It was the day of the contest. Jerry, Katelyn, Liz and Sue had spent weeks designing and building their cardboard boat. They had, like every other team, built 3 identical copies of their craft. It was a simple design; basically a long box with a slightly raised aft, the whole thing was completely covered in pink duct tape to help waterproof it.
Katelyn was a smaller girl thinly built with light brown hair, her best friend Jerry was taller and more athletic and had dark brown hair, Jerry was the most self-confident of the bunch and was the only one who had worn a two piece bathing suit. Sue opted for a black one piece swimsuit with the word “CASO” written across the front. She was also wearing her glasses. Liz was also small of build, though larger than Katelyn and was wearing a yellow swimsuit and guys swim shorts over the bottom. She also had dark brown hair.
The girls lined up with the other groups in front of the pool for the competition briefing. The contest was to consist of 3 races the first was a simple speed race in which two of the group members would paddle the boat as quickly as possible across the length of the pool, the first group to reach the far side wins, the second was a more complicated contest in which all 4 of the group members would be in the boat and would have to perform various tasks without tipping it, the last was an simple endurance contest, whose boat can stay afloat the longest.
During the first and 3rd race only two group members would be in the boat the two that sat out in the first would run the last in the 2nd race all 4 group members would be in the boat. The instructor went on to talk a bit about safety mentioning that ramming or intestinally disrupting another group’s boat would not be tolerated and that there was to be no horseplay in the pool.
Every group was to get at least two life jackets in the first and 3rd race they would be worn by whoever was running the boat, in the 3rd they would be used as a part of the race, as a result of that the deep end of the pool would be roped off for that section, the boats would be stationary anyway. Additional life jackets were available for group members standing on the side of the pool if they weren’t comfortable near the water.
Their coach, Mis.Silverthorne, went over to the large bins and retrieved a pair of lifejackets for them. They were matching red jackets, blue on the inside with bright yellow straps. Jerry thought they looked a bit juvenile but didn’t say anything. She was pretty easy going and didn’t really care. The lifejackets had a hood with a yellow grab loop, a zipper in the fount as well as a strap around the midsection and a tie at the bottom of the front. There was also a long strap hanging down from the back that Jerry wasn’t sure about, but she was more preoccupied with checking over the boats.
“Well girls we’ve got 10min before the first race, who’s going to run it?”
Katelyn and Liz volunteered and Ms. Silverthorne handed them the life jackets as well as a pair of short plastic paddles. Katelyn put the paddle on the floor and started to slip on the life jacket. She slipped her arms through the holes, zipped up the front and clipped the strap around her midsection together; finally she tied a bow in the drawstring at her waistline. Katelyn then noticed the strap hanging behind her like a tail and turned to grab at it, it took her a couple tries with the jacket limiting her view and the strap swinging back and forth. Strap in hand she held it in front of her and looked down, examining the life jacket she was wearing. She saw an empty buckle in at the bottom of the jacket and clicked in the strap it looked pretty useless. “What the heck is this strap for?” Katelyn wasn’t talking to anyone in particular but Ms. Silverthorne took notice and walked over to assist laughing.
“Not quite Katy. It’s to keep the jacket from riding up like this”
Ms. Silverthorne explained grabbing the shoulders of Kate’s life jacket and easily lifting it so the shoulder straps were above Kate’s head. Ms. Silverthorne dropped the shoulder straps to their normal height.
“Here” Ms. Silverthorne said crouching down. She unclipped the strap that was hanging loosely around the teen girl’s waist and passed it back around and between her legs clipping it back into the front buckle. “ow” was all Katelyn said in response but her face had gone a bit pink. Ms. Silverthorne snuggled down the strap and then went about re-tying the bow at the waist of the jacket and snugging down the strap around the midsection for good measure.
“See?” She asked after finishing, taking Kate’s lifejacket by the shoulders again and lifting, this time the crotch strap kept the jacket positioned low and snug over the small girl’s torso.
Liz watched this exchange and fastened her own jacket quite snugly as well, when Ms. Silverthorne checked hers over she found nothing in need of changing.
