“Yesterday was hard work,” said Terri. “I hope today will be a little easier.”
As soon as we were ready, the coach blew his whistle.
“Good morning, swimmers!” he said. “Before our workout, I want to get your orders for our team T-shirts.”
“Yes!” I said to Terri.
We lined up to give the coach our orders. When it was my turn, I made sure to tell him that I knew Ms. Colman. I was excited that a town hero and I knew the same person.
“I am sure she is an excellent teacher,” said Coach Carson. “Name and size, please.”
He did not seem to care that I knew Ms. Colman. After taking our orders, he asked us to line up at the pool.
Terri was on my left. A girl I did not know was on my right. She was bouncing up and down, shaking out her hands. I could tell she could not wait to get in the water.
I wanted to introduce myself, but I did not have a chance. The coach was giving us instructions. We had to swim twelve laps. Two freestyle, two backstroke, two breaststroke. Then do it again without stopping.
I heard Terri sigh. Then the whistle blew. There was a big splash on my right. I did not know why. I did not have time to think about it. I had to swim!
I reached the wall just before the end-of-the-round whistle. The new girl was already there. Terri was all the way at the other end of the pool.
“I did only ten laps,” she gasped when she finally reached the wall.
Coach Carson spent some time working with us on our strokes. He showed us how they should be done. Then he walked around and gave us each pointers.
He was just finishing when someone from the Community Center came out to speak with him.
“You can have free swim while I am talking,” he said.
The girl in the next lane smiled at me.
“Hi,” I said. “I am Karen. This is Terri.”
“I am Kristin. I am here for the summer visiting my aunt,” said the girl. “Do you want to race me across?”
“Okay!” I said.
Terri said she did not want to race. But she started us off.
“On your mark, get set, go!”
I swam hard, but Kristin won. I did not mind. I had fun.
Kristin, Terri, and I had a splashing contest. We all won! Then Coach Carson blew the whistle. It was time to go back to our practice. The second day was even better than the first. At the end, Coach Carson led us in a new cheer.
“This will be the cheer for our meets,” he said.
Two, four, six, eight,
We are Stoneybrook swimmers and we are great!
We are Stoneybrook swimmers and we are cool.
Better watch out when we jump in the pool!
Terri, Kristin, and I were the best cheerers on the team. I was happy to be making new friends. (I had not spent much time with Terri outside of school before.)
As we were leaving, Terri said, “I know I need some extra help. Maybe the coach will give me one-on-one lessons.”
I had an idea. Kristin and I were better swimmers than Terri. We could give her one-on-one lessons. We could have a private practice, and I knew just the place to do it.
When Daddy pulled up, I asked him if I could invite my swim team friends over to the Kormans’ pool later. He said yes! Terri’s mother and Kristin’s aunt said it was okay too.
“See you later!” I said to my friends. As we drove off, I waved to my friends and called, “Go, team, go!”
Kristin’s Secret
At five o’clock that afternoon, Terri, Kristin, Daddy, Emily, and I walked to the Kormans’ pool.
Daddy watched us while he helped Emily paddle around.
“I think you need to pull your knees up more when you do the frog kick,” I said to Terri.
The frog kick is part of the breaststroke.
“Hang on to the side of the pool and kick. I will go underwater and watch,” said Kristin.
Kristin ducked under while Terri kicked. She seemed to be under a long time. Finally she came up.
“How did I do?” asked Terri.
“Okay, I think,” said Kristin. “I am not really sure. I know how to do it, but I do not know what it is supposed to look like.”
“We can ask Coach Carson at the next practice,” I said. “Now we should show Terri the freestyle stroke.”
Kristin and I walked around to the deep end. In no time Kristin was in the water. She jumped up, grabbed her knees, then dropped into the pool with a big splash.
“What is that called?” I asked.
“It is called a cannonball,” said Kristin. “That is how I get in the water.”
“You go farther if you dive in,” I said. “Watch this.”
I got out of the pool. Then I dove back in, glided, and came up a few feet from the wall.
“See?” I said.
“Yes, but I do not like to go in headfirst,” said Kristin.
“Why not? Even I can do that,” said Terri.
She climbed out, then dove back into the water.
“I cannot do it,” said Kristin. “I mean I can. I just do not want to. I am scared.”
“Really? But you are such a good swimmer,” said Terri.
“I am good once I get into the water,” Kristin replied. “But going in the water headfirst is too scary for me. I hope I can swim backstroke at our meets. You start off in the water, and do not have to dive in.”
“Well, now that we are all in, we should show Terri the freestyle stroke,” I said.
I swam across the pool first. Kristin followed me.
“Your turn!” we called to Terri.
I could see a couple of things Terri was doing to slow herself down. She was lifting her head too high when she breathed. She was swinging her arms way out. I hoped Coach Carson would be able to work with her. For now, Kristin and I tried our best.
“I do not know if I improved much, but I sure feel better about my swimming,” said Terri. “Thank you!”
When we finished with our lesson, we all tried doing flip turns against the side of the pool. The swimmers on TV make them look so easy.
