Dexter
an excerpt

Dexter introduced Sarah to the other members of the team that she hadn't already meet. While she talked to the others on the team Dex went to warm-up. Since they had begun the starts he decided to practice a start to get used to the water. Standing on the block he bent into the starting position, made a mental one, two, three to himself and pushed off the block. When he hit the water he was a bit surprised at how cold that the water really was. While he had swam in this pool a number of times before, he always forgot how cold the damn pool was. Since this was a college pool it was meant for competitions, he still didn't much like the temperature.

Dex slipped from the starting lane to one of the warm-up lanes and began a long easy stroke to warm-up. He also wanted to get used to the walls and the lane markings on the bottom of the pool so he didn't misjudge a wall and have a bad turn. As he began to get faster he got warmer as well and didn't mind the cold water, as a matter of fact he soon forgot how cold the water really was. After about ten minutes he got out and tried to get mentally prepared for his first event the hundred free.

When the meet got started Dexter was still getting nervous, he really wanted to do well, and he was hoping that all his training would pay off. Adam was in the last heat of the first event, which was usual for him. Then the hundred free heats started. Now Dexter had no time to even think about being nervous. A couple of heats before his he made sure he knew the proper lane and walked up behind the blocks. He placed his goggles over his eyes and made sure that everything was on just right. When the heat before him ended he stepped up to the block. The started blew the whistle and Dexter stepped up onto the block. The starter told the swimmers to take their mark and he bent down to his starting position.

When the buzzer went off Dexter pushed as hard as he could off of the block. He entered the water and did a few hard dolphin kicks then slid his way back to the top of the water. Because he was in lane six he couldn't see but a couple of the other swimmers, but he was basically up with the two down the middle. His first few strokes were strong and just how he had been practicing them. Reaching the wall a few seconds later he tucked himself and made his turn. With a strong push off of the middle of the wall he again made a few strong kicks. So far everything was working just as he had hoped.

Reaching the halfway mark he again made a hard turn. Still feeling good he tried to push himself just a bit harder. The faster swimmers were not far ahead of him and he pushed just enough to try and catch them. However, Dexter had gone out just a touch too fast and he was unable to make up any ground. At the seventy-five yard mark he made his final turn. He again pushed hard off of the wall, and though his lungs screamed for air he kicked as hard as he could. With just a twenty-five left to swim he gave it everything he had. When he reached the backstroke flags he tried hard not to breath for the last few seconds. Touching the touchpad he sucked in a lung full of air. A second later he looked at his time. He had gone a half second under what he had needed, and a few tenths faster then he had ever gone. All the training had paid off, not only had he made the qualifying time he had made a personal best as well.

Elated, though tired, Dexter made his way back to Sarah and the rest of the team.