At this point Jerry and Sue had the first boat in the water and ready to go. Katelyn and Liz stepped carefully into their cardboard watercraft while Jerry and Sue did their best to hold it steady. 5 min later the first contest was underway.
The two girls did very well paddling in sync and shooting across the pool second place, at least, seemed within their grasp but as they approached the far wall Liz shifted too far to the left as Kate tried to slow the boat down, the craft destabilized and tipped to the left, not a lot, but enough for water to come flooding over the edge of the boat and in another min the two girls where in the water, bobbing in their life jackets instead of paddling furiously toward victory.
The two girls sat floating in their life jackets for a few moments before each taking corner of their boat and dragging it back towards the shallow end of the pool, were Jerry and Sue were waiting to help drag the sodden cardboard out of the water.
Of the 7 groups that were competing 3 had gone under before the girls tipped so they placed 4th in the first completion, all the girls were hoping to place 3rd overall, at least, in order to score extra marks in their high school shop class.
Katelyn climbed out of the pool dripping water from the life jacket and rolled over onto back; arms and legs straight out on the floor in exhaustion. Liz flopped out in similar fashion beside her. After a moment to catch their breath the two girls sat up.
Kate moved to unclip the lifejacket but Ms. Silverthorne told her to just leave it as they only had a couple minutes before the next round and they needed to talk strategy. She took her feet with the jacket still on and dripping a bit begrudgingly but not really caring.
After a brief consolation and a pep talk from Ms. Silverthorne the girls picked up there 2nd boat. Jerry and Sue lowered the boat into the water, holding it against the side of the pool. The second race consisted of several tasks all 4 girls would be in the boat they would hand paddle out to the midpoint of the pool, once there Kate and Liz would remove their life jackets and hand them to Jerry and Sue who would don them. They would then have to switch positions in the boat each taking the seat second farthest from their current one as this would be the fastest way for them to al move. It was decided they would go two at a time to help with balance instead of all at once and risk tipping.
“Remember go slowly and keep you balance but don’t waste time, it is a race but the biggest danger is tipping” Ms. Silverthorne coached them.
Loaded into the boat the girls were a bit cramped, they sat in two pairs each pair with one jacket, Jerry and Liz were in the middle back to back, Liz wearing one of the life jackets, Sue and Katelyn where on the outside facing in, Katelyn would hand her jacket to Jerry and Liz hers to Sue.
The girls where the 3rd boat to reach the midpoint in the pool; both of the boats in front of them were still taking their life jackets off.
Kate quickly unclipped the front of the lifejacket she was wearing and drew down the zipper, she fumbled with the knot for a moment and it came loose, finally she unclipped her crotch strap and started to slip her arms out of the jacket, the girls froze as the boat came close to tipping, Kate finished removing the jacket more slowly and sat up slightly to pull the strap out from under her and tossed the jacket to Jerry. At this point Sue had already almost finished donning the jacket Liz had been wearing. Jerry looked around at the other boats briefly; most of them were still swapping jackets but one or two where already trying to move around, one boat was floating in ruins with 2 other girls floating nearby. Jerry turned her mind back to the life jacket picking it up and swinging it around to slip her arms through the holes behind her, the jacket was still quite wet from the swim Kate had taken in it and the nylon was cold against her bare back. She quickly pulled the two front sides together and zipped up the front, Jerry was a fair bit bigger than Katelyn and the jacket had been tight on her. Jerry had pull quite hard but she managed to get the strap around her middle fastened without wasting time adjusting it. The tie at her waist was easy and took little time.
She glanced around again and saw that 3 boats were now onto the second step. “Hurry up” Nagged Kate. Jerry leaned forward on her knees and reached between her legs for the final strap but was having a hard time finding it, there were running out of time, suddenly she felt Liz’s hand, her friend had turned around in her seat and pulled the strap out from under Jerry’s leg where it had been stuck. Liz put the strap in the other girl’s hand and Jerry pulled it through her legs, the strap was too short having been adjusted for Katelyn but she managed to get it to click into place despite the discomfort.