“Ouch!” I said. “I keep hitting the wall.”
“You have to turn sooner,” said Kristin. “Only not too soon or you will miss the wall completely. Like me.”
Then we started fooling around in the water. That is something we all did perfectly!
“Watch this!” said Terri.
She did a handstand in the water. Emily started to clap. She was watching everything we did.
“It is time to go, girls,” said Daddy.
I was glad Kristin and Terri were staying for dinner. We were having lots of fun. Then I remembered something I was supposed to be doing. I was supposed to be planning a Fourth of July surprise for Hannie and Nancy. I decided that planning the surprise would be much more fun with my new friends. And I wanted them to be part of it.
“I have some planning to do. I need your help,” I told Kristin and Terri as we walked back to my house. “And whatever the plan is, you are invited.”
Three Good Friends
The next day at the start of practice, Coach Carson announced that our first meet would be on Thursday night.
“So we need to get serious,” said the coach. “We do not want to let Stoneybrook down.”
He divided us into lanes by our speeds. Swimmers who were the same speed shared a lane.
I was in a lane with Kristin, even though she swims a little faster than I do. Terri was in the slower lane next to ours. We could still talk to one another, though.
“Ten seconds till the first round,” called Coach Carson. “And I have seen at least one of you getting into the pool with a cannon-ball. I do not want to see that again.”
I glanced at Kristin. She looked upset.
“That is okay,” I said. “You do not have to dive in headfirst. You can just slip in quietly. He did not say anything about slipping into the pool.”
Two seconds later, the whistle blew. We were doing our star
t-up rounds: two freestyle, two backstroke. There was a big clock by the pool and I noticed I was getting a little faster with each lap. The coach was giving excellent pointers. I only wished he had time to give us some more. Especially Terri.
The coach blew the end-of-the-round whistle.
“Now I am going to help some swimmers individually,” he said. “The rest of you do warm-up exercises.”
“Great! Maybe now I will get some help. I need it for the meet,” said Terri.
But Coach Carson did not come anywhere near us. He was bending down and talking to the faster kids, who were working on shaving seconds off their times.
“I am sure he will come to us later,” said Kristin. “We all need help with the breaststroke kick.”
While we waited we kept warm doing a water ballet. I lifted my leg as high as I could and pointed my toes in the air. My friends did the same thing. Then we twirled around so many times we got dizzy.
“It is a good thing we are in the water. It will not hurt when we fall,” said Terri.
She made believe she was fainting and dove under the water. She swam in circles between Kristin and me.
“We need water ballet costumes,” I said. “Our bathing suits should have little skirts on them.”
“We do not need ballet skirts,” said Kristin. “But we do need matching outfits for the meet.”
“We can wear matching caps and suits,” said Terri. “Who has a red suit?”
“I have blue,” I replied. “Who has blue?”
“I do!” said Terri.
“So do I,” said Kristin. “And we can wear red caps.”
The coach never did come over to us. But we forgot all about that. We were having too much fun.
Before we left, we signed up to swim the relay race at the meet. Terri, Kristin, and I were not exactly the Three Musketeers. But we were becoming three good friends.
An Exciting Plan
“Only Emmie!” called my sister.
“I would like to go in the pool with you,” said Nannie.
“No,” said Emily. She started to pout.
Nannie, Emily, and I were at the Kormans’ pool. Emily wanted to go swimming all by herself. She was doing very well with her water wings, but Nannie could not let her go in the water alone. Emily was too little.
“I will sit on the steps,” said Nannie.
Emily looked as though she were going to cry. Then I had an idea.
“Can I go in the pool?” I asked. “I need to practice my swimming.”
I could not really practice my swimming in the shallow end. But Emily did not know that.
“Okay!” said Emily.
Nannie mouthed the words “Thank you” to me. I got in the pool and stood by Emily as she paddled around.
“Do you want to be a boat?” I asked Emily.
“Emmie be Little Toot!” she replied.
Little Toot is a book about a boat that Emily likes us to read to her.
“Okay, Little Toot,” I said. “Get ready to sail.”
I pulled Emily around in circles. She threw her head back and laughed.
Emily and I were having lots of fun at the Kormans’ pool. The day before, I had had fun at the pool with Terri and Kristin. That gave me an idea.
“Nannie, I promised Hannie and Nancy I would plan a surprise for them on the Fourth of July. Do you think we could have a picnic here at the pool?” I asked.
“I cannot give you permission until we ask the Kormans,” replied Nannie. “But I do not think they would mind. I will leave a message on their answering machine.”
“Thank you!” I said.
Nannie called the Kormans as soon as we got home. She asked if it would be all right for me to invite a small group of my friends for a picnic at their pool.
Before they left on vacation, the Kormans had said they would check their messages every evening. I hoped they would get back to us right away.
After dinner, the phone rang. I raced to answer it. It was Mrs. Korman.
“Hi!” I said. “Your house is fine. Did you get our message?”
Guess what! The Kormans said I could have the picnic at their pool. Yes!
