In Too Deep

by Laura Sieveking

  I scanned the room, seeing the bright, happy faces whistling and cheering for Ashley. Everyone, that is, except for one person. Annabel sat still, with a cold face, and her hands neatly folded in her lap. I knew in that moment that she was going to give it everything she had in the pool. Annabel did not like to lose.

  ‘Oooh, I just love yoga,’ Melissa said, shaking out her legs.

  ‘So good after a full week of swimming. My muscles were so tight and now I feel super relaxed and ready for the carnival!’ Ava said.

  We lifted our yoga mats and dragged them back over to the pile in the corner of the studio. We grabbed our shoes and took a drink from our water bottles.

  ‘I can’t wait for the carnival,’ I gushed. ‘I feel like I’ve really improved my swimming this week – especially my turns. I can just feel a win coming up in the relay this time!’

  ‘So, what’s the deal with today?’ Bec asked.

  ‘Coach Stuart said we are going to do a run-through of our races for tomorrow. Then we have a free afternoon!’ Ava replied.

  We strolled back up to the aquatic centre. Yoga had a way of calming us all down, which was a good thing in my case. My mind was always overwhelmed with thoughts, so it was nice to be able to slow down sometimes.

  We entered the aquatic centre and walked up to the change rooms. We were early so didn’t think anyone else was in there yet. As we walked through the door, we were met with a hushed but angry conversation between two people.

  ‘It’s just a few practice races today. You’ll be fine,’ one voice said.

  ‘I don’t want to exhaust myself before tomorrow, though,’ the other hissed angrily.

  ‘Yeah, well, maybe I don’t want to be exhausted either, but that’s life,’ the other snapped.

  We rounded the corner to see the Ogilvy twins in a heated discussion.

  Annabel’s head snapped up. ‘What are you looking at?’ she sneered.

  Suddenly, I realised something. I knew it was Annabel. Usually, I had to wait for one of them to tell me who it was, but this time I knew immediately.

  With the girls gathered by the side of the pool, our coaches called us all into our swim schools for a pep talk. Coach Stuart decided to take our team outside onto the outdoor deck. The winter sun was warm on our faces as we sat in a circle with Coach Stuart in the middle.

  ‘Today we are going to do some practice races with the other clubs to get ready for the comp tomorrow. I don’t want you working your hardest, do you understand? Take it easy. This is just to go through your race formats and get into the competitive mindset. Keep something in the tank for tomorrow.’

  We each nodded excitedly. The carnival was going to be a really good test for us. State trials were just around the corner and this meet would give us a solid indication as to who would be going. Plus, there were those beautiful medals to win.

  ‘Delphie, can I have a word?’ Coach Stuart asked. I walked over to him as the rest of the girls headed back to the pool. ‘Now, you know I consider you to be a bit of a team captain among the girls in the squad.’ I blushed lightly – I loved that he gave me added responsibility. ‘I need you to fire up the girls like you always do. Especially your relay team.’

  ‘Of course!’ I beamed.

  ‘But, I also need you to … you know … keep your head screwed on.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I asked, a bit defensively.

  ‘I’m just saying I need you to be level-headed. Don’t do anything brash or crazy.’

  ‘I don’t act crazy!’

  ‘You know what I mean. Remember to think before you act. I know you’ll do great.’ Coach Stuart patted me lightly on the shoulder as I walked back into the aquatic centre.

  I had four events to swim in the carnival, which meant four warm-up races today. Tomorrow we had to swim each event in both heats and finals – it was a much busier day than just running through the events once.

  Towards the end of training, we got ready to swim through our mixed medley relay. It was my favourite race and a great chance for some teamwork with my best friends. I gathered the girls together for a pre-swim psych-up.

  ‘Now, girls, remember to leave something in the tank. This is just a practice, but tomorrow we have to swim both the heat and the final. This is our chance to show the National Swim School who we really are, yeah?’

  Bec, Ava and Melissa nodded.

  ‘They always seem to swim slower in heats and training anyway,’ Bec said. ‘I think it’s part of their game plan.’

  ‘Well, whatever their plan is, ours is to win tomorrow. So let’s work well together today and then smash it out in the finals tomorrow!’

