Chapter 7

Monday, March 17, 2031 – Wawa Store – Hockessin, DE

Kyle Martin picked up a Philly Inquirer newspaper as he paid for his coffee and gas. A big banner headline announced, “New Orleans wins Everson Watkins Sweepstake.” The subhead added, “QB cancels visit to Philly to sign with Saints.”

“Shit!” Kyle snapped.

The clerk gave an apologetic grin. “Sorry about that, Coach Martin. It would have been good to get a quarterback like Watkins on our team.”

“We were a long shot,” Kyle admitted. “I hoped to at least get him into our office so he could hear what we have planned for the future.”

“I am sure you and Coach Fritz will figure something out,” the clerk said. “Coach Fritz didn’t seem any happier than you when he saw the headlines.”

“Ed was by already?” Kyle asked.

“About ten minutes ago,” the clerk said. “He grabbed coffee and a muffin.”

“A cup of Wawa coffee is a good way to start the morning,” Kyle said. The clerk rang up Kyle’s purchases. Kyle held his phone to the reader to pay for his coffee, newspaper and breakfast sandwich.

“You and Coach Fritz will figure things out,” the clerk said as he bagged Kyle’s purchase.

“Thanks, Logan,” Kyle said as he accepted the bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kyle headed for his car. He overheard the next customer in line ask Logan, the clerk.

“Was that really Kyle Martin?” the customer asked.

“Sure, it was,” Logan answered proudly. “Coach is a regular. He is here nearly every morning.”

Kyle enjoyed the encounters with the Philly public, at least so far. The public wouldn’t be as forgiving next fall when the Eagles lost some games, especially when they lost to Dallas.

He headed south towards Wilmington and I-95. Catching I-95 in Delaware was faster than following Route 1 into West Philly and then working your way across town to the sports complex and NovaCare Center. The thirty-five-minute drive gave Kyle time to ponder the team’s next move.

Troy Vincent called a ten o’clock meeting with Kyle, Julian Lurie, Ryan Reynolds and Ed Fritz. Their Plan A, secure an older but established free agent QB had just flown out the window. The Eagles offensive brain trust met in the conference room across from Troy’s office. Troy presided.

“Based on my talks with Watkins’ agent, I thought we stood an excellent shot at securing his services,” Troy queried. “The league confirmed the media reports of Watkins signing with the Saints. What is our Plan B for quarterback?”

“Watkins was far and away the best available free agent,” Julian Lurie answered. “He isn’t the ONLY free agent QB. Here are our other options, if we go with a free agent QB.” Julian detailed free agent QBs with starts sometime in the league, including the journeymen with only a few starts here and there.

Julian, Ryan and Ed commented on the few strengths and many weaknesses of the various QBs. Troy and Kyle listened to the debate with little comment. Not one of the quarterbacks’ resumes shouted, ‘Take me. I am the guy you need.’

“Well, somebody has to line up behind the center,” Kyle commented after the last free agent was dismissed as the wrong fit for the team. “What about Brandon Evans? Did you get a feeling from the Steelers what they might want in a trade?”

“I spoke with Brian Rooney with the Steelers,” Troy answered. “He is demanding a second-round pick for Evans.”

“That’s too much,” Ed protested. “Brandon is a good kid and smart, but he isn’t worth anything like a second-round pick.”

Julian added, “Agreed.”

“So, where does that leave us?” Kyle asked.

“Do you mind an out-of-the-box suggestion?” Ed asked.

“Why not?” Kyle agreed.

“Jeremy tells me Dylan Harris is not retired,” Ed said. “He simply didn’t find a team for his services last season.”

“Dylan is as old as us,” Kyle responded. “Why don’t I just fire you as QB coach and sign you to QB the team next season, Ed?”

“I am more banged up than Harris,” Ed responded. “Anyway, I still belong to the Jaguars. They’ll want some compensation for me and I am not worth it, no matter how cheap the price.”

“Harris did good work at the Rams with your brother, Kyle,” Ryan added. “After the Rams fell apart when your brother got injured, they shipped Harris out. He hasn’t had a start in five years, so he didn’t get all banged up as he got older. He was QB2 with me at Green Bay for a couple years. He’s smart, hardworking and fanatical about working out and staying in shape. What’s it cost us to bring him in for a look?”

