CHAPTER 3
In the pool locker room, Riley and Blake changed into their swimsuits. Then they walked through the showers to the pool. When class started, Mr. Casey gathered everyone at the deep end of the pool.
“Today we’re going to do something a little different,” Mr. Casey said. “First, you’re all going to learn how to jump off the starting blocks. Then we’re going to have some races.”
Most of the class groaned at Mr. Casey’s announcement. But Riley smiled. For some reason, he actually felt excited. He was glad to be doing something other than practicing swimming strokes.
Blake looked at him and rolled his eyes. “Oh, great,” Blake said. “We should have skipped class after all.”
“Hey, at least we get to do something different today,” Riley said, shrugging.
Mr. Casey taught them some different ways to jump off the starting blocks. Each student took a turn going off the blocks.
“Don’t go too deep into the water,” Mr. Casey said. “Stay close to the top of the water’s surface. Then you’ll lose less energy before your first stroke, and you’ll be able to go faster.”
“What strokes do we have to use for the race?” a kid asked.
“Our races today will be freestyle,” Mr. Casey replied.
Blake blurted out, “Great! That means we get to do whatever we want!”
“Actually, no,” Mr. Casey said. “Freestyle means you will be swimming the front crawl. That’s the most basic stroke in swimming. We went over it last week, remember?”
A few of the other kids laughed. Blake shrugged. “Yeah, I guess,” he said.
“How long are the races?” another kid asked.
“The pool is 25 yards long. The shortest race will be 50 yards, from one end of the pool to the other and back,” Mr. Casey said.
“Got it,” the kid said.
“Those short races are called sprints,” Mr. Casey said. “Some races during our swim meets are as long as 400 yards. That’s a total of sixteen times across the pool!”
“Sign me up for the sprints,” Riley said. “I want to go fast.”
“Everyone will get a chance to try a short race and a long race today,” Mr. Casey said. “I’ll tell you more about the long race in a while. First, let’s work on turns.”
Mr. Casey taught the class how to do a kick turn at the far end of the pool. A kick turn allowed the swimmers to spin underwater and kick off the end of the pool. Then they could change directions without stopping.
To his surprise, Riley really liked the kick turns. When he was swimming for fun, he loved doing tricks under water. The kick turns reminded him of that feeling.
After a while, Mr. Casey blew his whistle. “All right,” he said. “I need six swimmers for the first sprint race.”
Riley and five other swimmers raised their hands. “Get on your blocks,” Mr. Casey told them.
When the swimmers were ready, Mr. Casey yelled, “Three, two, one. Go!”
Riley was the first one off the blocks. He swam as hard as he could. He quickly reached the end of the pool and turned around using a kick turn.
Then he started to feel tired. His legs felt heavy, and it was hard to move his arms.
Finally, he finished the race.
Gasping for breath, Riley looked up. He was in fifth place. He slapped the water in disgust.