Olympic Dreams

[shaulis]

STS,

Another great chapter you have posted. I hope Jimmy gets on the team the suspense is killing me. I liked that Greg called the swim coach to find out how Jimmy did, explaining he didn't call to influence his decision but wanted to know if Jimmy made the team.

[Dooley67]

STS,

Another wonderful chapter with such intensity and being able to almost hear Jimmy's thinking and strategizing as he swam. The fact that Jimmy talked himself through using Greg's words shows the strength of the bond between the two. And Greg's call to the coach showed how much he is invested in Jimmy making the team. Aiden's and Randy's pulling for Jimmy and wanting him to make the team really shows the feeling that these swimmers have for each other, cheering each other on and not feeling the need to compete with each other. I'm eagerly awaiting the decision and I think the coach showed his cards in his phone conversation with Greg - at least I hope he did.

D67

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

Jimmy didn’t sleep. He laid awake most of the night, first texting with Greg, then with Abby. Finally, late he replied to a text from Randy.

“You awake?“ Randy asked.

“Yeah, can’t sleep…“ Jimmy replied.

Randy and Jimmy texted until the wee hours of night, far too late than they should have. Randy was sure Jimmy was on the team. “No way you blow out a great 500 and not get on the team,” Randy said in one text. There was no doubt Randy was on the team, the only question there was varsity or junior varsity. Randy had a real shot at the top tier.

“u r in dude,” Jimmy assured Randy.

“u2” Randy replied. The conversation wandered from there. “What is your favorite swimsuit?” Randy asked as the guys changed from swim team to other topics.

“My red and white print Speedo,” Jimmy replied.

By the end of the text conversation, Jimmy had sent Randy a selfie picture modeling the hot swimsuit. “Don’t put this on Facebook,” Jimmy demanded. Randy thought Jimmy looked hot in the picture.

“Keeping this one private,” Randy replied.

------

Jimmy was out of bed early, just a few hours after the end of the texting sessions. His eyes stung from lack of sleep. He had farm chores before school, which he finished up fast. Not well. He showered and put on his black and gold print Tyr swimsuit, adjusting himself in the mirror. His fatigued body surprisingly quick responded in a way he did not expect, but felt great. He teased himself more, which led to other self inflicted pleasures that come with his age, followed by another shower.

Jimmy got dressed. He slipped his Levi 501 button fly jeans on over the bold looking Tyr swimsuit, which he chose to wear for good luck to himself making the team. He put on the swim team shirt Greg gave him over the Summer, grabbed his books and headed out the door. He slept on the twenty minuet school bus ride. He’d also sleep through most of his first two periods of class.

Jimmy’s mind was not on his classes. He was incredibly tired, the lack of sleep quickly catching up with him. His notebook was lined with little pictures of swimmers. At least as best as Jimmy could draw them. He had colored in the words “Swim Team” in a variety of patterns and shades. He certainly was thinking, but not on algebra or USA History. Lunch came slow. It seemed like class dragged on and on. Aiden, Randy and Jimmy agreed to meet outside the cafeteria. They would all go together to check the results. As soon as the bell rang, Jimmy bolted to the cafeteria, making it to the designated meeting spot first.

“You are in,” Aiden said as he approached. Jimmy’s eyes lit up.

“How do you know?” Jimmy replied.

“I just do,” Aiden said, finally admitting he really knew nothing official.

“Well, guys, this is it!” Randy said as he joined the group. “Let’s go get the news!”

------

Almost every guy from the tryouts was gathered around the window of the coach’s office. The office was a small room with no windows adjacent to the gymnasium. It was shared by all the coaches, except for football and basketball, who were the upper crust and had private offices of their own. Not surprising that the revenue sports got top billing, even in the small New England town. The door looked prison institutional, a beige grey color with a faux wire lined window that looked fresh out a 190’s episode of Dragnet. To the outside observer, it was a Spartan contrast to the otherwise well appointed school, almost as if they ran out of the new doors and stole one from the old school before it got torn down.