“Nothing,” Kyle admitted.

“I’ll contact him and see if we can get him in for a workout,” Julian said.

Monday, March 17, 2031 – Avon Grove High School

Jessie bumped into Adam a couple times during school the following Monday, the first time between 3rd and 4th period.

“Hi, Jessie!” Adam exclaimed with a big smile. He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“I was doing some research yesterday for our date Saturday night,” Adam said. “Pixar has a new movie coming out about this absent-minded pelican. I thought the concept sounded fun. What do you think?”

“Pixar’s movies usually are pretty good,” Jessie agreed. “That sounds like fun.”

“I figure we can grab some pizza at the shop near the theater down in Newark and then enjoy the movie.”

“That sounds like a plan, Adam,” Jessie responded. “I am looking forward to Saturday night.”

“See you around later,” Adam said before heading for his next class.

Mike Hoover bumped into David Martin before second period. “Did you hear the news about Rory Keen?”

“No, what?” David responded.

“He was helping his dad reroof his house Saturday,” Mike said. “He slipped and fell off the roof. He broke his leg.”

“No shit!” David said. “That’s a tough break.” Mike laughed. “No, I didn’t mean that literally. It’s just tough luck with us leaving for States tomorrow. What is the relay team going to do?” Mike laughed again.

“Expect Coach Bunting to look you up today,” Mike predicted. “I would expect you are going to be drafted to join the relay team.”

“Is that fair to the rest of our swim team?” David asked. “Shouldn’t Billy Smith step up and take the open spot? He does the breaststroke for our relay B-team.”

“You’re far better than Billy at the breaststroke,” Mike said. “Billy didn’t even earn a spot at districts. You and I already earned spots at states.”

“I don’t know,” David said doubtfully. “I wonder if it would be fairer if one of the other guys took Rory’s place.”

Mike just laughed and said, “You’ll see.”

Mike’s prediction proved correct. Coach Bunting found David at lunch. They talked for a few minutes and David agreed to swim the breaststroke leg of the 200m medley relay at States.

Jessie and David announced their plan to visit the Venturer Crew in Avondale at their family’s dinner that evening. Kyle and Penny gave their older children permission to join up if they liked what they saw. David drove with his sister the fifteen minutes to the small town of Avondale. He followed the stone street beside Earl’s Sandwich Shop parallel to Main Street back to a large cabin on the north end of the town. Other teens and a couple of adults were gathering at the same time. Jessie spotted Kaylie Denning and Anne Boldin. She dashed off to talk with her friends.

Owen Hanrahan, the quarterback for the Avon Grove Red Devils, came over to talk with David. They already knew each other slightly from classes.

“What position did you play back in Pittsburgh before you moved?” Owen asked.

“As you would expect,” David laughed. “Wide receiver.”

“You going to go out for football your senior year?”

“I expect to,” David allowed.

“A bunch of us from the team get together a couple days a week offseason to work out,” Owen said. “You’re welcome to join us if you want. The school lets us use the weight room.”

“I work out at home,” David replied. “Our family has had the house in Landenberg since before I was born. Dad put in a professional weight room so he could work out offseason when he played in the NFL. I have pretty decent equipment to train on at home.”

“Yeah ... I hadn’t thought about your dad’s equipment,” Owen said. “Makes sense. We also use the winter months to study game videos and prep for the next season.”

“Say no more,” David replied. “We did that at Fox Chapel too. Dad says that is invaluable to improving your performance from last season.”

“Coach Meyer tells us the same thing,” Owen said. “I guess that isn’t surprising since both your dad and our coach were on the Nittany Lions team together.”

“It was more like they went to Penn State at the same time,” David responded. “Dad says Coach Meyer skipped his final semester of high school to start college early. Coach was in State College while Dad student taught in Philly in his final semester. They do know each other from alumni gatherings and from when Penn State was recruiting Coach Meyer to play for them.”

“I didn’t realize that,” Owen said. “I’ll get you the details of when we do our studies after this meeting is over.”

A senior girl David didn’t know called out, “Let’s get inside everyone and get to work. We have a lot to do tonight.”

David noticed that Adam had joined Kaylie, Ann and Jessie as the crowd of teens filed into the scout cabin.

