Whitfield High School for Girls

Chapter 7

I was impatient the whole day today. My classes were boring as they were revision on work that we had completed the previous week.

I rushed up to my room the minute the bell sounded. I had swimming training now until 16:00 then riding from 16:15-18:00.

I pulled on my aqua and grey Speedo full costume and grabbed a pair of denim shorts and a lime green shirt. I slipped on a pair of silver slops. I French plaited my hair and grabbed my swimming bag that had my purple fins, black paddles, blue and white pool bouy, blue kicker board, my aqua goggles and black cap. I quickly grabbed my school towel ( it was black and had a picture of all of our school house founders on it) and made my way to the outdoor pool.

It was clear blue, 50m and had 10 lanes. It was 2.5m deep on one side and 1.5m deep on the other. In one corner it was 5m deep and a 3m diving board.

The team was there already, all 23 of them. I ran to them and pulled my cap and goggles on. I quickly got undressed and grabbed my gear. I joined Courtney Steyn (12th grade) in lane 9 and put my stuff next to hers. She grinned at me.

"I see nobody's joining us today." I said smirking and she laughed softly and nodded in agreement. "Babies." I muttered and she started to say something but then our coach, Heather, appeared.

Heather frowned at us. "Why are there 5 swimmers for lanes 1 and 2, 4 swimmers for lanes 3 and 4, 7 swimmers for lanes 5 and 6 and 5 swimmers in lanes 7 and 8 but only 2 for lanes 9 and 10?" she asked, hands on hips.

"Because nobody wants to swim with Teagan and Courtney." Tasmin pointed out from lane 3.

"Why?" Heather asked, perplexed.

"They are faster then the rest of us and being lapped is not a nice feeling." another girl, Kelsey Reed, said grumpily.

Heather sighed and smiled at Courtney and I. "Fine. 16 lengths warm up." she said and we started.

All in all, we did 88 lengths. 16 warm up, 12 freestyle, 8 backstroke, 10 breaststroke, 4 butterfly, 4 freestyle, 4 butterfly, 4 breaststroke, 4 freestyle, 4 backstroke, 6 freestyle, 2 butterfly, 3 kicking only, 3 arms only and then 4 cool down.

After that I showered, washed my hair and changed into my riding gear, leaving the same shirt on. I dried my hair quickly and pulled it into a French plait again before grabbing my helmet and crop and heading out to the stables.

I was so disappointed. I had to ride Tweedle-Dee. He's a nice horse and all but a little spooky. He hates blue objects. I tacked up and mounted.

We walked into the arena and warmed up. Coach walked in and set up a triple combination. They weren't huge, about 70cm. "Today we are working on getting our horses to jump how high we tell them and no higher or lower. Theses jumps are 70cm but I want you to jump them as if they are 90cm." she said.

She waved me forward first and I cantered a circle before turning him to face the jumps. Immediately I knew there was going to be a problem. Ms Griffiths had used blue poles and props for the jumps. I sighed and urged Tweedle on. He eyed the jumps but cantered toward them. I lifted up and he stopped dead. I grabbed his mane and sat down again.

I circled him and tried again. Same thing. I circled him and 4 strides away I pulled him into a trot, 2 strides and back into a canter and he went over just right. 1 stride and I lifted up only to have him stop again. I flew into the air, losing a stirrup but wrapped my arms around his neck and managed to stay on.

I tried again but he just kept on refusing. Eventually, I tapped him with my crop but he still refused to jump it. Ms Griffiths picked up her lunging whip and as we cantered to the jump, she cracked it just behind him. He jumped and she did it again. He jumped and she did it again. He refused and this time I lost both my stirrups and I reached out and just managed to grab his mane, keeping myself in the saddle.

After that I cantered him over the first jump again and again until he had stopped hesitating. I then patted his neck and started cooling him down.

"Well done everybody. Teagan, you must have some serious skills to stay on like that. Congratulations. Next time though you won't be riding him." Ms Griffiths said and I smiled.

I untacked and groomed him before putting him back in his stall. I went up to my room, showered and dried my hair before tying it into a high ponytail. I pulled on my dark green shirt and black skinnies with my black Tomy's and went down to dinner with Jaime.