Taped on the inside of the window facing out were two lists. On the left was the swimmers who made the Varsity team. Included in this list were the former junior varsity swimmers who were being moved up. When all the dust settled, five of the try out swimmers would make the varsity team. On the right was the junior varsity list. The options here were greater, opening up eight spots for the JV team. Out of the twenty swimmers who tried out, thirteen made the team. Better odds than they all expected, but still some guys would walk away broken hearted.

There was hardly any space to see the lists as a dozen or so guys clamored for a look. Randy nudged his way in first, tucked between Bo and Jeff. He first scanned the JV list and gulped when he did not see his name. Bo pumped his fists, as he found his name at the second spot of the varsity list. Randy continued to carefully go down the list.

“I did it,” Randy blurted out as he saw his name. He was smack in the middle of the list, although the placement really had no reflection of anything other than how the coaches wrote the names down.

Picking the swimmers was the product of hours of debate. It was a very manual process. Each coach went through their thoughts and observations. The first step was to pick the top 13 out of the field, which would then be the ones who would make one team or another. All but one of the guys who wore anything other than a real swimmer’s brief did not make the cut. Tyler, the guy from Jimmy and Randy’s warm up set was out. In fact, he was the first one off the list. The one swimmer who wore jammers made the JV team, not that his choice of swimsuit made any difference.

“Congratulations, Randy” Jimmy said. Jimmy had not yet scanned for his name, standing back. He was almost afraid, he did not want to be disappointed, nor did he want his two new friends to see him lose out.

“Aiden, you got JV,” Randy said. “I thought for sure you were varsity.”

“Yeah, well maybe next time,” Aiden replied. He was clearly disappointed. As much as he wanted to be tough, his eyes watered a bit. While they were young men, they were also still growing up, and their emotions of youth could show up quickly. Aiden wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. His gut felt like it got hit.

Once they had the thirteen, the coaches put all the names on post-it notes. They stood at a whiteboard and shifted them around based on the ebb and flow of conversation. Aiden was varsity until the very last round, when they cut the list from seven to five. Last man out. Once the varsity team was locked down, it would appear to have been an easy process, but it really was not. As the coaches looked at the final eight, they weighed the future of the team. It was not just about the talent this year, but with most of the swimmers being freshman, they had to weigh out needs in the years to come. Suddenly names from the first discard made their way back on the board. Jimmy was a hot topic of conversation. His name went up and down several times over the last two hours of the coaching debate.

“Kid’s got potential, look at how he did the fly,” Coach Lisa kept saying. “Just three months and he beat almost every guy in the twenty.” His name popped on the board.

“He has never raced and he has lots of work on turns and his free was slow,” replied another coach. His name would suddenly fall off. Jimmy was not alone in the yoyo game of picking the JV winners.

Jimmy finally made his way to the door. Most of the guys were standing back, some licking their wounds and others on cloud nine. Randy was top of the world, Aiden not so much. Bo was his usual conceited self, saying nothing to anyone and acting as if he was simply entitled to his varsity role.

“I am really sorry Aiden,” Randy said to his friend. “You’re a better swimmer than me, you should have been varsity.” Kind words that still stung.

Jimmy never even bothered to look at the varsity list, no way he was there. He wasn’t. He scanned the JV list, reading each name down the list. At number 14 on the list was his name, followed by the words “See Coach Lisa.”

“What does that mean?” Jimmy asked Randy, who was right beside him, hand on Jimmy’s shoulder.

“I think it means you made the team,” Randy replied. “I mean you are on the list.”

“But why see Coach?” Jimmy asked. He was perplexed. Suddenly the swimsuit under his jeans felt tight, but not for the reasons that usually made it tight, it felt tight because he wasn’t sure he deserved to wear a real swimsuit, “Maybe I am not a real swimmer,” Jimmy thought.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

“Jimmy, I am really impressed by how you swim,” Coach Lisa began, as the two sat privately in the coach‘s office. “You love the sport and it shows.”

“Thanks,” Jimmy replied. “Yeah, I swam every day all Summer, well except for one day when I went to see Greg’s swim meet.”

“Oh yeah, Coach told me about Greg and you. That is a great story.”