  The girls gave a whoop as we readied ourselves for a run-through of the medley.

  Melissa eased herself into the pool and got into position, ready to launch into her backstroke leg. Coach Vanessa blew her whistle and Melissa launched powerfully into the water. Her body undulated through the water before breaking the surface in a frenzied backstroke. I could see her technique had improved in the five days at training camp.

  Melissa held the lead as she glided through the last lap of her backstroke. Once she finish ed, Bec launched into her breaststroke. She bobbed up and down at a cracking pace, maintaining our lead over the Swim School. I knew that this was just a practice, but I’ll admit, it felt awesome being in the lead. We just had to replicate it tomorrow.

  As Bec finished her leg, Ava was readying herself for the butterfly. Right on cue, Ava burst from the blocks into a soaring dive. As she pulsed through the water, her shoulder muscles flexed and rotated. She was amazing to watch. She lengthened our lead, with the Swim School in second place.

  Now, it was all down to me. I stood on the blocks, shaking out my arms and legs. Despite it being a practice, energy pulsed through my veins. It was like my body could not get the message that this wasn’t the real thing.

  As Ava neared the end of her lap, I glanced quickly to my left to see Annabel Ogilvy ready to dive. She quickly glanced back at me … and then it happened.

  She smiled lightly.

  She smiled at me. Her face was narrow and I saw the hint of a dimple. I frowned in confusion. My eyes dropped down to her legs. There, poking out from her swimmers was a heart-shaped birthmark. At that moment it dawned on me. I wasn’t looking at Annabel. I was looking at Ashley.

  ‘Delphie, go!’ a voice boomed from behind me.

  I was startled. I’d completely missed my cue. I dived into the water as a confused Ava hauled herself out of the pool.

  Why was Ashley swimming in the relay today?

  A host of images and sounds swept through my mind as I swam. Coach Vanessa had said Annabel had done a faulty tumble turn ‘just like Ashley does’ in the last meet’s heats. Annabel said she got exhausted quickly. The Swim School never qualified as fast in heats. But they always won the finals. Ashley was always get ting swept up in Annabel’s plans, or so she said. But what about the birthmark? We usually wore knee-length skins in competitions too. I had no chance of seeing the birthmark before.

  My mind raced.

  BANG!

  I stood up in the shallow end and shook my head in confusion. What had happened?

  ‘Delphie, are you all right?’ Coach Stuart’s voice called down to me.

  I rubbed my head and nodded in confusion. Had I just swum into the wall? I looked behind me and saw the others had finished the race down the other end. I felt so confused.

  ‘Pull her out,’ I heard Coach Stuart say.

  I felt sick and a little dizzy. I sat down at the end of the pool as people began to gather around.

  ‘What happened?’ Ava said, crouching down next to me. ‘You just swam full pace into the wall!’

  ‘Did I?’ I glanced up, dizzy and confused. In the distance I could see the Ogilvy twins tiptoeing up the stairs back to the change rooms. The one with the birthmark was wet from swimming in my race. I shook my head. It was definitely Ashley.

  Just like when the last piece
of a 1000-piece jigsaw falls into place, the picture became crystal clear. Ashley had been swimming the heats for Annabel. That’s how Annabel still had loads of energy for the finals. She’d been resting while her twin swam her heats.

  I felt like my blood was boiling. How could they do this? How could they cheat? I thought Ashley had become my friend! Everything in me wanted to jump up and scream ‘Cheaters!’ It was like I was going to explode. My head swam and there was a roaring sound in my ears. I wanted to cry out, but I couldn’t open my mouth. And then everything went black as I fell to the floor.

  I was gliding through the water, swimming faster than ever before. The water felt crisp and cool on my long, sleek body. I glanced back and saw my silver tail, pulsing in the water, propelling me forwards. I was a dolphin. I smiled brightly. With a rush of energy, I gracefully moved my tail faster through the water as I gathered speed. I gazed above me and could see the sun dancing on the surface of the water. I twisted in a 360-degree spin, corkscrewing through the waves. With a swish of my tail, I gathered speed as I headed up to the surface. With one final, powerful thump of my tail, I launched myself up, out of the water. As I broke the surface, the bright light of day burst all around me, lighting me up like glistening silver glass. I kicked with glee as I soared like a bird above the water. Then my body became heavier and I crashed back down into the waves – back into my domain of the sea.