With both lifejackets switched the girls began stage two; first Liz and Katelyn stood up while Jerry and Sue stayed as low as possible to try and stabilize the boat. Jerry shifted a bit as Kate stepped over her and then again as Liz stepped by, with the first move completed Jerry looked up again now facing Liz, who’s lifejacket Sue now had on. At least there about the same size though Jerry as she slowly stood up, causing the crotch strap and shoulder straps to tighten up considerably, the teenage girl found herself wishing she had made like Liz and worn a one piece suite and guys swim shorts.
The boat rocked dangerously and Jerry and Sue both dropped back down until it stopped, 4 boats were now out of the game having tipped and one was on its way back to the shore the two girls took it slow passing each other and sitting down in each other’s seats. As soon as they were seated Jerry and Sue turned around so they were all facing the same direction. The boat was bit cramped and Jerri ended up with Kate’s knees on either side of her. All 4 girls began to hand paddle back to the edge of the pool. Glancing to her right Jerry saw the other two boats one was almost back the other was just behind them. After several moments they were approaching the edge of the pool again, the girl's hand paddled their craft as quickly as possible, just beating the other boat and snagging second place.
Jerry, being in the front of the boat now, grabbed the edge of the pool as soon as they bumped into it and swung it around so the other girls could climb out.
Sue and Liz hugged each other and jumped up in down in excitement, Katie just laughed and held a hand out to help Jerry climb up. Jerry’s foot slipped on the edge of the pool as she tried to climb up causing her to pull on Kate’s arm more than the smaller girl had expected a split second later Kate was following Jerri into the water as the larger girl fell backwards with her friend landing on top of her. Jerri got one big mouthful of water before her life jacket yanked her to the surface, she lay there with her head on the color of the life jacket for a moment before realizing the water was shallow enough for her to stand, with some surprising reluctance, she put her feet on the floor of the pool and stood up taking her weight off the jacket a moment later she followed a laughing Kate out of the pool.
Standing straight the crotch strap was still quite uncomfortable but Jerri was unsure how to loosen it, she pulled at the strap a bit but it wouldn’t loosen.
“Just leave that Jerry you’ll be heading back out in a second” Ms. Silverthorne misinterpreted jerry’s movements as trying to remove the jacket.
“Ow I know, the bit between my legs it just a bit too tight” Jerry explained trying to feed the loose end of the strap back into the buckle. “I’m a bit taller than Kate.” She bent forward to illustrate her discomfort.
“Here let me help you then” Ms. Silverthorne approached Jerry who took her hands away from the buckle to let her teacher/coach correct it. The older woman undid the buckle and fed and several inches of slack into the strap she then clipped I back into place and snugged it down. The strap was now quite snug but not uncomfortable. Jerri would have preferred it a bit looser but said nothing as Ms. Silverthorne was now discussing the final stage.
Jerri and Kate would undertake it as they hadn’t been a part of the first race. The basic premise here was to be the last boat floating, this was the only race where ramming and tipping other boats was permitted. Sue and Liz held the 3rd and final boat (there second one was still in great condition but they had 3 so they might as well use them) as Jerri and Katelyn climbed in Ms. Silverthorne then handed them there paddles and told them to “go get em”
The pink duct tape did and amazingly good job at holding back the water. After 10min of pushing and prodding there were only 3 boats left the girls in there pink box, two guys wearing yellow “mustang” vests in a white boat with a pointed bow and a girl and a guy in a square boat covered in plastic wrap (the girl had little legends lifejacket the boy a standard red lifejacket that may or may not have even had a crotch strap)
Jerri watched from the bow of their ship as the two boys rammed the plastic wrap boat broadside and the lead boy smashed a hole in the bottom with his paddle the girl grabbed the bow of their boat and was dragged out of hers and away from her sinking friend, very nearly tipping the other boat as the boys back paddled. At least they were not the only ones with kids life jackets thought Jerri after getting a look at the girl’s supper wedge as she was dragged through the water. The girl gave up after a moment and slowly swam back to the boy who was already dragging the shattered remains of their craft back to the edge of the pool. The girl had given Jerri and Idea though, she knew they couldn’t take the boys head on, and the rules only said the boats had to remain afloat and at least one crew member had to remain intact, she turned to Katelyn.
