Chapter 23: Swim Team

At OSA headquarters, Werthur was speaking to his supervisor, Garcy, and Gerberin from Enforcement.

“The participant students didn’t go to the field house to strip. But again, a large number of students in the next class were naked and they were during the class change too. I had identified the organizers of this nudist display and during home room, had them called to meet with me and their assistant principal. When they came, both Martin and Harper were with them. They admitted, all four of them, to be an organizer, and pointed out the part of the Outreach section of the rules that allows other students to be naked in addition to participants.”

They all looked at the Program booklet and Werthur pointed out that section.

He continued, “But if almost everyone else is naked too, there’s no way to ensure that participants are being subjected to Requests, there appear to have been no instances of classroom Relief, and no cases of teachers using participants for demos. Of course, that is only the second day.”

“Second day or not, this is unacceptable,” Gerberin said. “And identifying participants...”

Werthur interrupted, “I thought of several ways but they’d all require funding from the school or school district. I asked but got denied. They said that they had no funds for non-instructional purposes.”

He told them about using armbands and other options he had considered.

“What about these organizers? What have you done?” Gerberin asked.

“I asked them to announce to the school to stop the extra nudity, but they said it was an individual choice and wouldn’t interfere. And there hasn’t been a violation of Program rules. Putting them in the Program wouldn’t change anything and besides, two of them have religious exemptions.”

“Oh, those two, Martin and Harper.”

“Right. And there’s the matter of my arrest. I was given a very small bail, $5,000, but it came with a warning from the DA that it would be increased if I attempt to do anything that interferes with students’ rights. How can OSA defend me in a trial?”

“The documents part is covered,” Gerberin said. “As the Program coordinator, you have the duty to validate any exemption so you took those records for that purpose. Your statements that the exemption docs didn’t exist was a misunderstanding of what you meant. Legal is working on the kidnapping part. But now we have a counter to the religious exemptions for Martin and Harper. They’re involved in this student nudism display, so their religious exemption is invalid. Put them in the Program as punishment.”

“With all respect, sir, I won’t go there. They wrecked two enforcer teams, and when I spoke to both of them, they both have an inner intensity about them that I’ve never seen in a kid before. The girl is a soccer standout and has a national ranking and the boy’s a strength and fitness coach for the soccer and football teams; he’s said to be that good. My advice is not to keep targeting them.”

“I think that if we make an example of them, then the rest of the school will fallow,” Gerberin replied. “We’ll send you back to the school and for Monday’s participant selection, include those two in addition to the random ones and we’ll have an enforcer go to their classroom to escort them. In fact, I’ll have three teams at the school to escort those students who are picked to the field house.”

“You’re making a mistake, but I’m overruled, I guess,” Werthur responded. “So that’s my report.”

“Carry on, then,” Garcy told him.

But instead of returning to the school, Werthur went to the DA’s office. She had told him that if he cooperated going forward, he could have his charges reduced or dropped.

Connor was a busy guy. During the pre-school practice weeks, the football coach had watched one of Connor’s stamina workouts with the soccer team and was impressed.

When it was completed, he asked Connor, “Where did you learn those series of moves? It incorporates agility with stamina very well.”

“Coach, from several sources, but mainly from the Marine Corps’ physical training websites. I used those exercises and adapted them to meet my own needs and they work well for soccer too.”

“Seems that they’d work in football too...” Connor nodded in agreement. “So would you have time to teach our fitness coach and team some of those moves?”

“Sure, Coach. Let’s look at your practice schedule and see when I can work mine in.”

And in this way, Connor had became the stamina and agility student coach for the football team. Now the tryouts for the winter sports season were approaching, so he had added pool time to his coaching time, coming to school at 7:30 to use the pool to do laps for endurance and sprints for speed.

Several other swimmers stopped to talk to him and they all introduced themselves...

“I’m Jarred, the men’s team captain, and I think I’ve seen you around. Y’know, ‘cause you’re one of the few wearing clothes.”

