Friday. The last day of camp. The day of the ironman and ironwoman events. I was nervous: I wanted to do well. I wanted to make a good start at this new school and with this new group of kids – and to impress my new friends. Bubba was excited and even Bryce was more chatty than usual, talking about the sporting activities coming up, instead of the koala crisis or the likelihood of the Earth being blown up by an asteroid. Jack was quietly confident about his chances, too. He was a pretty sporty kid. Okay, he hadn’t had much surfing experience, but he was fast and competitive.

Of course, there was Fisk, too. I was really keen to beat him. I didn’t know what he was like at other sports. This might be my only chance to nail him.

And then there was Luci Rankin who had come down for the early morning surfing session. I’m sure she watched me. Well, she watched someone.

The beach had been set up as if there was a proper ironman competition about to happen. Orange flag tape stretched out at each venue. All the boards were laid out neatly near the water’s edge ready for the paddle. A patch of beach had been raked for the beach flags race. And there was a wide viewing area in the middle so the spectators could see everything. There were big eskies full of cold drinks. The ten dollars we each had had to hand in to the teachers at the start of the week could now be spent on ice-creams, drinks and snacks.

Jack must have noticed the surprised look I had.

‘I told you Sandhurst took their sport seriously. Just wait till you see some of the other sports and how they turn it on. There’s only one thing missing.’

‘What’s that?’ I asked, thinking that everything was here.

‘Parents,’ he replied.

‘Oh.’

The ironwoman event was first. This was good and bad. Good, because I got a chance to see each of the events and how they were run. Bad, because it meant more time for the butterflies in my stomach to kick around. I didn’t usually get nervous, but there was something about Sandhurst and the whole sport thing that had really got to me.

Mr Spears explained the scoring for the iron events. You got seven points for winning an event, five for coming second, three for third, two for fourth and one for coming fifth.

I grabbed a bottle of water and walked over to the first event – the beach flags race. Mr Spears was calling over a handheld megaphone for any girls interested in the beach flags race to report to the start.

‘Wish me luck, Mitchell. I reckon I’m gonna need it.’

It was Luci Rankin. She’d actually used my name.

And then Mia Tompkins appeared. Everyone knew her name. She was one of the sportiest girls in the school.

‘Run your own race, Luci. Lock your eyes on a flag and don’t look away till you’ve got it in your hand,’ I said.

‘You bet,’ she said and walked off to the group gathering at the start.

There were eleven girls in the race. Mr Spears wrote their names on a clipboard then explained that only eight flags would be posted for the first race, four for the second, two for the third race and then one for the last race, when there would be only two girls left.

Luci was trying to get as far away from Mia as she could. Finally they were all lying down with their chins on their hands. A bit of a crowd had gathered by now and there was plenty of cheering. Bryce was standing close to the start, which surprised me until I saw him pull out a stopwatch and notepad. There was something for everyone today.

The first race was a row of girls powering up the beach. It was hard to tell who had got a flag, but I noticed Luci walking back with a smile, nodding, so she had obviously made it through. I decided to wander down towards the finishing line, where all the action was.

The competitors still in the race weren’t given much time for a break, and soon eight girls were hurtling down the beach. I found myself yelling ‘Go Luci!’ before I realised what I was doing, but I didn’t think anyone had noticed. She was doing fine, too, way out in front. She threw herself at a flag. Mia also made it through.

The next run down was amazing, almost crazy. Luci was caught between Mia and someone else and they both pushed over into her running space, squeezing her back. Luci overbalanced and fell, way short of the flags. The fourth girl was out in her own fast lane and got one of the flags. Mia and the other girl just stood in front of the last flag and giggled (I think they were best friends or something). It was pathetic: they couldn’t decide who should take it. Then, all of a sudden, there were screams from kids in the crowd as Luci shot through between them, with her arm stretched out for the flag. Mia responded first and fell onto the flag, but Luci had got her hands on it first and she wasn’t letting go.

Mia looked confused, but that confusion quickly turned to anger when she realised who had beaten her to the last flag.

Luci didn’t win the final, but as she said to me later, she had picked up valuable points over Mia, who she knew was going to be tough competition in all the other sports.