Olympic Dreams

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

Greg turned and hugged Monique, the tears coming down his cheek masked by the pool water coming off his wet hair. She held him as he kissed her neck, not even flinching at how his wet body was soaking into her clothes. “Guess I lost,” he said.

Jimmy stood back and watched. He had rode his bike over from the indoor pool, hoping to see the race. He got there just as the race started. He was awestruck by the whole event. Jimmy did not know what he would say to Greg, so he just stood back, buried into the crowd. It was like a scene from any sports championship, jubilation on one side, tears on the other. The third place swimmer was totally faded into the background.

“Sorry coach,” Greg said as his coach wrapped his arm around him.

“Greg, you swam the best race you could. It showed. You gave everything you had. You have nothing to be sorry about.” Coach answered. He always had the right thing to say. Greg smiled. “And a few college coaches want to meet you.”

Greg entered the locker room and quickly shed the wet, tight swimsuit. While he loved his race day suits, right now a swimsuit was the last thing he wanted to wear. He showered alone, the locker room empty, and changed into his favorite bright orange and black board shorts. He was done with swimming for the day. Tomorrow he would start again. Next time, Phillip was going down, Greg thought. He had lost the big race, but he still had his spirit.

Jimmy rode home.

[shaulis]

STS,

I loved this chapter. We see Greg lose in a very fast race by a fraction. What a heartbreaking loss for Greg and by only a few tenths of a second. I hope Jimmy does try out for the swim team if you take this story that far. I can't wait for the next chapter

Brian

[Dooley67]

STS,

Another terrific chapter, full of suspense and excitement. You captured the thoughts of both swimmers so well, all the while keeping the race at the forefront of the chapter. And Jimmy is beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, he can become a high school swimmer. I'm eagerly awaiting the next chapter to see the outcome of the idea of getting Jimmy a real swimmer's suit. Great work on this chapter!

Mark

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

The Sunday after the big meet was a special treat, coach gave the team the day off. It was a good thing, Greg had not slept at all, the race playing in his mind, over and over and over again. Greg climbed out of bed, it was a few minutes after five am. He slipped on the board shorts he wore yesterday and went downstairs. The sun was already coming up, but the house was still quiet. It would be at least an hour before anyone else got out of bed. Monique, who had come up for the meet, was still in the other bedroom of the house. After the meet, Greg and her, along with his host parents had gone to dinner. Greg and Monique then spent the evening out by the small backyard pool, playing cards and just being boyfriend and girlfriend. All the while, Greg felt like he had let everyone, most of all himself, down.

While he had no desire to swim, he jumped in the pool and swam a few “laps” underwater, just to get refreshed and wash the cobwebs from his eyes. He felt the drag of his board shorts, a far different feel from his swim team suits. While he loved his boardies, he knew he could never actually swim in them. He climbed out, refreshed, and sat on the lounger. The time alone was nice. He leaned back and reflected. He had swam the race of his life, set a new personal best time, and he did get some looks from a couple of great schools. It really wasn’t the end of the world.

Just before he was about to doze, Greg got out of the chair and headed back inside. Back in his room, his home away from home, he grabbed his box full of swimsuits and dumped all of them on his bed. He had at least 40 suits in the box, not even half of his total collection. He added the four new swimsuits he got at the meet, tags still on them, two of which Monique had picked out. He smiled at the new suits, excited to try them on, but he held back. Greg methodically laid each suit out, sorting them by brands. Speedo was the most popular in his collection, followed by Tyr, Nike, and Agon. He had a sole Arena suit, and a couple different less common brands. He had a couple suits where he had duplicate colors, one size 26 and one in 28. Greg wore mostly 28, except for races where he wore 26 or even 24. He pulled from his stacks two suits, both size 26, both Speedo brand and set them aside. He laid his collection neatly back in the box.

-----

Jimmy got home from church and ran in the house and quickly changed into his blue shorts, his usual Sunday morning rush. While the rest of the family would sit down to a lunch, Jimmy would hop on his bicycle and head over to the pool. He got to the pool at about quarter of noon, surprised to see it totally empty. No swim team. He was looking forward to watching the Sunday game of inner tube Polo.

“You get to start early,” Molly said as Jimmy came in,

“How come?” Jimmy asked.

“Oh, swim team took the day off,” Molly replied.