Kaylie and Owen introduced David and Jessie to Mr. Morrison, Adam’s father and one of the crew advisors. He gave David and Jessie membership applications and went over what they would need to do to join. Since David was already registered as a scout, he wouldn’t need to pay anything to join up. Jessie would pay the full year’s cost to join up. They rejoined the group right after the opening, in time to hear the speaker’s introduction.

Mr. Fulmer, from the council’s High Adventure Committee, was there to talk about the council’s annual trip to the Philmont Scout Ranch and all the fun to be had on the trip. The group flew into Denver and spent two days touring the area. They would do all the common tourist things – Pike’s Peak, tour the Air Force Academy, tour the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and raft on the Arkansas River at the Royal Gorge. Buses would take the group to Cimarron, New Mexico and the Philmont Scout Ranch on the third day.

They would spend a day outfitting in the base camp at Philmont and then spend the next ten days backpacking and hiking through the hills and valleys of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico. Crews were made up of two to four adults and four to ten youth. They would get food resupply in the backcountry. Each night they would stay at one of the camps at the Ranch. Some camps were staffed and had programs like western lore, horseback riding, gold panning, blacksmithing, shooting and many other programs. Other days they would stay at a trail camp without staff or program. Many of the trail camps were located near staff camps, so you could hike over for your day’s program.

“We have got to do this,” Jessie whispered to her brother part way through the presentation.

“No argument from me,” David replied. “We should try to get Mom or Dad to go too. They’d love it.”

“Why not both?” Jessie responded. David shrugged his shoulders.

The pictures Mr. Fulmer showed as he talked about his experiences at the Ranch reminded both David and Jessie of the mountains in Colorado west of Denver, where they spent more than a little time as they were growing up.

Mr. Morrison talked about the logistics of this trip a bit after Mr. Fulmer finished his presentation. David and Jessie were surprised that the trip wouldn’t be this summer. They were planning a year and a half in advance to put this trip on. Mr. Morrison asked for a show of hands of anyone who thought they might be interested in attending. Jessie’s hand went up immediately. David scanned the room before putting his hand up too.

The girl preoccupying David’s attention, Sara Baker, showed up at the Venturer Crew meeting too. David tried to get over to talk with her when the meeting was over. She left too quickly for David to speak with her.

Tuesday, March 18, 2031 – Bucknell University – PIAA State Swim Meet

The Avon Grove Athletic Director put the team up at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Lewisburg for the three days stay at states. Coach Bunting took one room. Jake Berk and Mike Hoover shared a room. David Martin and Kaiden Randall shared the third room. Coach took his charges over to the Kinney Natatorium to sign in and give the boys a chance to do some laps and work out the kinks in their bodies from the long drive up from southern Chester County.

The four boys changed, did their laps, showered and changed back to street clothes. They met Coach Bunting outside the locker rooms, just down from registration. They were waiting on Kaiden, the last to change, when they heard someone behind the callout in a falsetto voice, “Davey! Davey Martin, you’re my hero!” The whole group turned around to find the Fox Chapel Swim Team facing them. David got a big grin on his face, to match the grins of his former teammates.

“Levi!” David exclaimed. The two best friends hugged. “Jon! Ben! Noah! It great to see you again.”

“What events you are doing, buddy?” Levi asked.

“100m Fly, 200m IM and 200m MR,” David answered. “This looks a lot like the 200m Medley Relay team here.”

“Guilty,” Jon Kauffman said as he shook hands with his friend. “We made it in that event and Levi qualified in the 100m Back.”

“Of course, he did,” David said.

“Our team fared fairly well, even after we lost you,” Levi said. “Ben did a good job taking your fly spot for the relay.”

“I knew he would,” David agreed. “I see you brought some of the girls’ team too. Hi, Giselle. Hi, Sophia. It’s good to see you again, Emma.” David introduced the girls to the Avon Grove team. Kaiden made it out in time to get introduced to the girls. He took one look at Emma Baechthold and fell in love. He had no way to know that David and Emma had history. They had been boyfriend and girlfriend for a couple months near the start of tenth grade, a year and a half ago.

“Where are you guys staying?” Jon Kauffman asked.

“Comfort Inn,” David answered.

“Cool!” Jon replied. “We are staying there too. I guess there aren’t a lot of hotels to choose from in Lewisburg.”

“What are you guys up to now?” David asked.