  As I swam, I suddenly felt a presence. The waters seemed to turn dark. I twisted to see what was lurking beneath. A shadow. I turned sharply, ready to swim back to the safety of my pod. But the shadow rose underneath me. Panic rushed through me. I turned again to see the shadow gain speed. I pushed my body as hard as I could.

  Just swim. Just a little further.

  I could practically feel the jaws of my predator open behind me, engulfing my tail. I became frantic. The huge shadow of my pursuer dwarfed me. In pure fear and panic, I looked back – I wanted to see it. And there behind me was a monster of the sea. Its mouth was a gaping hole with razor-sharp, shining teeth. Its eyes were completely black – it was like looking into a bottomless pit. I tried to squeal but no sound came out.

  The monster’s head turned sharply. It seemed bothered. It tried to turn back towards me but it was as if something was dragging its head sideways, jolting and jarring it. I swallowed my fear.

  In one aggressive pull, the monster’s head was yanked roughly to the side, causing it to twist and writhe. The monster gave up. As it turned to swim away, I saw that it had no tail. At the base of its body, in place of its tail, was another monstrous head. But this head had its mouth tightly closed, with no murderous intent. Its eyes were not black but blue, like the sea. It was the back half of the monster that had been pulling the head of terror away from me.

  The monstrous creature swam away. All I could see was the back end of it – the head that had saved me – staring at me sadly as it disappeared into the dark.

  I sat up in bed with a jolt. That was so weird. I rubbed my head where it was still tender from my accident that day. I thought back to training – to fainting on the side of the pool. I’d been taken to the camp nurse and she had cleared me for the swimming competition the next day. She said it was only a light bump and that I should take it easy for the rest of the day. I’d come back to my room for a rest while the others finished training.

  My mind abruptly caught up with my situation as I remembered my terrible discovery. The Ogilvy twins. The cheaters.

  I’ve got to report them.

  As I stood up, a fresh pain throbbed in my head. I pulled on my tracksuit pants and began for the door. I had to tell the coaching staff and officials. These girls needed to be thrown out of the competition. But then I thought of Ashley.

  I frowned. I thought she was my friend. But she couldn’t be. Friends didn’t lie and cheat. I jiggled nervously as my hand hovered over the cabin doorknob. I turned and saw my mobile phone, charging on the bedside table. I walked over and yanked out the plug, then began typing furiously, stabbing the keypad with my thumbs. I typed out the entire situation. I hit ‘send’. Then I waited.

  A couple of minutes later, my phone made a light bling! I grabbed it and opened the message.

  FlyingEvie335: That is heavy, Delphie. Wot u gonna do?

  It was my good friend Evie. She would know what to do.

  DelphieDolphin: I want to report them.

  FlyingEvie335: But you said Ashley was your friend.

  DelphieDolphin: Well, I thought she was.

  FlyingEvie335: Wot is holding you back from telling?

  DelphieDolphin: I dunno. Maybe this time I need to stop and think and not rush into things like I usually do.

  FlyingEvie335: Can u talk to them? Tell them u know. Make them answer.

  I stared at my screen. Make them answer.

  DelphieDolphin: Thx E. Luv u.

  I sat back down on my bed. This was big. This could ruin everything for the twins. I needed to go against everything I normally did, I had to stop and think.

  As I mulled over my options, I heard footsteps coming towards the cabin. I jumped up and pulled the curtains by the front door open just a slither. Coming towards the cabin were Ashley and Annabel, arm in arm. They looked concerned, like they were having a serious conversation. I watched them as they walked into their cabin.

  I took a deep breath and opened my door. I looked to my left – back up to the main part of the camp site, where the coaches awaited my report. I looked to my right to the Ogilvy girls’ cabin. I paused and closed my eyes.

  Then I turned right.

  I banged on the door furiously, my hands shaking.

  The door opened.