“Man the ship”
“whaa-?” Kate never got to finish her question as Jerri jumped over the side of their ship and began to swim right at the boys.
Once again Jerri was struck by how the life jacket felt in the water, she had worn lifejackets like the boy in the wrecked boat had worn when her family went speed boating but never swam in them, and the crotch strap kept the jacket so well positioned on her body she didn’t think swimming in the other kind would be as nice, it would likely ride up the way Kate’s had when Ms. Silverthorne pulled on the shoulders. It really was quite pleasant to float weightless in the water. She had to admit to herself part of the reason she had taken this course of action was so she could feel the lifejacket hold her in the water again, like when she fell in the shallow end, it was much more fun in the deep though with nothing under her to take her weight off the jacket.
Jerri was broken out of this train of thought by the sound of a splash. One of the two boys had also jumped into the water he was swimming right at her intent on stopping her from reaching their boat, Jerri attempted to maneuver around him but he managed to grab the loop at the top of the lifejackets hood and she felt herself pulled backwards by the lifejacket. A second later she felt the boy behind her and his arm around her neck as her put her in a headlock. She yelled angrily and tried to separate herself from him but couldn’t reach around behind her. He was a fair bit stronger than her. Jerri watched as his buddy paddled there boat with both paddles, like he was rowing, towards the helpless pink ship manned only by Katelyn.
“What the hell? Let me GO!” Jerry was genuinely mad at being held restrained by the buy she tried to dive underwater but the lifejacket prevented her from doing so she leaned back instead putting her weight on the boy behind her causing his head to slip underwater, as soon as his arm loosened from around her neck she yanked it off and twisted around onto her back her head as far from the boy as possible, the boy wiped the water out of his face and grabbed for the strap around the midsection of the girl’s lifejacket, Jerry coiled both legs and kicked out with both at once pushing the boy away and sending her back towards the white boat, the she rolled smoothly onto her stomach and swam with long frog kicks and scooping movements of her arms.
Kate had the idea now and was taking evasive maneuvers to avoid the white boat. A second later Jerry grabbed the back of the white boat and began rocking it, the other boy stopped rowing and tried to fend her off but the boat began to upset so he was forced to move to counter it. The boy in the water had caught up with her at this point and was trying to pull her off of the boat but she had a good hold on it, She waited a moment and when the larger boy pulled at her lifejacket hood again she kicked out at the bottom of their boat and pulled at the top.
With the boys additional pull on her lifejacket it was enough to capsize the white boat spilling the other boy into the water with them and winning them, FIRST PLACE Jerry realized this at about the same time the angry boy showed her underwater in anger.
She popped up far enough away that further fighting could be avoided and swam back towards the pink ship and her friends on the sidelines, who cheered her as she approached. She was very surprised to discover she was enjoying the swim more than the victory but decided to keep that to herself (At least until she and Katelyn talked later that night, when they both admitted to enjoying the jacket and the crotch strap as well) Standing on the side of the pool Jerri made no move to take of the heavy wet lifejacket.
Jerry caught a glimpse of the two boys dragging their boat, now in tatters to the shallows, they had undone their jackets but left them hanging around their shoulders.
There were 3 or 4 others in the area still wearing jackets though it was this observation as well as catching Katelyn looking at Liz’s discarded jacket longingly that gave her the courage to open up that night.
After the happy congratulations were over Jerry reluctantly shed the lifejacket and they all left the pool area to change and go out for a victory dinner, the final victory had won them second place overall, the first place winners where group with the girl who had been wearing the little legends lifejacket, they had placed 1st in the second game and 2nd in the first there 3rd place in the final race just beating the girls 4th in the 1st.
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