The others laughed and Connor smiled widely as he answered, “Sure. I’m Connor, and yeah, I’m usually clothed and there’s a story there. Moved to the area over the summer and want to try out for the swim team.”

“Compete before? I could see you have good form and speed,” Jarred told him. “You have a swimmer’s body, but damn, are you ripped too.”

“I’m a fitness coach for the women’s soccer and men’s football teams...”

“Oh! You’re that guy? The guys on the football team say you’re tough as hell on them but they like the new exercises you have them doing. Do any of them translate for swimming?”

Connor thought for a few moments. “Sure. Here’s a couple that would work well.”

And he began to lead the little group through a series of exercises to improve fast-twitch muscle fiber tone.

“Those would help on reacting to the starting gun,” he told them. “Your muscles should already be primed at the ‘Take your mark’ command and they fire with the gun or horn. They also help on your flip turns and sprints. Power and endurance come from the slow-twitch muscle fibers; they tire less easily than the fast-twitch fibers do. And...”

Connor was interrupted by, “ ... hello, Jared, and did you organize an early practice session? What I saw was pretty impressive. Who’s the new guy? He was leading you.”

“Hi, you’re Coach Mayberry, right?” Connor asked. “I’m Connor Martin and plan to try out for the team.”

“Coach, this guy is good in the water,” Jarred interjected, “and he’s a conditioning coach for soccer and football. He was showing us some cool exercises just now.”

“I saw you doing them. Connor, word among the coaching staff is that you’re really good and I mean good like a BS in sports physiology good. How did you learn so much in high school?”

Connor told him a bit of his past and how he had researched the physiology behind the body-building and agility exercises he used in his physical development.

“Well, it certainly shows,” the coach remarked. “Have you swum in competition?”

“I haven’t. I was too involved in the school nudity garbage at my former school. I spent my P.E. time developing strength and agility exercises for my own use. Get ideas, try them out, and measure their effect.”

“Jeez, guy, I guess you’ll probably want to study sports physiology then.”

“It’s one of my options, yes.”

“What do you consider your best stroke?”

“I like the challenge that the breast stroke gives and have very strong pecs and long arms, Coach. So I work on that stroke a bit more than the others.”

“Damn, an answer to my prayers,” the coach muttered. “Yeah, that’s the most difficult one to teach. Getting the kids to master the timing of the ‘pull-kick-glide’ sequence isn’t easy. Can you show me four laps—100 meters? Do you know the proper turn?”

“I do, Coach. I also stay underwater as long as possible after starting and push-off and I assume that’s okay?”

Mayberry was practically rubbing his hands in glee. “For sure. Show me. On my mark.”

Conner went to the starting block, set himself, and dove in at the coach’s command. Mayberry watched Connor’s form and kept an eye on the big timing clock on the wall as Connor turned for each lap. When he finished, Mayberry motioned him to get out of the water.

“Jarred said that you wanted to try out, Connor. You just did; welcome to the team. You only used six strokes per lap which is superb. Your time was just over 63 seconds and that’s not only a pool record, it would be a conference record too.”

The other swimmers exchanged high-fives with Connor.

“How did you get so good at that stroke without coaching?” Mayberry asked.

“Videos, Coach. I studied them to learn the proper form. I have a good body sense—proprioception—so I can always tell where my limbs are, and the repetition builds muscle memory for the body form. Building speed was keeping streamlined, timing, and the underwater portion where I have a good dolphin kick.”

“That was impressive, Connor. How are your other strokes?”

“I do have good form, others have told me, and I am pretty fast. Guess I have the build.”

“For sure. Okay, get with me later, when you can, and I’ll go over our practice schedule. You’ve got about a half hour more pool time, so get back to that if you want. Welcome aboard the team, Connor.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

Connor jumped in and began his backstroke practice routine.

Later, he told Drew about his meeting the swim coach.

“Hey, we’ll both be lettered athletes,” Drew chuckled. “I think that they give letters for student coaches and trainers too.”