I told my family my idea.
“We would like to have our own barbecue in the evening,” said Daddy. “But an afternoon picnic with your friends sounds like a great idea.”
Nannie offered to help me plan it.
“I want to send invitations!” I said. “I will need five of them. My guests will be Hannie, Nancy, Terri, Tammy, and Kristin. I will make the invitations red, white, and blue in honor of the Fourth of July.”
“What kind of food do you want to serve?” asked Nannie.
“Sandwiches and chips and soda,” I said.
“How about watermelon?” asked Nannie.
“Good idea.”
“And would you like some homemade candy? We can make red, white, and blue taffy.”
“Your taffy is the best!” I replied.
Nannie has her own candy-making business. She works in our old pantry. Daddy turned it into a second kitchen for her. I am an excellent helper. (I once helped Nannie win the Cocoa-Best Chocolate Cook-off contest. She won big prizes.) I was excited about my party. I thought I might be sad at the end of June when swim team practice ended. But now I had something exciting to look forward to.
I ran upstairs to get started on my invitations.
Go, Team, Go!
The meet on Thursday was set for eight o’clock at our pool. The visiting team was Howard Township.
“I am so excited!” I said to Terri and Kristin.
“I am glad we practiced again this afternoon at the Kormans’ pool,” said Terri.
I had invited my friends over to the Kormans’ for a premeet warm-up practice.
At seven-thirty the visiting team’s bus pulled up to the Community Center and the swimmers piled out. We let them have the first cheer, because they were our guests. Then we followed with ours.
Two, four, six, eight,
We are Stoneybrook swimmers and we are great!
We are Stoneybrook swimmers and we are cool.
Better watch out when we jump in the pool! Yea!
We spent the next fifteen minutes doing warm-ups and giving pep talks. Then, at eight o’clock sharp, Coach Carson’s whistle blew.
“Welcome, everyone,” he said. “Our first event is the eight and under fifty-meter freestyle. Swimmers, please take your places.”
Our coach does not waste words. He gets right down to business. If I were coach, I would take longer welcoming our guests. I would wish everyone luck and tell them to have a good time. But I was not coach and our meet was starting.
“Fifteen seconds!” called Coach Carson.
Then he blew the whistle and the swimmers dived in.
“Go, team, go!” Terri, Kristin, Jenna, and I cheered our team on. (Jenna was the other girl in our relay.) “Two, four, six, eight! We are Stoneybrook swimmers and we are …”
Oops. We lost the round.
“Hey, hey, that’s okay. We’ll win the meet anyway!” our team chanted.
But we did not win the next race either. The meet was not going very well.
“I hope Coach Carson is not angry,” said Terri.
Our event was one of the last of the evening. By then our team had caught up and was almost tied. The pressure was on.
“Maybe I should switch to the butterfly stroke. I already have butterflies in my stomach,” I said.
“You are doing freestyle,” said Jenna. “I am doing the butterfly.”
“I am glad I am doing the backstroke,” said Kristin.
“I wish I did not have to do the breast-stroke,” said Terri. “I am still not sure about the kick.”
“Relay swimmers, take your places!” called our coach.
The whistle blew. Kristin started strong. But at the end of her second lap she was lagging behind.
The butterflies in my stomach were going wild. In a few seconds I would have to swi
m as fast as I could. The next thing I knew, Kristin’s hand touched the wall and I was diving in.
I was so nervous that I was having trouble breathing. Water went up my nose. But I had to keep going. I had to move fast. I touched the wall and turned to finish my lap. I could hardly believe it. I was pulling ahead of the other team’s swimmer! I was slicing through the water.
I made it to the wall and Jenna dived in. Jenna has a strong butterfly stroke. She widened our lead. It was Terri’s turn.
“Go for it!” I called to Terri as she dived in.
Terri was doing the breaststroke much better than she had when she started with the team. But it was not fast enough. We lost our lead. We lost the relay. And we lost the meet by just a few points.
“Stoneybrook lost because I am not a good enough swimmer,” said Terri. “Maybe I should not be on the team.”
“Of course you should be on the team,” said Kristin. “You did your personal best. You should be proud.”
I kept quiet. I was gigundoly disappointed that we had lost. I decided I would just have to swim harder next time. If I swam harder, maybe we would win.
Coach Meanie-mo
On Friday morning I was standing with Terri and Kristin when Coach Carson walked over to us. He looked at Terri.
“Who taught you to do the breaststroke?” he asked.
Terri shrugged. “I do not remember. I may have learned in day camp two summers ago.”
“You either forgot or were not taught very well,” said the coach.
I did not like the way he was talking to my friend. I felt like telling him he should have helped her more before our meet. Then maybe we would have won.
Coach Carson looked at his watch and said, “Wait right here.”
It was nine o’clock sharp. Our coach never starts late. He blew the whistle.
“I want you to work out on your own for a few minutes,” he said to the team. “I have a swimmer who needs instruction.”
Terri turned pale.
“We will be right in the next lane,” I told her.