[SwimTeamSpeedo]

By the end of the warm up set, Stormy had increased his lead to a half length, a substantial distance in the world of competitive swimming. He hit the wall far more winded than he should have, the damage done for the intense workout Coach had planned. Stormy was smug, his arrogance ready to boil over. Jake finished several seconds behind, never pushing the pace, knowing when Coach said nice and easy it would be the only set of the day where the muscles would not burn. Allen and most of the rest of the team were well back, some just coming off their last flip turn.

"That the best you can do?" Stormy asked sarcastically. Jake had hardly stood up.

"What?" Jake replied, surely he had heard him wrong.

"You heard me," Stormy snapped back. Jake was not sure how to respond.

"It was a warm up, not a race," Jake replied.

"If you were a serious swimmer, you would be racing all the time," Stormy snapped back in a caustic sting. The hair on Jake's neck bristled at the comment, his youthful masculine rage telling him to just give Stormy a swift punch in the face. Jake stood firm, glaring, letting himself gain control. There was no way he was going to fall into Stormy's trap. Instead Jake did the most annoying thing he could, he ignored Stormy's outburst.

Allen could tell Jake was boiling inside as he stood at the wall of the adjoining lane, but he finished just as Stormy's taunts ended. He had no idea of the rivalry that was building between Stormy and Jake. "Jake, you okay?" Allen whispered over the lane line.

" Yeah, fine," Jake replied. "I will tell you later." Allen knew he was not fine.

Coach Ryan set angular white boards at the end of each lane. Each board had the practice routine listed, tailored to the skill level of each group. "Okay folks," Coach got their attention. "Tough day planned. We will cover lots of yardage, focus on speed and form. Work your way as a group through the workout. No skips, no cruising." Ryan explained. Jake and Stormy's lane had the longest and hardest workout at just over 8000 yards.

"That ain't squat," Stormy boasted, lying. He did not dare admit that he was shocked at the intensity Ryan had planned. Maybe the slow and easy was starting to make sense.

"Well, since your such a hot swimmer, why don't you lead," Jake offered.

"On this team, I plan to always lead," Stormy replied. "Don't you ever forget that."

Chris heard the exchange. "This new punk needs to be knocked down a few pegs," Chris said as told Ryan what he heard. Chris watched the first several sets, clearly Jake was holding back. Chris watched as Jake would swim just back of Stormy's wake, close enough to be haunting him on his turns. As Stormy increased his speed, Jake did too. As Stormy faded, Jake used it to rest. Normally, Chris would yell at Jake to swim to his level, but he let it go. He knew Jake was up to something. “Let’s see how this plays out,” Chris thought to himself.

The guys kept swimming through their drills. Jake hanging back, building Stormy’s confidence and his cockiness. At the break between the fourth set, Stormy looked over at Jake and said “maybe they should add a group for good swimmers,” he then paused and added “Oh, except for me there are none.” Jake let it go. Chris heard it, too.

"Smart kid," Chris said to himself. "And we aren't even at the fly or IM" he mumbled to himself. By the mid point 4000 yards in, Jake's plan was working perfectly. At 5000 yards, the plan called for a rest. Two minutes. The first signs of how the rest of the workout would go were starting to show.

"Getting tired yet?" Stormy asked as Jake leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, pretty much burnt up," Jake replied, a total mislead.

"Not me," Stormy said pompously. "We did drills way beyond this." Jake knew he was lying.

The fly set came late, 5500 yards in. Stormy was winded, his legs burned. He could feel the pings of cramping. Even the fit of his suit had shrunk to reflect the shrinkage of his anatomy. Jake, on the other hand was still swimming strong. Even the guys in Allen's lane were holding up better than self proclaimed super swimmer Stormy.

"This is gonna be a tough set," Stormy actually admitted with no acidic undertone. "Maybe you should go first," he added.

"Our team rule, the strongest swimmer always leads," Jake replied as straight faced as he could, but a slight smirk unable to be hidden. Allen heard the comment and knew Jake was setting the new kid up, big time. So did Chris.

Jake held back an extra second and stayed back through the first turn. On the second length he closed the gap, but sill kept his distance. By the final leg, he was close but about a second back. For each of the next four sets he played Stormy's ego like a fiddle.

"Showtime," Jake thought to himself as Stormy led off the next set. Jake watched as the brightly printed jammer suit radiated color in the water. Unlike past sets, Jake pushed off at exactly the right spacing. He powered down the first 25 and by the turn he was almost on top of Stormy, so close he could see the detail of Stormy's suit. On length two, as soon as he knew the last swimmer was past, Jake moved to the wrong side of the lane and surged. He hit the wall almost half a body ahead. Stormy only saw the blur as Jake took total dominance. By the end of the set, Jake was standing at the wall waiting for Stormy's arrival.

"Tough set," Jake said as a very winded Stormy stood, almost unstable on his pulsating legs.

Jake dominated the rest of the yardage. By the end of the session, Stormy was third in the lane. As the guys finished the warm down, Jake stood at the wall. One by one the rest of the team finished. Stormy said nothing. The guys got out of the pool, some more gracefully than others.

"Welcome to the team," Jake said, putting out his hand. Stormy ignored him.

"At least I tried," Jake said to Allen.

"You did pound him into the ground," Allen replied.

"Yes, I did." Jake answered with a grin. The two best friends walked together to the locker, looking hot and handsome in their tight, clingy swimsuits. Mission accomplished, maybe.