a stick. They were too far away to be distinguishable. But Isaac liked to think he could see Tim, and that Tim was the best one.
God, what was happening to him? When had he last even had these kinds of feelings for someone? Not since before rehab, he knew that much.
Isaac shook out his arms. Adam walked over and said, “All right, Luke, Isaac, and… where’d Randy go?”
“Sorry, Coach,” Randy said, walking over sheepishly.
“Did Conor ever show?”
“He was in the warm-up pool a few minutes ago,” Isaac said.
“I want to run through the relay and practice exchanges. Luke and Isaac are probably fine, but Randy and Conor could use some practice. Katie, would you go fetch him? And remind me later to buy that kid a waterproof watch?”
Katie ran off.
Adam was rarely a difficult taskmaster, but he tended to get snippy during high-stakes meets. And it didn’t get any higher stakes than the Olympics. Adam had been appointed one of three official Team USA coaches, due to his long history of coaching gold medalists, even before Isaac became his star pupil. Other swimmers were allowed to bring their own coaches, so there were a dozen of them milling about, working with forty athletes in all. In other words, Adam had a lot of personnel to manage, and he looked visibly more stressed than usual.
Adam pulled out his stopwatch as Katie returned with Conor in tow. “All right. Since we’re practicing exchanges, the order is Luke, Randy, Conor, Isaac. I’m going to time you, though, so don’t slouch. I’d like to get the final time around 3:12, so let’s see if we can do that. I think we’re going to need 3:10 to win. Each of the other teams has a weak link, but you never know what might happen. Up on the block, Luke.”
Isaac got caught up in relay practice, in looking at the time and critiquing the exchanges, until his turn up on the block, waiting for Conor to touch the wall. Then he just swam, not thinking about anything except his form in the water and how fast he could get down the pool and back.
After he touched the wall, he popped his head out of the water. Adam frowned. “That was a forty-nine-second hundred meters, Isaac,” he said. “Whole relay took 3:15. We can do it faster.”
Isaac wanted to tell Randy and Conor to ignore Adam, because these practice times were never as fast as the real thing. No one was willing to push his body to the limit yet, and there was no roaring crowd, no guy in the next lane about to touch the wall sooner. Swimmers did extraordinary things in competition.
Conor, in the midst of his first Olympics, seemed more in awe than upset, though. He looked around the Aquatics Center as if he’d just stumbled into a dream. So Isaac kept his mouth shut, letting the kid have his moment, while Adam told them to take five so he could run drills with Katie. “But we’re going to run the relay again, and it will be faster,” he threatened as they left.
“Didn’t see you at breakfast,” Luke said to Isaac as they walked back to the warm-up pool.
“Got a breakfast sandwich to go.”
“I know you think the team unity thing is bullshit, but it would be nice for the younger guys to see you’re a team player. On nights you’re not swimming, unless you really need the rest, you should be up in the stands cheering everyone else on.”
“I know, Luke. And I do want to encourage everyone. I’m also scheduled to swim six races, possibly as many as nine, if Adam and Bob decide to put me on all three relay teams. So cut me a little slack if I want to sleep in.”
“You didn’t sleep in. I saw you leave your room at eight. What’s going on, Isaac?”
Isaac and Luke had known each other since they were kids. Luke knew about all of it. Luke had taken more drinks out of Isaac’s hands than anyone else in his life, had watched Isaac puke enough times that he deserved a medal, and had been the first one to encourage Isaac when Isaac said he wanted to get back in the pool. They were old friends. Isaac didn’t need to lie, even if he did resent Luke keeping tabs on him, at least a little.
“Well, if you must know, I’m not loving the way everyone stares at me when I go to eat,