're alright sitting in the stands by yourself? I could get you a seat with the team if you want..."

"Nah, I'm good thanks. I'll probably have a better view from the stands anyway."

We showed the receptionist our passes and exchanged a quick kiss before Harvey headed out back to the changing room and I tried to find my way through to the pool.

The first race was due to start at eleven, which was in twenty minutes time, but there were already swimmers in the pool warming up by the time I had found myself a good seat. And a couple of minutes later, Harvey came through from the changing rooms to join the small queue of swimmers waiting for their turn to warm up.

With no sign of hesitation he dived in right behind the swimmer next to him and let his limbs do the thinking for him. After years of practice, he was so good now that he cruised along the lane almost effortlessly.

After doing a couple of warm-up lengths, Harvey climbed out of the pool and went to stand with the other members of his team. He threw his team jacket over his head and looked around the poolside, clearly trying to locate me.

Half a dozen races later, Harvey's name was called.

He stood on his block about two and a half feet above the water with his toes tightly wrapped around the edge and his body bowed, ready to launch himself into the pool. There was absolutely no noise, which amplified the tranquility of the pool. I looked up to the giant clock on the wall above the pool. Right now it was set to 00:00.

"This is the men's 200 metre freestyle. Swimmers, take your mark..."

There was an ear-splitting beep and the sets dived into the water; their legs exploding from their previously coiled position. The glassy blueness of the water turned into a white mass as the swimmers sliced through it.

Throughout the race I flickered my eyes between Harvey and the time; watching each second go by as he cut through the waste.

Harvey made the turn for his second and final length. I watched him closely as he moved with robotic precision but natural fluidity; each stroke was flawless - nailed to perfection. It was hard to tell what position he was in as there were two other guys in the lanes either side of him and they were both moving quickly alongside him.

Gradually, Harvey speed up and ended up almost a full body-length in front of some of the other swimmers. When he was about a metre from the poolside, he put both arms out in front of him and flooded before touching the wall. I slot my arms into the air and cheered as he lifted his head from the water to look over at the rest of his team who were either jumping up and down or rushing over to the poolside to congratulate him.

*

"Hey, you ready to go?" Harvey asked, pulling me out of the random magazine that I'd found in the foyer.

"Well done!" I cheered, forgetting about his previous question and jumping up to hug him. "You were amazing."

"Thanks, I missed my personal best my 0.3 of a second," he said, trying to hide his laughter.
"Shut up," I teased, slapping his arm. "Let's go and find some food."
"Sounds good to me," he agreed. "What time do you have to be at training?"
"Half three."
"And don't you need to grab your kit from home first?"
"Nah, I keep a spare at the centre... I normally just use that one."
"Fair enough. What do you fancy?" he asked as we stopped to look at a map of all the restaurants in the area.
"That taco place sounds good."
"What... because it has 'tacos' in the name?" he asked, chuckling.
"Obviously... you know you want tacos too though."
"You got me there," he replied as we linked hands again and headed for the unknown taco place.