Jimmy was disappointed that he would not see Greg. He was looking forward to telling him about his idea to join the high school team. Jimmy dropped his stuff on the bench along the fence, stripped off his shirt and ran in to take the required shower. On his way back he grabbed all his drill gear. He was still the only one there, besides the guards and Molly. Jimmy jumped in and began swimming. One would think a kid who came swimming every day for hours would get tired of it. Not Jimmy, he loved every minute.

The swim team coach was in the small office working. He used the quiet time to write up some new drills and practice plans. He looked out his window and saw the same kid in blue shorts. He stopped his writing and watched. “Wow, has he improved,” he thought to himself. He recalled weeks back a skinny, uncoordinated kid who looked like a fish out of water as he swam. He stood and left his office.

“Who is that kid?” Coach asked Molly.

“Oh, that’s Jimmy, he swims every day, rain or shine. Two hours and then sometimes comes back at night and swims again,” Molly explained.

“He’s really improved,” the Coach added. “Is he being coached at all?”

“Not really,” Molly replied. “Greg from your team spends some time with him, but that is about it.”

“Interesting,” Coach replied. “So this is the kid Greg was talking about,” Coach thought to himself.

“You know, Molly, he may not have the best technique yet, but I have to admire his dedication. I’d take that on my team any day, I can work with a kid who has drive.”

Jimmy went back and forth, changing up strokes. He saw the coach on the deck, but never heard a word of the conversation. Jimmy had no idea how important this day was going to be for his future plans. The Coach smiled and went back into his office. “I like this kid,” he thought to himself.

-----

Monique and Greg had plans to spend the afternoon at the beach. The left the house shortly after twelve and made a stop at a local Dunkin Donuts for food Greg’s coach would freak out at. Greg had two chocolate glazed donuts and a chocolate milk. Monique had a bagel with cream cheese and an iced coffee. “Hey, mind if I swing by the pool?” Greg asked. “I want to go say hi to Jimmy.”

“Sure,” Monique replied. “I’d like to meet him.”

Jimmy was finishing up his first hour. He stopped at the wall and was changing into flippers for his kicking drills. He wasn’t really watching for Greg, figuring he’d not see his friend and coach today.

“Hey Jimmy,” the voice started Jimmy’s concentration. He turned and saw Greg and Monique walking toward him. This time Greg had on white “Corona” logo’d boardies, which was funny because not only did Greg not drink beer, but he wasn’t even close to old enough. In fact, he’d never even tasted a Corona. He just liked the shorts. Monique was far more interesting. She had on tiny pink shorts and a short cropped T-shirt that had a low neckline. She wasn’t just cute, Jimmy thought, she was hot!

“Hey Greg,” Jimmy replied with excitement. They went through introductions, with Jimmy reaching up and shaking Monique’s hand. Jimmy then explained what he was working on.

“Let’s see what you can do,” Greg asked. He watched as Jimmy swam a lap, did the best flip turn he could at the end and then swam back half way in back and then the other in breast.

“Jimmy, you are doing really good, that looked great.” Greg offered. “Hey, I got something for you,” Jimmy added, pulling the two swimsuits he had set aside earlier from the bag. “I think it is time you wore a real swimsuit.” Greg added.

Jimmy was overwhelmed. He held up the two suits, one a red print and the other a blue solid with yellow side panels. Both size 26. “Thanks, so much,” Jimmy replied.

“Hey, I got lots of swimsuits and these were duplicates, so I thought you could use them, go out one on and lets see…” Greg tailed off. Jimmy leaped from the pool, showing off his newest skill, and headed to the locker room to change. Monique smiled as Greg’s “younger brother” headed off to change.

“You really care about him,” she said as she kissed Greg’s cheek. “You’re sweet.”

Jimmy slipped off the blue swims shorts and chose the red print Speedo brand suit to put on. He slid the tight swimsuit up his legs and around his waist. The suit was snug and tight, and really tiny, but it actually fit perfectly. The snug lycra material wrapped around Jimmy, grabbing him snugly. The same ting that happens to most guys the first time they put on a snug fitting swimsuit happened to Jimmy, at least somewhat. He stood in front of the full length mirror and looked at how the suit looked on.

“Wow, you can see everything,” he thought to himself. It seemed way more revealing on him than he thought these swimsuits looked on the swim team guys. He fussed with positioning and look, finally deciding on what felt most comfortable. Despite the fact that this was the smallest piece of clothing he will have ever worn in his life, Jimmy had no hesitation walking out of the locker room.

