Splash, Gulp, Flip, Swim

Finally, the day came… the swim team list was posted by the Phys-ed teacher’s office.  The minutes seemed to tick past ever so slowly.  The last few minutes of the day were extra long it seemed to me.  “Bbbrrriiinnnggg!!!”  “Flip”  That was a long afternoon I thought!

Closing my binder shut and shoving it into my green back pack I scrambled out the door down the hall, down a flight of stairs and along the hallway to the Phys-ed wing of the school.  Scanning the paper notices on the big cork board I found what I was looking for!

I ran my finger down the list of names… “Ssskkkwweeeelll!”  I let out a yell “Yes!  I did it!”  Jumping up and down on the spot I was so happy!  Ms. Len opened the teacher’s door and stuck her head out.  She was the blonde haired coach who was also a gym teacher and guidance counselor. 

“Oh hi, Aime!  I see you found your name!  Congrats for making it on the team.  You have such heart, passion, loyalty, and spirit we couldn’t not have you on the team.  Great energy you have!  See you on Thursday afternoon on the deck!”  She smiled at me.

Wednesday night I double checked my red swim bag.  I had 2 bright multi coloured beach towels, a swim cap, a new purple swim suit, and blue with pink goggles.  I need to see the wall to do the flip turn at the wall.

Earlier in the evening Mum surprised me by taking me to a special swim store called Omni Swim.  It was full of racks of different swim suites.  “Mum!  Look at this one, it’s purple!”  Trying on a few different ones was fun.  I never knew different backs were on the racer suites for girls who swim competitively.  There were criss-cross straps, straps that came together at the back and had double stitching to hold it in place, straps that came together in the back that were double stitched onto another piece of square fabric.  The suites were make of lycra, had a beige lining on the inside and were stretchy.  And the cut on the bottom was different too.  Some cuts were high, like bikini swim suites going up over the hip exposing it fully, some cuts were more moderate, and some cuts were very low.  I went with a moderate cut.  I have never had a swim suit like this one before.

Some of the suites fit better than others, the sales clerk was very familiar with swim suites for competitive girl swimmers.  “See how the strap is pretty tight yet I can still get a finger under the strap on the shoulder, it should be like that.  Too loose and the straps can fall off.  And because your daughter is chesty she needs her straps to stay in place.  The back I see she chose is the right kind too.  Something that has the double stitching with all straps coming together is the best for her as well.  Do you feel snug and supported in the suit?”  The sales clerk asked me.

“Yes I do, it feels snug, yet I can still breathe.”  My boobs looked all squished, and like a uni-boob.  Oh the joys of being chesty in high school!  I chose two suites, and Mum went to pay for them.

Up on the wall behind the sales table were a bunch of swim suites hanging on plastic figures.  One was red and black.  “What high school are you from?  Who are you representing?”  The sales clerk smiled at me as he handed me the bag.  With pride I replied with a big smile “Dunbarton High School, in Pickering, sir.”

“Oh yes, they are a really great team.  See the red and black suit up there?  That was their team suit last year.  We provide their team suites.  Have a great season, have fun and swim fast!”  I smiled back saying thank you too.  I looked back again at the red and black suit hanging on the wall.  Thinking to myself “We get team suites?  So cool!” 

Double checking for what seemed like the 20^th time that I had everything, and the tags were all removed from the new swim suit I zipped up my red swim bag.  I put it beside my green backpack at the front door for the morning.