[SwimTeamSpeedo]

Despite our late arrival home from the beach Sunday night, I woke up extra early, ready to get back to my morning swim. I dug through my drawer and pulled out an old team suit from my years back AAU team. I hadn’t worn that suit in a long time, it as purple and green, our team colors. We were called the Great White Sharks or the GW’s for short. I never really figured out why purple and green were out colors if we were suppose to be Great White Sharks. I stood in front of the mirror admiring the suit and thinking of those days. I always liked how that suit fit on me, which is probably why I kept it so long. I slipped it back off and put on a red, white and blue Tyr. I hated the thought of the chlorine eating through my last AAU suit. I grabbed my bag and my books, slipped on my warm up pants and headed out the door. Scott had stayed over and both he and Zach were sound asleep.

“Hey how was the beach” Joe asked as soon as I jumped in the pool. “You look like you had fun.”

“It was really nice” I answered. “The weather was awesome”

“I missed swimming with you” Joe offered

“Me too” I replied.

We both went about our workouts, catching each other here or there at the wall. I had already noticed Joe had on a different suit from the one he usually wore. It looked great on him. We each pushed for a solid hour plus.

“Wow, I needed that” I said to Joe as I kicked in for my last hard lap.

“Did you get in any swimming?” Joe asked

“Yeah, but it was a short pool, so it was messed up.” I answered. “Plus I probably drank way too much beer and wine.”

“Oh, a little wine is good” Joe responded, “ a lot of wine is better” he smirked.

We both did a quick warm down and then I leaped out of the water. Joe followed. “Awesome suit” I complimented him. “Is that new?”

“Yes it is” he answered with a smile. “All your suits inspired me. I went shopping Saturday. Hey, let me show you something, if you got time?” Joe asked and requested at the same time.

“Sure” I said.

Joe led me over to the dive pool. As I stood there he walked over to the 3 meter board, climbed up and did an absolutely perfect dive.

“Holy sh--, that was awesome!” I yelled to him as he surfaced.

“Really?” he asked.

“Absolutely!” I replied emphatically. It really was an amazingly smooth dive.

“I had not dived in probably more years than you’ve been alive” Joe said to me as he climbed out of the pool, his suit clinging to him. He had an incredibly fit body, especially for a guy his age. “Saturday I don’t know why, but I decided to try a dive or two”

I gave him a hug. I don’t know why or what caused me to do that, but I guess I was just so happy for him. We held each other for a second. As we separated, he wiped a tear from his eyes.

“That was amazing,” I said. “I can see why you were such a great diver in college.”

We headed into the locker room. As we changed, I told Joe about the beach trip, well most of the details.

“So, did you meet any nice young ladies?” Joe asked.

“No, some of the guys tried, but I was more interested in the beach, pool and hot tub.” I replied. “Scott and I, he’s another swimmer on the team, mostly hung out together on the beach. He’s a really nice guy, you would like him”

“Sounds like you had fun. I’m glad you are back, though.” Joe was still in his new suit, and I was still in mine. “You make me feel young,” Joe added.

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On Friday we again had breakfast together after our swim. This time Zach joined us. We ate and talked abut our swim workout. The conversation eventually meandered to the beach and the fact that the weather was really starting to get warmer. Zach mentioned that he was going home for the next weekend, something he and I had talked about. He asked me to go, but I really had to work on writing a paper so I passed.

“So, Ryan, what are you going to do that weekend?” Joe asked.

“Swim and write papers” I answered.

“You know, I was thinking maybe we could go to my place at the beach.” Joe queried as much as he stated. “I hope that you don’t think that is weird for me to ask.”

“It sounds really great,” I replied, hiding a rush of excitement, “but I really need to get some work done.”

“I understand,” Joe said. “But, if you want, I’ll make sure you have some time to work. We could leave after your classes on Thursday.” Joe had a hopeful look in his eye as he smiled at me after making his pitch. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been down there” Joe added.

“You ought to go,” Zach chimed in. “You love the beach and you can write your paper anywhere. If you won’t go home with me, at least go hang out with Joe.”

They made a pretty convincing proposition, so I finally agreed. Joe was all excited. He explained that the place had its own hot tub, which he would call ahead and get it all set up for us. I’d have my own room with a balcony right on the beach, up on the ninth floor of a high rise. Turns out it was at the same beach we went to, just more south from where we were. The pool was right next to the beach, so we could swim laps in the morning and then go walk on the sand.

“What should I bring to wear” I asked Joe.

“Well, he said, it is pretty casual. Swim suit and shorts, maybe some jeans.” Joe suggested. “I know we will have fun.”

Already in my mind I was thinking of what suits I would wear. Zach smiled at me, knowing that my mind was already racing down the swimsuit path. We all finished up our breakfast and got ready to leave. Joe shook Zach’s hand and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

“See you at the pool” Joe said to me as he headed back towards the athletic center. Zach and I headed off to class.

To be continued...