Part 5 continued
Greg turned and hugged Monique, the tears coming down his cheek masked by the pool water coming off his wet hair. She held him as he kissed her neck, not even flinching at how his wet body was soaking into her clothes. “Guess I lost,” he said.
Jimmy stood back and watched. He had rode his bike over from the indoor pool, hoping to see the race. He got there just as the race started. He was awestruck by the whole event. Jimmy did not know what he would say to Greg, so he just stood back, buried into the crowd. It was like a scene from any sports championship, jubilation on one side, tears on the other. The third place swimmer was totally faded into the background.
“Sorry coach,” Greg said as his coach wrapped his arm around him.
“Greg, you swam the best race you could. It showed. You gave everything you had. You have nothing to be sorry about.” Coach answered. He always had the right thing to say. Greg smiled. “And a few college coaches want to meet you.”
Greg entered the locker room and quickly shed the wet, tight swimsuit. While he loved his race day suits, right now a swimsuit was the last thing he wanted to wear. He showered alone, the locker room empty, and changed into his favorite bright orange and black board shorts. He was done with swimming for the day. Tomorrow he would start again. Next time, Phillip was going down, Greg thought. He had lost the big race, but he still had his spirit.
Jimmy rode home.
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