“We just registered,” Levi answered. “We’re going to do some laps before dinner and then head over to the hotel.”

“Look me up when you get done with dinner,” David said. “I’m in Room 214 ... with Kaiden.”

“Cool!” Levi agreed. “See you a little later.”

Coach Bunting took his crew over to the Elaine Langhorne Center for dinner. The student center had a variety of restaurants and small shops to choose from. A couple guys went for the southern BBQ. David and Mike decided to try the Mongolian Grill. You chose your raw vegetables, meats and sauce before you gave the bowl over to the chef. He whipped up a nice stir fry dish from your selections in a couple minutes. Both David and Mike agreed the food was excellent.

The Avon Grove team took a walk around campus. They ended up back at their hotel around eight o’clock. Coach Bunting warned the boys that everyone had to be back in their room by ten o’clock bed check. Competition started early tomorrow morning.

David got a call in his room about 8:30 PM. Levi and Jon from Fox Chapel wanted to know if David and the rest of his team would like to hang out downstairs at the indoor pool. David checked around with the Avon Grove players before agreeing.

The kids goofed around in the pool for a while. They took turns in the hot tub. Kaiden hovered over Emma Baechthold, ingratiating himself with her. David was the butt of more than a few jokes. Members of the Fox Chapel and Avon Grove teams had come to respect David, but each had some stories about David that were good for a laugh and more teasing after they got home. David took it in stride.

The kids headed back to their hotel rooms around a quarter to ten. Everyone, except the girls, were in the 200m medley relay first thing tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, the first event of the morning. David and Kaiden dressed and headed to bed.

After the lights were out, Kaiden asked, “Dave, how well do you know Emma?”

“Very well,” David replied. “We used to date when she was starting ninth grade and I was starting tenth, about a year and a half ago.”

“She seems like a really great girl,” Kaiden said. “Do you think she’d be receptive to a swim meet romance? I’d love to get to know her much better.”

“I have no idea,” David replied. “To me, she seems to be what my Dad would call a G.U.G – geographically undesirable girl. The commute from Landenberg to Pittsburgh is hell. I should know. I helped drive our family car back down to Landenberg when we moved.”

“We are here for three days,” Kaiden said. “I could get to know her in that time. We both could have some fun.”

“Tonight, you need to focus on the butterfly,” David said. “Remember what my Uncle Hunter taught me. I am counting on you to get our team a lead when you are in the water tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll do my best,” Kaiden promised. “Good night, David.

“Good night, Kaiden,” David replied.

Wednesday, March 19, 2031 – Bucknell University

The boys were up at the crack of dawn and were downstairs for a light breakfast of yogurt and fruit by 6:15 AM. Coach Bunting hauled the boys over to Kinney Natatorium in time for its 6:45 AM opening. The boys warmed up in the pool for a bit before getting out to wait for the start of competition. The balcony opened to spectators at 7:30 AM. Jake saw his parents first. David spotted his parents come in about five minutes later, accompanied by Levi Weisenbaugh’s parents. He gave them a wave, which they spotted and returned.

The Fox Chapel swimmers caught up with David and his new team while everyone waited in the staging area for the first event to start – first event for the morning, the 200m medley relay. The two teams talked for a bit while they waited. Jon Kauffman, the Fox Chapel team captain pulled his team aside for a final pep talk. Jake Berk called together the Avon Grove swimmers too.

“What info can you give us on your old team?” Jake asked. “What can we expect from them?”

“Mike, don’t be disappointed when Levi blasts past you for the lead in the backstroke,” David replied. “Levi is excellent, better than me in that stroke. Noah Yeager is doing their breaststroke leg. He’s OK, but not great. I expect to take the lead from Fox Chapel on my leg. Kaiden, you will face Fox Chapel’s B-Team butterflier, Ben Ledford. You are better than him.”

“Why isn’t their A-Team butterflier here?” Kaiden asked.

“Because I swim for your team now,” David said, smiling. “You can beat Ben, Kaiden. Race the way we practiced the last couple weeks, we will be fine on your leg.

“Jake, Jon is their anchor. He is a strong swimmer. The last leg is entirely about desire. You have got to go out and take it from Jon. Don’t expect any of the techniques I learned from my Uncle Hunter to help. Fox Chapel knows them all too. I taught them before I moved here and taught you.”

