Story 4
A girl decides to join the swim team and ends up getting a new job in the process.
New Fish
“Tess, I want to join the swim team,” Nina said. She was sitting in the break room looking through Swim Monthly.
“Good idea, Nina! You’d love it,” Tess said. “We work hard, but we have a lot of fun. Are you a strong swimmer?”
“I am pretty good. But, I don’t know that I do all the strokes right,” Nina said.
“You should call Coach Marks and sign up for a swim lesson. He can help you fix your strokes. You need to get to know him anyhow.”
“I’ll call right now,” Nina said. “Maybe I can start on Tuesday.” Nina looked Coach Marks’ name up in the phone book and called. She felt goosebumps on her arms. When Coach Marks said “Hello,” Nina said, “Hi Coach Marks. This is Nina Pye. I’m a friend of Tess Wilson’s, and I want to join the swim team. I’m a pretty good swimmer, but I am not sure all my strokes are right. Could I set up a swim lesson with you?”
“That sounds great, Nina. We can use more swimmers. Practices are weekdays at 5:00. I teach lessons from 3:00 to 5:00. Will that work for you?” Coach Marks asked.
“Yeah, that will work fine. I can walk over right after program on Tuesday and get there about 3:30,” Nina said. “Will that
be OK?”
“That will work fine, Nina. I’ll see you at 3:30 for a lesson,” Coach Marks said. “And, I’ll see you at 5:00 for practice.”
After she hung up, Nina said, “I did it! I’m going to be on the swim team!” On Tuesday, Nina left program quickly. At her locker, she spotted a blue library book. “Darn,” she thought. “That book is due today. Wait a minute—The library is sort of on my way to the pool. If I hurry, I can turn my book in and still get to my lesson by 3:30.” Nina grabbed the book and left.
As Nina was walking, she heard Tess call out, “Nina, wait up!”
Nina called back, “I can’t. I have to go to the library before my lesson. I’ll see you at practice!” She speed- walked all the way to the library and on to the pool.
She could smell the pool as soon as she opened the door. A man in his 50s with curly dark hair said, “You must be Nina.” He walked toward her and held out his hand to shake.
Nina shook his hand and said, “Yes, I am. You must be Coach Marks. Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Let’s get in the pool,” he said. Thirty minutes later, Nina got out of the pool with a smile on her face. Her strokes were not too bad after all. Coach Marks had only said to change a few things. He said, “I think you will be a natural, Nina. You will also be the shortest swimmer on the team. Most fast swimmers are tall. But, you are so light and quick that you might be fast even though you are short. Come into my office and sign up.” Nina sat down and filled out the form the coach handed to her.
When she was done, she looked around the very messy office. Then she said, “Where should I put this form?” She looked around again.
The coach laughed. “It’s pretty messy, isn’t it? I need some help in my office.”
Nina said, “I could help. Is it a paying job?”
“Yes, it is,” Coach Marks said. “I need someone for one hour three nights a week from 4:00 to 5:00. But, you would have to go right to swim practice at 5:00. Do you think you could do that?”
“Yes, I could,” Nina said. She felt like holding her breath. A new team and a new job would make this a great day!
“OK, you are hired,” Coach Marks asked. “You can start right now.” He pointed to some folders and a box of papers. “These are the swim team files. Put them in the top drawer in ABC order. Then file those papers by student names.”
Nina started to work. She had the box half done when Coach Marks came in and said, “It’s 5:00--time for swim practice. Just leave that box there. You can finish next time.”
Nina walked out of the office onto the pool deck. She almost walked right into Tess. Nina said, “You won’t believe it! My lesson went well, and I’m on the swim team. And, besides that, I have a job helping Coach Marks.”
“You go, girl!” Tess said. “Come on! We get to play for the first five minutes.” They dove into the pool and came up with slicked-back wet hair. Tess said, “You are all wet, new fish!”
Nina laughed and said, “Could you please show this new fish how to do a flip turn? After all, I want to get fast enough to beat you!”
Tess laughed and said, “No chance for that, New Fish. I’m going to teach you the SMD flip turn.”
“SMD?”
“Yea, the slow-me-down flip turn!”
What do you think?
- Do you think Nina should have taken the time to return her library book on the way to her swim lesson?
- What do you think about Nina’s self confidence—did she believe in herself in both work and personal situations? How do you know?
What would you do?
- On a swim team, each team member competes against each other team member. If you were on a swim team, would you help another member with a skill, such as a flip turn? Explain why or why not.
