Water Dripped from his face like sweat. You can see the patience in his eyes. Calmly waiting. He ran to the bathroom and threw up. His race was next. Nervous as he got on the block. Not wanting to swim. Face pale. He doesn't look good.

The ref steps up and says “Take Your Mark,” and then he blew his whistle. All the swimmers dove in and they were off. Water splashing everywhere. Arms flying in and out of the water. Swimming as fast as he could. Pushing himself to his limits.

The State record was 20.07 in the 50m. He was on pace to beat it, and he was seeded to lose the race. Very unexpected. He reached the 25m mark and had a perfect flip turn. He was in lane 1 which is the lane they put the worst seed. As he touched the wall the timer stopped his time and he swam a 19.46.

He looked up… Only to see a new state record in big red letters. He was so excited, he splashed water all over the place. . He destroyed the old record. One by one, his team all jumped in. Splash! Splash! Splash!

As he was getting out of the pool to go take the high step up onto the podium the whole crowd stood up and started clapping for him. The State record had not been broken since 1986. Parents and coaches from all over came up and congratulated him.

The next day he was all over the news labeled as the best swimmer in the state. He was getting emails, calls, and texts from all the best colleges in the country. Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and a whole bunch more.