Chapter 1

I get to coach a swim team that is as much a mix up of humanity as can be imagined. I used to joke when I started announcements before each practice by saying, “Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, others.”

Then two years ago I saw a young lady swim at a Sectional meet at the U of Missouri. She swam both the 200 and 400 yard individual medleys and had no weak strokes. While she only made the consolation heats and finished 12^th and 13^th overall, she had beautiful strokes and the kids on her team really seemed to care for her.

I watched her warm up and warm down before and after her races. She needed no directions and no supervision. Her coach spoke to her and she seemed to be locked onto him when they spoke. On the surface this young lady seemed like my kind of swimmer.

I approached her coach and asked if anyone was talking to her about swimming on college. He looked at me and very cynically said, “No. No one seems interested after they meet her and her parents.”

That got my attention and so I made it a point to leave my contact info with the coach and ask him if she would be interested swimming with State.

“Sure, but don’t get your hopes up.”

Now I was really intrigued as I walked away to speak with other coaches. Over the course of the four and a half day swim meet I kept an eye on her and was more impressed each day. I wondered what it was that drove other coaches away from her.

When I got home, I told the staff about this girl. They couldn’t believe that other coaches were running away from her. I waited for a few days and then I got a letter from her high school guidance counselor. She didn’t say anything concrete but intimated that I wouldn’t be interested in Deena.

Now I had to meet this girl. As soon as the date came up when I could legally contact recruits Deena Finster was my first call. The voice that answered the phone gave the first reason why coaches might run away.

“Yeah?” It was a rough sounding voice.

“Hello. This is Coach Paul O’Dell from State and I’d like to talk to you about getting Deena to come to State for a recruiting visit.”

“What the fuck would you want that freak to come to your school for. She’s a piece of shit.”

“Are we talking about the same Deena Finster I just saw swim so well at the Sectional meet?”

“I don’t know. I don’t hang around with the freak.”

“Is Deena there? And if she is could I speak to her?”

“Her?” she laughed a sad and angry laugh. “Sure.”

I heard him scream out, “Hey freak! Phone call!”

A few minutes later I heard a click and then a voice.”

“This is Deena.”

“Hi, Deena, this is Coach Paul O’Dell at State and I’d like to talk to you about swimming at State next year.”

“That’s going to be fucking unlikely as fuck!”

“DADDY!”

“Don’t call me that, freak.”

There was a click as her father hung up the extension and then the voice was back, sounding a lot less sure of herself.

“I’m sorry Coach O’Dell. I would love to talk to you. Can I call you back on my cellphone in a few minutes?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Thank you, Coach.”

She disconnected the call and I sat at my desk in shock. What sort of world did this girl live in to have a father speak of her that way and still show up and a competition and be so poised and controlled and focused? My phone rang.

“Coach O’Dell.”

“Hi Coach, this is Deena Finster. First, let me apologize for my father’s actions. We have a strained relationship.”

“It’s OK, Deena. If I may ask, how are things with your mother?”

“Not as good as they are with my father.”

“Oh shit,” I thought.

“Well I’d like to proceed but it’s going to be difficult if your parents aren’t involved.”

“Coach O’Dell, if it helps, I’m eighteen. I started kindergarten when I was six. I don’t really need my parents’ permission to do things.”

“Oh. Well, in that case I’d like to talk to you about swimming here at State next year.”

“I’d like to talk as well. If you email me any papers I need to fill out, I’ll get you everything you need.”

“Deena. Why did your high school coach think that I wouldn’t want to recruit you?”

“Coach Jones likes the points I score but would rather I wasn’t around.”

“For God’s sake, why?”

“Send me the forms you need and when you read them, we’ll talk again. I hope.”

“OK. I’ll have my assistant send them out as soon as I get off the phone. Give me your email address.”

I wrote it down and set it to the side.

“Thank you, Deena. I look forward to having you here.”

“We’ll see. Excuse me for my doubts but I’ve heard that several times before. Thank you for your interest, even if it doesn’t work out.”

“Not a positive attitude young lady. Our team sees itself as a family. I think you’d love it here.”

“I don’t doubt it but will they love to have me? Send me your forms and thank you, Coach.”

With that she disconnected the call. I was starting to doubt my first sense about this girl. I walked over to my assistant and handed him the note.

“Please send all of our recruiting paperwork to this address. Something tells me that if we are very careful we can land a great kid and a very good swimmer. Get it out ASAP.”

