Inez scanned the pool, looking for her friend.
"Where's Odette?" she wondered.
Inez was with her cousin Angela.
They had come to watch Odette's swim meet.
Right now all the swimmers were warming up.
But Inez couldn't find Odette anywhere.
"All the swimmers look the same," Inez complained.
"Why do they all wear the same type of swimming gear?"
Angela laughed. "They all want to win!
So they wear swimsuits and caps that help them move smoothly and quickly through the water.
Swimsuit designers even use computer programs to make the gear more efficient."
Inez suddenly spotted her friend getting out of the pool.
She waved. "Good luck, Odette!"
Odette waved back before joining her Bluefish teammates.
The youngest swimmers stood near the edge of the pool, waiting for the first event to begin.
Inez and Angela sat down on an empty bench as the horn blew.
"It's cool that you're on your college's swim team," Inez said.
"I'd like to compete too."
"Why don't you try out for the Bluefish?" Angela asked.
Inez watched the swimmers shooting through the water.
"Training seems hard. Besides, I love swimming, but I don't want to swim all day long!"
"Swimmers don't just train in the water," Angela said.
"We exercise on land too.
I go to the gym several times a week to lift weights."
"Oh. Do swimmers need to follow a certain diet?"
"Nutrition is important for any athlete," Angela said.
"Before I train or compete, I eat very carefully.
I eat carbohydrates for energy and protein to help my muscles.
Our trainer creates meal plans for our team.
We get to eat a lot of pasta!"
"I guess I could compete then," Inez said with a grin.
"I'm very good at eating pasta! But I don't like going to bed early," she added.
"Odette says she starts training at six in the morning."
"Many swimmers do train first thing in the morning—that's when pools are available.
And all athletes need a good night's sleep.
This helps us perform our best.
Most swimmers try to get nine or ten hours of sleep each night."
Inez looked up.
The next event was a relay.
Odette stepped over to her lane.
She was the first swimmer for the Bluefish.
The horn blew and the swimmers dived in. Splash!
Odette hit the water and started swimming fast, easily pulling ahead of the other racers.
She flipped at the wall and swam back.
The next Bluefish swimmer dived in.
All around the pool, people clapped and cheered.
"It does seem fun to swim on a team," Inez said.
"It is fun," Angela said.
Then she nudged Inez.
"So what do you think—will you try out for the Bluefish next year?"
"Um . . ." Inez thought for a minute and then nodded.
"Yep, I think I'm ready to dive in!"