[SwimTeamSpeedo]

Jack finished up a quick thirty minute swim, his second swim of the day. He had blue brief cut swimsuit with white stripes on the side. As he climbed from the lake, he grabbed his towel and dried off. The sun was starting to lower in the western sky, tucking down behind the low mountains of the woodlands to the west. Far back in the western woods was the Alligash Waterway, a well-known canoe and kayak route that brought tourists in from all over. Ben and Erik had just returned from a short five mile run along the lake. They were both still wearing the same swimsuits they had on all day, Erik in the Stars and Stripes, Ben in his green print. Thankfully, Erik’s aroused state had calmed down over the afternoon, but it was still lurking just below the surface. The two guys were as wet with sweat as Jack was with water. They both jumped in the lake.

Down the lake, Ben spotted the two younger swimmers, Zach and Ryan, on the dock, practicing dives into the water. The swimmers were wearing brief cut swimsuits and looked amazingly graceful as they dove off the end of the dock, swam out a bit and then returned to the dock to repeat the process. Ben pointed toward them and Erik nodded.

“Yeah, I saw them this morning.” Erik said.

“Watch them, they are really good,” Ben replied back.

“They are really good swimmers,” Jack added to the conversation. “They both are on local teams and we’ve been told they are best in state for their ages,” he added.

“Watch how well they dive,” Ben said.

“Those two are always in the water,” Jack said. “We are not sure they own any clothes other than swimsuits.”

Ryan noticed the guys watching Zach and him do their dives. He waved with his whole arm. The two of them continued their practice, working to improve the smoothness of their launches and reducing the splash as they hit the water. A bigger splash meant more resistance which resulted in lost time. Ben and Erik continued to watch as they repeated the process of diving several more times.

“You’ll get to meet them, we will have them over for a cookout later this week,” Jack added, before he continued on into the house.

Dylan was sitting on the deck reading “The Towering Inferno,” which was a best seller at the time. He had put on a polo shirt, but still has on the cranberry Birdwell shorts. He was deep into the book. Ben and Erik ventured into the lake. Ben had offered to teach Erik to breath with his head in the water. “It will really improve your swimming,” he had explained to Erik.

Erik listened intently as Ben explained correct breathing. Erik tried what Ben said, but he just wasn’t getting it. Despite demonstrations by Ben, Erik could not get the timing down.

“Let’s try a different approach, “ Ben said.

“Sorry, I am not getting this,” Erik replied.

“Let me hold you up in the water,” Ben explained. “Lie out flat,” he instructed. As Erik did, Ben slid his arms underneath, one supporting Erik’s chest, the other on the upper part of his legs. “Now lay your face into the water and rotate it to breath, but don’t lift it.”

Despite gulping a bunch of lake water on his failed attempts, Erik started to get the hang of it. He also enjoyed the feel of Ben holding him, but he kept is concentration on the breathing. Once Ben was satisfied that he had the technique down, he moved to phase two.

“Okay, now it gets harder,” Ben said as Eric stood back up. “We have to add the arms.” Ben demonstrated the breathe timing. “For now, we’ll just do one side,” he further explained. “I’m going to hold your feet, while you do the arms and breathe.”

It took a while, but Erik finally got his head wrapped around what he was supposed to do. “Damn, this is harder than it looks,” Erik said at one point, frustrated. His technique was by no means ready for prime time, but at least he was breathing more like a swimmer, his head staying fairly flat in the water. On the last round, Ben called out, “Kick,” as he let Erik free of the hold.

Erik swam about 50 feet and then stood up. He probably drank in a gallon of water, thankfully the lake was clean.

“Dude, now you just need to relax,” Ben explained. “You still fight the water.”

The competitive edge in Erik was getting fired up. He was not going to fail at this. With that he turned back around and started swimming.

“Relax,” he kept telling himself, as his mind went through the count, “stroke, stroke, breath…” It was as if a light bulb went off, suddenly he got it! Ben watched as it happened. Erik’s strokes became less rigid, his body flowed with the lake, his tight stars and stripes but gliding along the water. Ben smiled and cheered him on. Erik was by no means ready for the swim team, but he actually looked like a swimmer. His endurance allowed him to go longer than he had ever swam before in one session.

“I’m going to that dock,” Erik thought. “No way is Ben going to swim farther than me,” the rivalry stirred from earlier in the day.

Ben watched as Erik made his way down the lake, each stroke getting better. Still jumping off the dock, Ryan and Zach stopped and watched as this new swimmer came towards them.

“I like his swimsuit,” Ryan said to Zach.

“You are so funny,” Zach said back. “How did I know you’d check out his swimsuit first,” Zach poked at Ryan. The two young teens laughed at each other. They watched as Ben made a turn in front of the dock. As he started to head back the two guys gave him a quick yell of encouragement. While they did not see it, Erik smiled to himself. As a runner, Erik played off the crowd and rallied at encouragement. It was just what he needed as he faced the long swim back.

“That was awesome,” Ben proclaimed to Erik as he stood up in front of him. “You looked so great,” Ben added as he grabbed Erik and gave him a huge hug. Erik lifted himself onto Ben’s body at the waist, Ben feeling Erik’s anatomy close against him.

“You’re a great coach,” Erik said, a huge smile of accomplishment on his face. He gave Ben a quick kiss on his cheek. They held each other, reveling in the accomplishment.

“You looked great,” Jack’s voice broke their moment. He had watched from the dock, Ben and Erik totally unaware of his presence. Erik slipped off Ben and stood, the two wondering how much he saw.

“Thanks, Jack,” Erik replied. “It was really cool.”