The Swimmers Secret

Chapter One

Peace.

It was something I only felt in the water. After a dive, on the boat, in the pool.

Life was too fast paced to feel peace anywhere else.

Like now, as I sat on the bottom of the pool, I felt at peace with myself.

I had just finished a front two and a half off of 3 meter, and was taking my sweet time getting back up to the surface of the water.

And it was quite down here, besides the slight hum of the pool motor and the sounds of other swimmers swimming.

Eyes open, my hair was floating all around, I could see swimmers on the other end of the pool, but otherwise it was calm.

knowing I couldn't stay down here forever, I reluctantly pushed off the bottom of the pool kicking 13 feet to reach the surface of the water.

Reaching the top and breaking the surface I took in a deep of fresh air, while my ears were immediately hit with sound. Compared to the bottom of the pool, above the water was loud.

Birds were chirping overhead, and swim practice ran consecutively with dive practice creating a large amount of noise. The swimmers kicking, mixed with the shouting of numbers, and the repetitive “take your make, go!” flooded the outdoor pool area.

But the only sound I was concerned with was the clapping coming from my coach. Looking over at him, he nodded with approval.

Standing up from his chair, coach Johns beer belly bounced. He motioned with his hand for me to come over to him, I didn't verbally reply instead I swam towards the wall.

Coach John was harsh, I normally got a good job, or looked good. But rarely did I get fantastic, or amazing. I was used to his harsh words that fell out of his mouth, the cussing or him asking if I even wanted to be there.

But I liked it, because I was the same way. No dive was good enough for me. No entry is perfect, no form absolutely right. I'm not the one unless I'm number one.

Climbing out of the pool with ease, I instantly felt the warm sun on my skin. It was an extremely hot summer in Northport. I'd lived in northern Michigan my entire life and I don't think we'd ever had a summer as hot as this one.

Walking across the burning pool deck to coach John, I squeezed out the pool water from my hair letting it run down my back before landing on the hot deck. I grabbed my purple shammy from the one meter board and looked at coach John, waiting for him to say something.

“Good practice Emerie.” Coach John stated, earning an eye roll from me.

Everyone in Northport called me Em or Emmy, but no matter how many times I told him to call me Em or Emmy he refused.

“Thanks coach.” I replied, choosing not to comment on the name. Truth was I had given up a long time ago trying to get him to call me by my nickname.

Coach John scratched his bald forehead before continuing to talk, the redness prominent on his head as he was more than tan from his days outdoor coaching.

“I think I'm going to cancel practice tomorrow, I've got some business to take care of.” I raised an eyebrow at this, canceling practice was becoming a normal for Coach John.

Not that I was complaining. I didn't mind a day or two off, sometimes I needed a break from the sport. I enjoyed diving, but the constant pounding on my feet and knees made me sore.

“But that doesn't mean you can skip a workout, I want you to do a swim practice instead.” John continued, his face stern as he looked down his nose towards me.