“Will do, Boss.”

I went back to my office and sat down, my mind just racing with all the possibilities. Nothing I thought of was going to get me ready for this situation though.

“Um, Paul? You need to read this.”

My assistant handed me a short stack of papers.

“What is it?”

“It’s the medical info for that girl you’ve been so high on.”

“Deena?”

“Yeah.”

“Is something wrong?”

“You tell me.”

I leaned back in my chair and began to read. About half=way through the first page I stopped and looked up at him. When I finished the three sheets I set them on the desk and let out a long sigh.

“Exactly.”

“OK, let’s get her in here for a visit.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I told you she is perfect for us. She has four great strokes. She is a great teammate. She is being successful in spite of her situation. We may be the first entity in her life that wanted her for who she is and what she does.”

“If you’re sure I’ll send her the calendar and get her set up.”

“Good.”

“Paul, Deena will be here next weekend. Who should we room her with?”

“Let me ask Mattie and see what she suggests.”

“Are you going to tell her?”

“Of course.”

“Coach, I have no idea what to tell you, so she can room with me.”

“Is this because there’s a problem with everyone else?”

“No, it’s because I have no idea on anyone’s feelings about this. Especially after what we just went through with Paul and Simon. I didn’t know that Paul had those feelings.”

“Me neither. OK, you’re her host and she’s in your care. Mattie, I want her here. She is going to be a tremendous plus for the team.”

“OK.”

The plane landed and Mattie was waiting at the passenger exit for Deena. She had a sign that said, “Future State Swimmer Deena Finster.” The tall girl came out of the exit and looked around for a bit before she saw the sign. Her smile was huge and she waved at Mattie before running to her.

“Hi! I’m Deena.”

“Hi back atcha. I’m Mattie Sowers. I’m the women’s team captain. Do you have any luggage?”

“No. Everything I need is in my carry-on.”

“Well then, let’s hit the road.”

The two tall girls walked out and to the short term parking garage. The State van was obvious by its color and the large word “State” across the side. Mattie unlocked the passenger side for Deena and then walked to the driver’s side and got in. The drive from the airport to the campus took about twenty minutes.

“So who am I rooming with?”

“Me!”

“Then I guess I should tell you something important before too long.”

“I know all about it. No problem for me if it’s no problem for you.”

“You know?”

“Yup. Coach told me all about it.”

“OK. When do we practice?”

“We have practice at 3 and then in the morning at 5:30. We won’t let you get lazy while you’re here. When we get to campus, there are some forms that you have to sign and then we need to get you a temporary I.D. so we can eat at the cafeteria and get into the buildings. Then we’ll meet at the swimmer house.”

“Does anyone else know about me?”

“Nope. It’s up to you if you want to tell them. If you want my opinion, I suggest that you tell the team tonight at the house. I don’t think anyone will give a rats ass. Actually, I can see a lot of people having a bit of morbid curiosity. How you handle that is up to you.”

“Is the house just the girl’s team?”

“No. It houses all of the men and women who are not freshman. It’s up to you who you tell. I don’t see a need right now for the guys to know, but the women should know before you hit the showers tomorrow.”

“OK. What do you swim?”

“I do the 200 and 500 Frees.”

“No IM’s?”

“Nope. I’ve got no knees so I got no breaststroke. I messed them up playing basketball in junior high. Swimming saved me from being a cripple.”

“The coach seems like a different kind of guy.”

“Oh yeah. He’s the best. You’re going to like him.”

“I think I already do. He’s the first college coach to even talk to me after finding out. He didn’t hang up on my father. I can’t wait to meet him.”

“If it means anything, he can’t wait to meet you. Word is he thinks you’re going to be an integral part of the team.”

Deena sat there in stunned silence. Of all the words she thought she would never hear those might have been some of the top. No one ever wanted her on their team. The girls on the high school team that knew her liked her. But her coaches put up with her. She was starting to think that this was the answers to her prayers.

Mattie pulled the van into the assigned parking spot behind the fieldhouse and she made a big deal out of the beauty of the back of the structure and the scenic view of the row of dumpsters.

“So this is how it’s going to be? Everything is beautiful. Everything is wonderful?”

“Well, Deena, the truth is, I love it here. To me everything is wonderful. In reality, there is nothing pretty about dumpsters, never will be. I’m trying to impress you.”

“By pointing about the attractive curves of a loading dock?”

“Yes! And wait until you see the custom designs of the waste baskets.”