“Say, for two kids who wanted to be invisible in school, look where we wound up,” Connor remarked.

“So true,” Drew sighed.

On Thursday afternoon, Drew, Connor, Sherrill, and Wilma got messages to go to the principal’s office after classes. The messages said that nobody was in trouble.

Drew had a Friday game after school and a Saturday game and their Thursday practice was important.

“Hope this doesn’t take too long,” she observed to the other three as they walked to the office.

Petersmith was there but also DA Dowton was sitting at the conference table. She got up to greet the teens.

“Let’s all sit,” she invited, and when everyone was ready, she began. “This is about the coming week. Mr Werthur is cooperating with my office and told me that the higher-ups at OSA, mainly their enforcement head, will be making yet another attempt to try to get the Program running here like in the other schools. I must say, what you are doing here is a creative way to show your opposition to it.”

The others chuckled.

“So Mr Werthur told me that they plan to add you two, Miss Harper and Mr Martin, to next week’s Program group where you would be instructed to go to the field house where everyone is to undress. I understand that for this week, what happened is about three-quarters of the student body undressed in their classrooms instead. Next week, they want to try to get the selected students to the field house. Mr Werthur told us that he doesn’t expect that they’ll go next week either.”

“They won’t,” Sherrill told her. “Messages on the text tree we’ve set up confirm that next week should be the same.”

“Goodness. What you’re doing here is impressive, I think. The OSA plan is to locate you two in particular, Drew and Connor, and get you two to strip as an example for the rest of the students. I know of your prowess in self-protection. Also, Dr Petersmith knows that the use of force to strip someone is a felony and she’ll tell any OSA person coming into the school that fact. But county police will be standing by, ready to respond, if any violence occurs.”

“Mrs Dowton, our attorney at my prior home told us that if someone threatens battery, like aiming a Taser at us, we can defend ourselves...” Connor said.

“That’s true here too. But please, could you not be so, ah, energetic about your defense?” the DA chuckled.

“Sure, I’ll try. Depends on what they do and how many of them get involved. But Drew and I protect each other very well.”

“Assuredly,” Dowton responded. “I hope to stop this over-the-top kind of vendetta against students who have somehow fallen outside the what Program officials consider to be a norm. Okay, that’s what I had to say, Dr Petersmith. Thanks for your time.”

“And thanks for the heads-up, Mrs Dowton,” the principal responded.

The teens echoed their thanks. Dowton left the room but Petersmith signaled the teens to stay.

“I want you students to really try to avoid violence,” she told them.

“We’ll try,” Drew said. “But if they try using Tasers, we must protect ourselves. And the only way someone can restrain me long enough to strip me would be with a Taser. If I see a Taser aimed at me, that person will wake up on a hospital bed. Did it several times before. Just a lacrosse ball ... no, shorter range. A golf ball to the head. Been practicing with them.”

Petersmith shuddered. “My goodness, Drew...”

“Self-protection has been my imperative since I was in middle school when I was almost raped. I will protect myself ... and Connor,” she said with a steely expression.

“I’ll do what I can about the Tasers,” Petersmith replied. “See if you can de-escalate where you can.”

“Absolutely,” Connor told her.

“That’s all I have; oh, Connor, I heard you’ve joined the swimmers, and Drew, your games are exciting to watch. Keep up your aggressive play. I can see where it comes from.”

“Thanks, Dr Petersmith,” the four teens harmonized as they left the room.

“Ack, more nastiness to come,” Wilma complained.

“I have an idea for home room Monday,” Connor told them. “Just for our home room ‘cause the enforcers will come there. Probably just four; six would get in each other’s way. First, everyone stays dressed when the participants are named. Then here’s what we’ll all do...”

He went on to describe his plan.