“Now you look like a serious swimmer,” Greg complimented him.

“You do look great, Jimmy,” Monique added. Jimmy smiled at both of them, but opted not to stare to much at Monique for fear his body might respond.

“Did you tie the strings?” Greg asked.

“Oh yeah, forgot,” Jimmy replied. He pulled the strings out and tied them up tight.

Greg slipped off his Corona shorts to reveal one of the swimsuits Monique had bought. She smiled at him and he gave her a little swirl. With that the two guys jumped in the water. Jimmy immediately could not believe how different the water felt on his body. It was like he was free, almost naked.

“Let’s swim a length, so you get used to the new swimsuit. Jimmy started out and Greg followed. It was a much slower pace for Greg, but he held back. He watched the timing of Jimmy’s kick ahead of him, and the pull through of his arms. The next big critical thing, Greg thought, was to get Jimmy to rotate more. They got to the end of the pool and stood.

“How was it?” Greg asked.

“I love my swimsuit,” Jimmy answered.

“I told you,” Greg replied. “Looks like it fits perfect, too.” Jimmy smiled.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

Jimmy never got a chance to tell Greg about the swim team. He was too excited about his new suits. He did, however, tell Greg how amazing he swam yesterday. Greg smiled. Being Jimmy’s hero was the best reward he could have. The two swimmers went on about their practice.

On the way out Coach stopped Greg. After a brief word of encouragement about his swim yesterday, the coach asked about Jimmy. Greg filled him in on the entire story. Coach wasn’t sure what he was more impressed with, Jimmy’s dedication or Greg’s generosity of time.

“You’re a good guy, Greg,” Coach replied. “Keep encouraging him, and keep me posted.”

Monique and Greg headed off to the beach, where she was going to tantalize him in her blue bikini and he was going to show off to her in his hot blue print racer. Jimmy swam for almost two more hours and then rode home in his new swimsuit, the old blue shorts retired.

“Oh, by the way Greg, the coach from Uconn is calling me today,” Coach added. “To talk about you…”

[shaulis]

STS,

Another great chapter. I hope Jimmy tells Greg that he's thinking of joining his school swim team. If I were a gambling man I'd say the Greg character was fashioned after you STS (Ryan)as you're generous with your time and swim knowledge but I don't know if you'd give away any of your swimsuit collection to anyone. I loved that Greg's coach was impressed with Jimmy's progress with Greg's tips and pointers but essentially Jimmy did it with his own determination to get better. Even Monique noticed how Greg treated Jimmy like a younger brother. I wonder how Jimmy's parents will react when he arrives home in his new (to him) swimsuit. I hope good things come from Greg's coachs talk with the UConn swim coach. I can't wait for the next chapter.

Thanks,

Brian

[Dooley67]

STS,

Another great chapter. I like the way Greg is so nonchalant about giving the 2 swimsuits to Jimmy and how grateful Jimmy is. Even though Greg and Monique had plans to go to the beach, they still stopped by the pool to check on Jimmy's progress. It was Greg's idea to do that, but Monique was fine with it because she seems to be a giving person. And while Greg was at the pool where he practices and whipped off the boardies down to his swim briefs, you know that he will do the same at the beach because of Monique's influence. It was also nice to see Jimmy, a poor kid, wearing good quality suits and admiring himself when he put the red one on. Finally, we know that the coach will be watching Jimmy very closely.

Mark

[Swimmboy]

Okay - I had not checked the "story' page for a while, so I just got to read this new story today. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop! I love the characters of Greg and Jimmy, and the way they have become such close friends. Greg mentoring the younger kid is great - what a kind and decent young man he is. I can't wait for the next chapter! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Jim

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

Call it an intermission... I am working on the next few chapters, but I have special guests for the next few weeks, so I may be slower getting new chapters up. Thanks for understanding. Summer in Maine, USA is short (especially this one after that harsh winter) and I always take full advantage of it.

Ryan

[Dooley67]

I certainly understand the delay. We folks in Maine have to take advantage of every day of summer because all too soon, cooler weather will be here. And when you have guests, you want to spend as much time with them as you canmwhile the weather is still warm. I eagerly await the next chapters. Have fun.

Mark