Bec stood on tiptoes at the front desk with her mum. She was trying to see over the counter. She’d been in such a rush to get dressed, her hair was dripping down her back. She wasn’t even wearing socks with her school shoes.

Who needs socks at a time like this! Bec thought excitedly.

Soon Hung opened the door from a back room and walked over to the counter. He smiled at Bec’s mum. ‘Hello, Cathy,’ he said, shuffling a pile of papers.

‘Hi, Hung,’ said Bec’s mum, a question in her voice.

‘Your daughter’s been working very hard in the pool,’ said Hung, smiling at Bec. ‘I wanted to talk to you about her joining the junior squad.’

Junior squad? Bec jumped up and down, pulling on the counter and trying to read the papers in front of Hung. It wasn’t easy when they were upside down and kept disappearing each time she landed.

Junior squad sounded so super cool!

Bec’s mum smiled proudly at Bec. ‘Well, Bec certainly loves swimming.’

‘Here,’ said Hung, handing the papers over the counter to Bec’s mum. ‘Have a read when you get home. Squad is hard work, but we still have fun.’

Bec grabbed her mum’s arm. ‘Can I do it, Mum? Please please please?’

Her mum frowned. ‘Well, I want to read through these papers. And we need to talk it over with your dad …’ Then she rolled her eyes and laughed. ‘But we’d be crazy to try to stop you, Bec.’

‘YIPEE!’ Bec cried. She started jumping again. But this time it wasn’t to see over the counter. Suddenly she just couldn’t stop jumping!

After dinner that night, Bec lay on her bed, her eyes glued to the papers that Hung had given them.

Junior squad sounded awesome! And serious. It was two sessions per week, and meant she would have the chance to swim real races. Even the list of equipment made squad sound like the big time. She needed two pairs of goggles, her own flippers and a bottle of water.

When Bec had finished reading, she laid the papers carefully on her desk. Then, using her ultra-neat handwriting, she started to fill in the forms. Well, only the questions that she could fill in. Bec knew she couldn’t sign her mum’s name!

Now and then as she worked, Bec tilted her head and jiggled, trying to shake water from her ears.

When she had finished, Bec leant back in her chair. It was pretty exciting, even though Bec knew she wouldn’t be the best in the class anymore. Not by a long shot! But if Hung thought Bec could keep up with the other squad kids, then she would try her hardest.

Bec pulled an old magazine from her book shelf. She rested it on her desk and started flicking, looking for something. When she came to an article called Golden Girls, Bec stopped flicking.

Smiling out of the page were four of the most amazing women that Bec had ever seen – the Aussie women’s swim team. Gold medal winners! And they really did look like golden girls – strong, fit bodies, glowing skin …

A swimmer with blonde hair was laughing at the camera and holding up her fingernails, showing off her funky nail polish. She had a shiny gold medal around her neck.

It gave Bec an idea. She lifted her jewellery box from the bottom drawer of her desk. Inside was her favourite lip balm, a packet of chewing gum, five bangles … and two bottles of nail polish. She had a dusty pink and a deep red one. Two bottles wasn’t much to work with, but Bec had a liquid paper pen too …

Biting her bottom lip and frowning, Bec set to work. It wasn’t easy. The red brush kinked out to one side, making it hard to keep the strokes neat. But Bec worked slowly and made sure she did a good job.

When she finished, Bec sat back and looked at her nails with satisfaction. Each one was half-pink and half-red – with white squiggles and dots on top! It looked pretty cool.

Bec grinned and waved her hands in the air. It was a bit silly, copying the swimmer in the picture. But it was fun. too.

And maybe, Bec thought, maybe one day I’ll win swimming races, too.