“Yeah, Greg is the best swimmer ever.” Jimmy replied. Coach Lisa smiled.

“So here is the deal. I think you deserve to be on the team and all the coaches agree. But you have some work to do to be ready for swimming on a swim team. I mean your really good, but we have to build on a few things.”

“I understand,” Jimmy replied. “Greg said I need to keep working real hard. I know I messed up my breast turn and Greg said I was not suppose to do a flip turn on my fly, that was stupid.”

“Well, not stupid, Jimmy. You are just new. I don’t like the word stupid.” Coach Lisa replied. “Kelly, one of the sophomore swimmers is moving away six weeks from now. So, what we want to do is put you on the team as an alternate until then. You get to practice with the team, you will go to all the meets, but you won’t be able to swim at meets until Kelly leaves the team. And, you have to show you are ready to swim at a meet. Six weeks to work on the skills you still need.”

“So, am I on the team now, or what?,” Jimmy relied. “I mean I really want to be a swimmer.”

“Yes, Jimmy, if you agree to this you are on the team. You can even suit up at meets and do warm up swims,” Coach Lisa replied. “I really want you on my team. I think you will be a great swimmer, Jimmy.”

What happened next shocked everyone. Jimmy jumped up and hugged the coach, breaking every school rule about socialization with teachers. He could not contain himself. His outburst of affection caught Coach Lisa by surprise. The next thing of surprise to Jimmy was he welled up with tears of joy. He had made the team and Jimmy did not realize how deep it would hit his emotions. “Thank you so much,” he said as his tears caused Lisa’s shoulder to get wet. She said nothing, holding Jimmy as he poured out his heart. School rules be damned, his emotion and his hug was genuine. It never went further than the room.

______

“I knew you could do it, Jimmy” said Greg. “I can’t even tell you in words how proud I am of you.”

“You are the best swim coach ever,” Jimmy replied. “And the best friend in all the world.”

“You know Jimmy, I don’t remember why I came over to help you that day in the pool, but from that day on I knew you were an awesome kid,” Greg confided. “I never had a little brother, but now I do. And you’re the best little brother I could ever want.”

The call went silent for a while. The two young men soaked in the success. Jimmy made his dream. He was, finally, a real swim team swimmer. It would change his life forever.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

It was a gorgeous day off the coast of Southern California. The sun was bold in the blue sky, the winds overnight had cleared most of the smog out of the LA basin, a rare treat. It was a perfect day for a boat ride. The 35 foot ocean going vessel with twin 250 hp engines powered its way slowly out of the harbor south of Huntington Beach. Gale wind warnings were posted for 16 miles out, but there was no sign of that now. The winds of the past few days had died off, and surely it was going to be a perfect day. The family of four, two adults and twin boy and girl, ages 14 were ready for a fun day at sea. Sunning, fishing and eating were on tap. They followed a string of similar boats out into the vast open water of the Pacific. Most others would turn back.

The US Coast Guard is always at the ready, but especially on days when the weather plays a fools game. The day was too nice, but the risks at sea were high. In the Pacific off Catalina Island conditions change in minutes and the best of days can quickly become the worst of nightmares.

“Thirty five foot vessel reports person overboard in rough seas, 13 miles west of Catalina Island.”

“Roger, Chopper six fifty two, we are airborne now off Huntington Beach, ETA is seven minutes.”

“Coordinates dispatched to you now. Be advised minimum six foot swells are in the area,”

“Roger that,”

The chopper quickly veered west heading to the coordinates locked in on their navigational computer.

“We have vessel in sight,” the chopper reported. “Making radio contact with the captain now,”

“Roger, be advised we have a vessel in route, ETA is twenty one minutes.” A lifetime when someone is in water as rough as the sea was on this day.

The chopper quickly switched to sea radio emergency frequency. “Catalina Breeze, this is USCG chopper six five two, we have you in sight, can you hear me.”

“I can, chopper. Help. Our daughter age 14 went overboard and we can’t locate her. She is 14, she has on a life vest and she can swim. We are idle and engines off, for fear we might run into her.” The horrified father was remarkably calm.