Drew’s weekend games went well for her individually, but the team struggled to eke out a win Friday and then tied Saturday to the non-conference team that had won the division at state last season. In the first game she again scored on a quick play; her team was attacking and a defender poked the ball away from her striker at the front of the box. It was a hard poke and the ball traveled ten meters downfield. Drew had anticipated that possibility and had raced to meet the ball. The whole defense was high in the box, the goalie too, with seven players between Drew and the goal, so she lofted a Messi chip shot over the heads of the scrum there and smiled as the ball sailed over their heads, bounced once, and hit the back of the net. She had that one unassisted goal, two assists, two interceptions, and three steals, one of which led to an assist.

In the second game, which ended in a 1-1 tie, Drew had the assist that led to their sole score. Their team time of possession, however, was 68 percent, and it was only their opponent’s extremely tight defense that kept the score so low. The game was a real battle of the defenses.

Drew was now in talks with coaches from a large number of NCAA D-1 schools, including a number from the west coast. She was now ranked among the top ten women’s soccer players in the nation by all of the prep school websites.

Monday arrived, cool and rainy. Connor took their car to early swim practice instead of the bike and Drew came in later with Jennifer.

“I wonder why they picked on you two,” Jennifer remarked while on the short drive. “I have that religious exemption in my records too.”

“Probably ‘cause you didn’t get picked at E-town,” Drew told her. “Since those Program people back there got arrested after our interview, and then we showed up in Maryland, maybe we’re getting the blame for that. Nothing else makes sense.”

“You know that you’re ahead of Emma in body-count now, don’t you?” Jennifer joked.

“I guess. But please! I hope that today will end it.”

“Truth.”

The two went to the pool where they met Sherrill and Wilma, according to Connor’s plan, and together they carried some items from the pool to their home room classroom. Drew and Connor were wearing their riding leather “armor.” when the bell for first period began. When the home room period began, Connor got up and went to the stack of kickboards the girls had brought earlier.

“Hey, guys,” he called. “Mrs Cooper’s allowing me to speak now; thanks, ma’am. We’re probably in for some excitement this period. Inside info from the OSA says that Drew and I will be named as participants today in a setup scheme.”

Some of the kids in the room made angry noises at that comment.

“You all got word on the text tree to stay dressed, right? That’s because of a possible enforcer showdown here in class. We don’t want anyone to get hurt. I’ve got almost enough of these swimming kickboards for everyone here to use as shields if the enforcers start shooting their Tasers. These are almost two feet long and body width wide. They’ll block darts for sure. Drew and I think that only four will come into the room and if they pull their Tasers, we’ll counterattack. Please don’t get involved! The principal asked us to limit as much violence as we can. If you want to just hide out, then duck behind the desks at the back of the room.”

“What will they do?” a girl asked.

“Try to make us go with them. There will be two or three kids in here called along with us. We’re not going. And we’ll protect you when you’re called.”

There were several further questions and then the P.A. bonged and an unfamiliar voice intoned, “Good morning, GBHS students. This week’s Program starts when your teacher reads your names. If your name is called, drop off your backpacks and whatever at your lockers and proceed to the field house. Teachers, read your lists.”

Mrs Cooper looked up at the class. “Sorry about this...” and she took the list out and read it. There were two names, followed by Drew’s and Connor’s.

A sigh wafted through the classroom. After several tense minutes, the P.A. bonged again and the speaker said, “No one’s left a classroom, so we will send enforcers to escort you.”

That weekend the text tree had suggested that since the enforcers didn’t know who anyone was, and the teachers had agreed not to point them out, they should switch backpacks, boy with girl, so that would obfuscate their identities if the enforcers tried to identify kids by their backpacks. The kids loved that idea.

As they had anticipated, four Taser-armed enforcers arrived in their classroom several minutes later.

“Where are Drew Harper and Connor Martin?” one demanded. “You’re to come with us.”

Connor stood up; Drew was already standing at the side of the room and the teacher quickly moved to a far corner. Conner had given her a kickboard.

He spoke now. “First, we have a federal exemption. Second, you have no authority in this school. Third, any use of force is a felony. I suggest you leave now.”