“Swim a good race,” Jake added. “Put us in the final eight. Then we can go for broke and go for victory. This race is going to be about desire. Who wants it the most? Do we? DO WE?”

“WE DO!” the other swimmers agreed.

The crowd waited a few minutes until they were called to the pool. The teams lined up in the order of the leg of the relay they swam. Fox Chapel ended up with a lane between them and Avon Grove. David’s old teammates did a double take when David lined up in the breaststroke spot.

“Did you change specialties, Dave?” Levi asked. “I expected you to do your traditional fly.”

“I swim where they have an opening,” David replied. “Good luck today, Levi.”

“Good luck to you too,” Levi agreed. “But not too much luck.”

The buzzer sounded and the swimmers launched themselves off the side of the pool. Levi quickly took the lead, as expected. Mike Hoover was second. He strove to keep Levi close, though the pace was brutal for him. The Cumberland Valley team, a couple lanes down from Fox Chapel kept close to Mike Hoover for third place. Levi turned and came back to the start, gaining a two-length lead on his competitors. Noah Wenger dove in when Levi touched the wall.

David waited impatiently for the nearly two seconds before beginning his dive. His feet were still touching the platform when Mike touched the side of the pool. David muscled ahead, clearly gaining on his former teammate. The two-length lead was gone by the end of the pool. After the turn, David was leading. He powered his way back to the start. Kaiden Randall dove over David as David touched the wall.

David was pleased to see Noah from Fox Chapel behind him. He turned and scanned the lanes. He was surprised when he saw the second finisher for this leg – a swimmer from Cumberland Valley (CV). He beat out Noah Yeager by half a length.

Kaiden powered ahead with the butterfly. Slowly the Cumberland Valley swimmer nibbled at Kaiden’s lead, slowly closing on him. Ben Ledford was a distant third, no longer a threat.

Levi helped hoist David out of the pool. Together they watched as the teams battled. Kaiden still held the lead after the turn but the lead was down one length. Kaiden battled ahead. He hit the wall almost simultaneously with the Cumberland Valley swimmer. Jake Berk and the CV anchorman dove in. Jon Kauffman waited impatiently for Ben to complete his leg. Three seconds later he dove in and power stroked ahead to try to catch up.

Jake and the CV swimmer battled down the length of the pool, neither gaining nor giving much distance to the other. Jon Kauffman slowly crawled back into contention. Jon was a length behind the two leaders at the turn. All three battled for dominance. The smart play for all three teams would be to cruise into a top three finish without expending too much energy. All they really needed was to get into the finals that evening. The race didn’t go that way. All three anchormen were fighting to make their team the alpha team at the swim meet. All three blazed ahead. Jake Berk and the CV anchorman hit the wall almost simultaneously. Jon Kauffman was half a second behind the two leaders.

The Avon Grove and Cumberland Valley swimmers celebrated their “victory” until the official standing came up on the scoreboard. Avon Grove had edged out Cumberland Valley by 0.01 seconds. The Avon Grove swimmers cheered again.

“Calm down, guys,” Coach Bunting cautioned. “This isn’t the last race. This is the preliminaries. All you have done is put yourself into the final eight. The races this evening are the races that count.” The team filed off the pool deck into the ready area where they would wait for the remainder of this event and the next event.

“David,” I want to you run the IMs as if you are at practice,” Coach Bunting instructed his next swimmer. “Don’t rush. Don’t worry if someone passes you. It doesn’t matter. Conserve your energy and get yourself into the finals. That is what counts this morning.”

“And if a bunch of people pass me?” David asked.

“Let them, unless there are eight or more in front of you,” Coach Bunting answered. “If eight people pass you, swim like hell.” Coach laughed. “Of course, the only way eight people pass you is if some of them are on jet skis.”

“I think I can live with the possibility of jet skis,” David replied.

David had a long wait while the two heats of the 200m free style were run. He ended up in the second heat of the 200m individual medley. He watched the first eight swimmers intently. None seemed to be major competition.

David took his mark for the start of the second heat. He noticed the Cumberland Valley swimmer who had pushed Kaiden hard in the 200m MR three lanes down from him. David knew this guy might challenge him.

