Reading Task 1

Jeremy’s swimming championship
By Jodi-Anne Kaspin

	“On your mark…” Jeremy stood in position, ready for his dive. “Get set…” His heart was beating so fast, it felt like it would pop out. “Go!” Jeremy heard the gun go off as the water splashed over his head and his entire body. This was the championship; the day he had been waiting for since the beginning of the swimming season. He and his friends had been talking about this day as long as he could remember! They’ve been training two hours a day, eating well, and stretching as much as they could, all for this! Jeremy entered the water and felt like he was in his own world. While underwater those first few seconds, he barely heard the world above him. He started his kicking and slowly came up to the surface. All of a sudden, the sounds from the
audience engulfed him! Jeremy found that the voices sounded like they were one loud voice, cheering him on as if this race determined his future! He picked his arms out of the water and pulled them back as quickly as he could. At the same time, his legs were swiftly moving through the water. As he was moving, he thought about why this meant more to him than anyone else on his team. He thought about how long it took to get over his serious illness and how he expected that the time he lost would never allow him to return to the water this year, or even in years to come. Jeremy sat in that hospital for months on end, just thinking, and wanting to be in the position he was in right now. It almost felt like a miracle.
	“Go! Go! Go! Go!” Jeremy heard as he continued to swim his hardest and tried to act as a fish pounding through the water. He looked to his right and saw an empty lane. Where was his opponent? Was he ahead or was he behind Jeremy? He couldn’t know for sure. His mind went trailing back to his days in the hospital. His teammates were so helpful, so cooperative, and so enthusiastic. He felt so depressed lying in that bed for so long and his teammates just stood by his side and tried to entertain him in their free time. He really had such incredible friends. His arms were pushing through the water as he took advantage of the few breaths he could take. Just keep
going, Jeremy told himself. Just keep going! Just a few more laps left of freestyle stroke! He looked beside him and he saw some splashing. “Is this my competition?” he asked himself. “Can I try to beat them?” He didn’t want to let his teammates down. They were so close to winning this meet. Where his team placed now depended on where he placed. Jeremy tried to think positive even though his heart was beating and he was starting to feel a slight cramp in his side. He shouldn’t have enjoyed that third piece of pizza during lunch, he lectured to himself. In order to make the time go by, he remembered what his mom suggested: sing his favorite song in his mind until his last two laps. Jeremy thought maybe his mom was right—it might keep his mind off the stressful situation. The song was working! The time seemed to fly as he continued his pattern. Just stroke, stroke, stroke, and breathe. Three strokes and then breathe. Jeremy even forgot for a split second where he was since he was concentrating so much on this song in his head. Finally, the gun went off in the background, signaling the final lap of the race. Only one more left!
	He gave it all he had. Jeremy forgot about the song, and thought about how much this race meant to him, his family, and his teammates. He barely took any breaths as he started to view the wall right ahead. It was almost there… Finally, his two hands touched the wall. Jeremy was afraid to look up. If he did, he would have to face the results of the race. If he just stayed down in the water, he was fine, right? He knew what he had to do. His head popped out of the water and he heard the cheering in the background. He looked to the right, and there was no one there. Good so far! Then he checked to his left, and saw a competitor already with his goggles off and getting out of the pool. He realized he came in second,
and his first reaction was to be angry with himself. Jeremy needed this win to help the team! They were going to be so disappointed. Yet, to his surprise, there were several of his teammates coming toward him. Actually, he realized they were running towards him. “But why?” Jeremy asked himself. “I didn’t get the points we needed,” he thought. Before he could say a word, his friends wrapped their arms around him, giving him words of praise and support. In fact, he looked around and it looked like the audience was giving him a standing ovation! He was overwhelmed with so much emotion. It turned out the team was more concerned with him finishing his race due to his time out of the water that they didn’t care about how he did. The fact that he was healthy was all that mattered to anyone. Tears began to flow down Jeremy’s cheek.

What do you think would be the theme of this story?