“Stay with your vessel and alert me if you spot her,” the chopper replied. “Keep all passengers inside, no one on deck. Do not try to rescue, contact us.”

“We are all secure. Understood.” the father replied.

“Get the swimmer ready,” the Captain called out. “Get a basket ready, we may need to recover.”

“Swimmer getting ready,’ came the reply of the young Coast Guard cadet. In the back of the chopper a young man, fresh out of college, quickly changed into a dry suit and prepared to be dropped into the choppy ocean, if the need be. The door to the chopper was opened and the crew quickly took up the task of scanning the water in search of a person. Finding a needle in a haystack of turbulent sea.

“Got her in sight,” came the call.

“Any signs of life?” asked the captain.

“She appears to be moving, wait, yes, she just waved her arms. She has a life jacket on. She is in serious trouble with those waves”

The next series of events happened so fast, Jimmy had no time to think. In seconds he was on a cable dropping fast to the water. The seas were rough, as rough as he had ever trained for. He landed about fifty feet from the terrified young girl, but the swells made keeping sight of her tough. In his ear, the chopper instructed him to her location. The three minutes he was in the water seemed like a life time.

“Got her,” Jimmy called.

The young girl clung to him. “Help me, please,” she kept saying.

“You are fine, just hang on to me,” Jimmy replied. “I am going to strap us together. Okay.”

She said nothing, her arms clinging tightly to his body. The chopper cable was then locked to both of them. “Okay, you are doing fine, now when I tell you to close your eyes, I want you to keep them closed until I tell you to open them, We are going for a ride, just like at an amusement park. You with me?”

“Yes, just get me out of here.”

Jimmy gave the all clear signal and the cable quickly went taught. Within seconds they were out of the waves, swinging in the wind, fifty, then a hundred feet above the water. The crew hands steadied the cable and grabbed both of them. First the young girl was lifted into the chopper, which was hovering over the wild seas. Jimmy was quickly pulled in after. The door was closed.

“Okay, you can open now, you are safe, and so is your family,” Jimmy said.

-------

Abby greeted Jimmy at their apartment on the base. She was so proud and yet so terrified as he relived the story. Jimmy followed with a call to Greg, catching him as he was leaving the pool at the small Division 2 college where he was now the head coach of swimming. He relived the whole story for Greg.

“Well, Jimmy, I guess you can now truly say you are a real swimmer. It does not get more real than that.”

“Yes, I guess so,” Jimmy replied.

Jimmy continues his career in the USCG, now stationed in Alaska. Abby and Jimmy expect their first child in seven months. Despite his swimming years in high school, some big wins along the way, Jimmy won the biggest event of his swimming career in the eyes of a rescued fourteen year old girl. Greg is on his fourth winning season coaching at the small college and is eyeing his break into Division one. Greg remains single, and is a proud Gamecock alumnus, where he set six school records. Randy and Aiden turned out to be more than just swimmers, becoming life long partners and have taken advantage of the opening of marriage to all those in love.

Jimmy still swims, every single day. Greg and Jimmy, to this day, text or talk after each swim.

The end.

[solarguy]

WOW! This was really a great story! It is very inspiring! Thank you for all the hard work and effort you put into it!

[shaulis]

STS,

Another great chapter I liked that you took us from Jimmy on the swim team to Jimmy saving a girl's life in a ocean rescue as a USCG serviceman. I liked that you tell us Greg and Jimmy kept in contact throughout their life. Olympic Dreams is by far one of your best stories you have shared with us. Thanks for all the time and effort you have spent on this story. I hope you share another story with us soon.

Brian

[Byron]

Yes it was - my story ended but had to open story center once more to find the finale on G & J in OD

[Dooley67]

STS,

Wonderful last chapter to this story. I loved the ending because it was so much in keeping with Jimmy's character and personality. Initially, I thought it was Greg but ultimately it made more sense for it to be Jimmy. I agree with shaulis that this was one of your best stories to date. I want to emphasize "to date" because I want to be reading more stories from you. Great job and thanks so much for entertaining all of us.

D67

[singletlover]

All I can say is wonderful, tears in eyes.

Thank you for providing a wonderful story