David dove into the water at the buzzer. He powered ahead with his butterfly. Glances to the side showed the CV swimmer falling behind, but not by much. David still led at the turn. The CV swimmer pushed but couldn’t close the gap on the second half of the butterfly. David did his next turn and switched over to backstroke. The CV swimmer obviously wasn’t as proficient as David in this stroke. David pulled ahead. The breaststroke lap furthered David’s lead. By the final, free style lap, David could relax and just swim without worrying about pressure. He had first place assured and a spot in the finals that evening.

David’s time was 1:41.23, a second and a half slower than the PIAA state record he set in the meet with Oxford last month. It was far more than adequate for a preliminary. He placed first and came in more than six seconds ahead of the swimmer from CV. The rest of the field’s times were over 1:52.

David’s teammates and coach congratulated him on his win. He had a good wait until it was time for his last event, the 100m butterfly. This was the last preliminary event of the morning. David took his spot as the announcer asked swimmers to get ready. The boy from CV was assigned to the lane beside David.

“You’re Martin, right?” the boy asked David.

“I am,” David agreed.

“I needed to see it with my own eyes,” the boy continued. “I saw where you set the state record last month. I didn’t believe you’d be this fast until I had a chance to race against you. You can relax with this race. I plan to cruise and place for the finals. I want to conserve my strength for them tonight.”

“Do what you need to do,” David agreed. He didn’t totally trust the boy; in case this was a trick to lull David into a slow start. Most likely it wasn’t since each of them needed to do no more than place eighth to get into the finals.

David dove in at the buzzer with the other swimmers. He churned along like this was just practice. The boy from CV stayed near him but made no challenge to his lead. The rest of the field trailed behind them. David took first in the preliminaries with a time of 0:48.72. The boy from CV came in a second slower.

“Good luck tonight, Martin,” he commented as he shook David’s hand. “I will be gunning for you in the finals.”

“I’ll be ready, uhhh...” David stuttered, realizing he didn’t know the boy’s name.

“Andrew ... Andrew Detweiler,” the boy said as they shook hands.

“Glad to meet you, Andrew,” David said. “Good luck tonight.”

David gave his Mom and Dad a wave and a big smile as he and his team headed into the locker room to change. The PIAA and the Bucknell Athletic Department arranged tours of the athletic facilities. The team members and families toured the facilities to fill in the morning.

Kyle never said one word about what he saw. David had seen enough college weight rooms, training rooms and locker rooms to know that Bucknell’s facilities were far below standard for major colleges.

“Can you believe these?” David whispered to Kyle as they looked over the small weight room.

“Different college division against different opposition than what I experienced or Noah and Connor enjoyed at Penn State,” Kyle said. “Their budget is tiny compared to Penn State. Their athletes truly are students first and athletes a distant second. The kids have no hope or expectation of going pro when they finish college.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” David agreed.

“Where do you see yourself in two years?” Kyle asked. Penny’s ears perked up as she caught her husband’s thinking. “Do you see yourself following in Noah and Connors’ footsteps?”

“Well ... uh...” David responded. “I’m not sure.”

“You have the size and speed to play top-level football,” Kyle said. “You understand what you are supposed to do on the field as well as anyone. How many brochures or letters did you get this fall from major college football powers?”

“Four or five,” David said.

“What does that tell you?” Kyle asked. “Connor and Noah fielded information from fifty or sixty colleges by the time they were your age.”

“Don’t count on a football career?” David said laughing. “That actually is a relief you know that too.”

“You don’t share the passion your uncle and I had, and Noah and Connor have for football,” Kyle said. “You’re relieved?”

“I never talked about this with you before because I was afraid you would be disappointed.”

“So, if it isn’t football, what sport does ignite your passion? Swimming?” Kyle asked.

“Could be,” David agreed.

“I can tell you one thing,” Kyle replied. “A whole bunch of coaches will be circling your name and figuring out how to recruit you for their college swim team after what I’ve seen today.”

“I love swimming and I could see myself going that route,” David said. “I am not certain because I love sprinting too.”

“Track and field is a viable option,” Kyle said. “You are nearly full grown. Your muscles have developed since the end of last track season. I expect you should be able to put in a good performance as a sprinter ... if that is your passion.”

“For better or worse, my swimming season is over tonight,” David said. “I think I gave a good performance this season. I can wait until after track season to make any firm decisions on where to concentrate my efforts for my senior year and then for college.”