“Oh boy! Mattie are you always this crazy?”

“Yeah. It’s one of my strengths, actually. Seriously, I love it here. I’m having trouble with the concept of not living here next year. I can’t imagine anywhere being as supportive and challenging as State has been. I hope you get a feel of that over this weekend.”

“I understand. It’s already better than it is at home. Our dumpsters are ugly.”

The team captain laughed and put an arm around the recruit.

“I like you.”

“Even knowing?”

“Even knowing. Let’s go see the big guy. He’s so excited to meet you.”

“I still can’t believe that.”

The two swimmers walked into the back door of the fieldhouse and walked down the long hallway that paralleled the length of the indoor football field. Deena noticed that the doors to the football coaches offices were straight across from the entrances to the football practice field. She noticed those kinds of things. She could tell that little detail meant that the place was built to make life easy for athletes and their support system.

At the end of the hall, Mattie took a left through a double set of fire doors. They entered another hallway that had windows on both sides. Outside the windows were rows of flowering bushes and a view of the campus.

State was an old school. It was established just after the Civil War and was supposed to be a school teaching agriculture and animal husbandry. Since then it established itself as one of the top veterinary schools in the country. It also had a very good architectural school and that is what interested Deena.

They walked through another set of double doors and there was the feel. The air was more humid. The smell of chlorine wasn’t as strong as at her high school. As they walked down the short hallway, Mattie pointed out key points.

“To the left and right are entrances to the men’s and women’s team locker rooms. Over there to the right is the entrance from the parking lot. That is how visiting teams get in.”

“Does the visiting team use your locker rooms?”

“No we have visiting team locker rooms for the men and women. They’re right down the hallway; just past the Wall of Fame.”

“Wall of Fame?”

“Yeah. We make the visiting teams walk past the wall where we honor our All-Conference swimmers and then our All-American swimmers. After that comes our National Championship teams and our relay and individual national champions. After that the wall features all of our past team captains and then our Olympic Trials qualifiers. After that is the display of our swimmers who have made the National Teams for the US and other countries. We’ve left room for any future swimmers who make Olympic Teams. We still hope for that.”

As Mattie spoke and pointed to things, Deena felt that she was really stepping up in her level of competition. She started doubting herself.

“Having any doubts about yourself yet?”

“Yeah,” Deena said quietly.

“That’s the idea. Visiting teams see all of this and get to think about it as they get dressed to race us. Here we go. Are you ready to see your future home away from home?”

“Sure. Lay on, MacDuff.”

“Wow! You even got the quote right! I do like you.”

“You already said that.”

“I meant it both times.”

Mattie turned the handle on the single door at the end of the hall and led Deena Finster into the pool. She had been to big pools before. She had been to pools that had hosted national championships but this was something else.

The pool was a 50 meter pool but where most pools have seating that runs the length of the pool this pool was obviously designed to be a great short 25 yard racing pool. The seating was on the second floor and was shaped like a horseshoe around the first 25 yards of the deep end of the pool.

When teams raced in dual meets the fans surrounded the pool. The diving boards were at the far end of the 50 meter pool in a separate diving well. The diving well had a horseshoe seating area around it but with fewer rows of seats. This was a swimming home. There was ample deck space and pull out bleachers for seating of teams during competition.

“Come on, Rookie! Keep up!”

“Sorry.”

“My first time in here, I walked into a wall. The team nicknamed me “Splat” my first year. The coaches offices are over here.”

Mattie opened a door that was in the center of a wall of glass that wrapped around the corner of the pool. Inside was a short hallway with a door on the left and right. Mattie knocked on the door to the right before opening it.

“Hi Coach! She’s here,” Mattie announced as she entered the office.

Deena closed her eyes, composed herself, and walked into an office that was orderly for the most part. The walls were full of books and awards and pictures. There were two desks, one neat and orderly, the other a mess. Standing between the two desks was a tall man, who had obviously been a swimmer. He was broad shouldered and narrow hipped. And he had a smile that seemed to spread from ear to ear.

“Hello, Deena! Welcome to State. I’m Coach Paul O’Dell,” he said holding out his right hand.

“Hi Coach. It’s nice to be here,” Deena replied taking the offered hand.

“Has Mattie been making a good first impression?”

“She’s been horrible! The first thing she did was show me the beautiful dumpsters behind the fieldhouse.”

“We are very proud of our dumpsters here at State. We’ll put our dumpsters up against anyone else’s.”