Story 14
Tess makes her best time in the 50 freestyle swimming race. Nina is tripped up by Roman Numerals.
An X is an X Unless
“Aaaaaa-chooooo,” Tess Wilson exploded into her elbow.
“Are you still sick, Tess?” asked Coach Marks. Tess had been sick for five days. This was her first day back to practice.
“No, I’m not sick, Coach,” Tess said. “I almost always sneeze when I come into the pool area in winter. I think my nose has a problem going from cold and dry to warm and wet.”
“I do that sometimes, too,” Pearl Shank said. “Come on, Tess, let’s get in before free time ends.” Each swim practice started with five minutes of free play.
“As long as you are sure you are well,” Coach Marks said to Tess.
“Oh, yes, I’m sure. I ate only chicken soup for three days. I’d eat a little, cover the rest, and put it in the fridge. I moved up to crackers and soup two days ago. Someone left the cracker bag open, so they were stale. But, they still tasted good to me. Last night, I ate a baked potato with cheese and chili. I was so hungry!”
Coach Marks laughed, “I guess you must be better if you can eat chili.”
“I felt a little sick at first. But it got better. And, I ate pancakes and eggs for breakfast. I’m good as new now!”
Tess and Pearl got in the pool and Coach Marks went into the office. His office helper, Nina Pye, was standing there looking puzzled. Coach Marks asked, “What’s up, Nina? Aren’t you going in for free play?” Nina was the coach’s helper. She always joined the swimmers for free time.
“I have a problem,” Nina said. “You told me to find Box #20 in the storeroom. But, I didn’t find it. Are you sure it’s there?”
“It should be there. It’s a pretty big box, so you couldn’t miss it. But, you can look for it later. Go ahead and join free time.”
“Thanks, Coach,” Nina said as she ran out of the office and jumped into the pool. The swimmers were passing a large ball around with head bobs. The ball had a big black X on it. Each swimmer had to bump the ball on the X. The ball could not touch the water. At the end of free time, Coach Marks blew the whistle. He asked Tess and four other swimmers to swim a 50 freestyle. Tess felt strong this morning. She took off and could tell she was having a good race. She got out of the pool feeling excited.
Pearl said, “Tess, I think you went under 26 seconds!”
Tess smiled. “I hope so, it felt good!” She looked across the pool at Coach Marks.
He gave her a thumbs up and yelled, “25:53. That’s your best time.” Tess smiled and jumped in to warm down. When she got out of the pool this time, Coach Marks was waiting for her with a red marker. He put a red X on her hand and then drew a circle around it. Tess smiled. This was her first “Target Mark.” The best swimmer in each event got a Target Mark. At the end of practice, they always had a Target swim. The swimmers with Target Marks started on the center block. Other swimmers tried to beat them.
Tess and the rest of the team started their practice laps. Coach Marks said to Nina, “Go back and look for the box. There should only be two big boxes there. Box 20 should be full of things that will float. Box 10 should be full of things that will not float.”
Nina went back to the storeroom. She saw that there were only two big boxes—X and XX. She looked all over, but did not see Box 10 or Box 20. Suddenly, she knew how silly she had been. She laughed as she hauled the big box full of floaters to the office.
When Coach Marks saw her, he said, “I see you found Box 20. Was it behind something?”
“Oh, no,” Nina said. “It was right inside the door. Don’t ask!”
“OK,” Coach Marks said. “I won’t ask. Please put six at the end of each lane.” Arm full by arm full, Nina carried the floaters to their spots. When the swimmers finished their laps. Coach Marks blew his whistle. He said, “Grab a floater. You will see an X on each side. Put each hand on an X. Swim down and back using only your legs. Then we will do our Target swims. Target swimmers can skip this lap.”
Tess was glad to skip the floater lap. She didn’t need tired legs. But, she was happy the other swimmers were getting to try out the new floaters!
When it was time for the 50-free Target swim, Tess took her spot. Four other swimmers got on the blocks on either side of her. At the gun, they took off. Tess swam with all her might. She really wanted that X to last for more than an hour. She reached the end and jumped out. From the deck, she watched the others touch the wall.
Coach Marks said, “Whoa, Tess—25:32. You just beat out your new best time.”
Tess made a fist with the red X right by her huge smile. “Told you I wasn’t sick today!”
What do you think?
- Nina could not find Box #20 even though it was in plain sight. When she realized her mistake, she finished her work and told Coach Marks not to ask her about it. Do you think it was OK of her not to tell him what happened?
- She knew that swimming the floater lap would make it harder for the other swimmers to beat her in the Target swim. Do you think it was poor sportsmanship for Tess to be glad the others had to swim the floater lap? Explain.
What would you do?
- It is common for athlete’s foot to show up in locker rooms. If you spent time in a locker room, what would you do to make sure you did not get athlete’s foot?
Life Skills in This Story:
- Reacting to mistakes
- Showing good sportsmanship
- Preventing athlete's foot
- Trying not to spread an illness
- Starting to eat after having been sick
- Storing food
- Estimating to check expectations
- Reading roman numerals
- Predicting whether an item will float
- Understanding the four seasons
- Dealing with leftover food
- Asking for help when needed
- Figuring elapsed time
- Willingly following directions
- Deciding when to open eyes in water