  ‘Delphie, are you okay?’

  ‘I know everything, Ashley.’ Ashley’s face went pale and I saw Annabel stand up behind her. ‘Let me in, otherwise I’m walking straight up to the coaches’ lounge.’ Annabel sat back down as I entered their cabin. ‘Notice how I knew who answered the door?’ I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. ‘I can tell you apart, you know. And I know Ashley swam against me in the medley.’

  ‘Oh, come on, Delphie,’ Annabel said in a light voice. ‘Everyone mixes us up. We’re twins. You made a silly mistake!’

  ‘I didn’t. I know your faces because Ashley is … was my friend. And I saw her birthmark. She has one on her leg and you don’t. Even if I made a mistake with your faces, you can’t mistake a birthmark.’

  Annabel’s eyes widened in panic. She looked to Ashley, who shrugged her shoulders. They knew they couldn’t fight this one.

  ‘It’s not a big deal, Delphie,’ Annabel muttered. ‘I swim the final – the race that matters. And that’s the race we win.’

  ‘Only because you don’t swim any heats over the entire day! You swim half the races I do. You can’t say that’s not an advantage, Annabel!’ I spat. ‘And what about your sister? She gets to swim all her heats and yours? How do you think she feels at the end of the day?’

  ‘She doesn’t care,’ Annabel yelled, ‘because she never wins anyway!’

  Ashley glared at her sister. ‘Who knows? I might win if I had the chance!’

  Annabel scowled. ‘Oh, Ashley, you’ve always been the inferior swimmer and you know it.’

  ‘Well, not anymore. I’m not doing this for you ever again. You can swim your own stupid races from now on.’

  ‘You two are so dramatic!’ Annabel said with a sarcastic laugh. ‘In the Olympics you are allowed to use different swimmers in the heats and finals in a mixed relay. It’s completely legal!’

  ‘But we aren’t in the Olympics, Annabel,’ I yelled. ‘In our region, you have to keep the same team. It’s in the rules. And what about the other individual races that you’re always winning? Is Ashley swimming those heats too? Because that’s illegal in every swimming meet in the world!’

  Tears broke from Ashley’s eyes and ran down her face.

  ‘So, what are you going to do, Delphie? If you report me, you are also incriminating Ash
ley. You are betraying your new friend,’ Annabel sneered.

  Ashley searched my face with pleading eyes. ‘Please, give us a chance,’ she whispered.

  ‘You know,’ I said slowly, lowering the volume of my voice, ‘my usual hot-headed self would have reported you within seconds of finding this out.’

  Annabel’s eyes widened.

  ‘But I’m going to do something completely different and I’m going to wait. I’m going to wait and watch. I’m going to give you two the chance to redeem yourselves. You swim tomorrow, but you swim as yourselves.’

  Gratitude washed over Ashley’s face. She leapt to her feet and hugged me tightly. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

  ‘But I will be watching closely. You know that I can tell you apart. And from now on, I will be at every swim meet you race in. We swim in the same region and we will probably swim at state on the same team. Who knows, one day we might even swim together for our country, so I will be watching. And I will end your careers if I ever catch you cheating again.’

  Annabel breathed out, clearly relieved.

  ‘Tomorrow, in the pool, we’ll see who the best is,’ I said then turned and walked out of the cabin, slamming the door behind me.

  On the porch outside, I squatted down on the floor. I breathed heavily, panting as if I’d just swum the race of my life. I coughed lightly and swallowed hard, clinging to the ground for balance. I knew that was the most composed I’d ever been in my life. I’d kept hot-headed Delphie under control and I think I’d done the right thing.

  Now I knew I needed to swim the race of my life tomorrow and prove to Annabel that cheaters don’t win. I had to swim with all my strength and leave nothing in the tank. Everything came down to that final race. I had to swim like a dolphin. And win.

  I tapped my finger on my smart phone, selecting my pre-carnival playlist. It was psych-up time. I popped the headphones in my ears and slung my bag over my shoulder. As I exited my cabin, I could see it was a sunny, crisp winter’s day. I pulled my hoodie over my head, blocking out the world around me and focusing on my music.