Chapter Text
It's early in May, but the wind feels warm on (name)'s skin as they drive into town with their windows down. The weather is quite unpredictable, so they decided to take the car instead of the bike to go to work.
On their left, the large building already appears. With large blue letters, the word SportsWorld is set up along the side. Underneath, large windows present the large pool 50 meter long pool.
Stopping at the trafficlight, (name) turns the volume down from the radio, the sound of their old car coming back to the foreground. Right at that moment, the light turns green and they shift their feet on the pedals to get the car rolling.
As the car turns onto the parking lot, they have to squint against the sun. It's already setting, as it's right after dinner when (name)'s work starts. Wednesday is their only day they have to work in the evening, instead of during the day.
Bag, keys, waterbottle, phone. They glance around the car twice to make sure they don't forget anything. "Let's go" they say to themselves before getting out of the car and locking it.
The large revolving door moves slowly, but eventually (name) gets through and holds their hand up to the receptionist. "Hi Ruth, enjoy your meal".
The older lady behind the desk just put a fork full of salad in her mouth and she quickly covers it before speaking "Thank you, (name)".
Scanning their card in front of the gate, it makes a short beeping sound before it opens and lets them through.
"I updated the list of candidates for you" Ruth says, gesturing to her computer in front of her "You can see it on your tablet later, but you got someone new starting in your N1 group. They applied last week but because you already have a spot I immediately invited them".
"Oh, great, alright. It's been quiet, huh?"
Adult swimming classes are a whole different setup compared to regular classes for children. Some people are very dedicated to learn and follow the full program, coming in every week to get either their swimming certificate. Other people only come in to learn a specific kind of technique, or only to learn what to do if they fall into the water for survival's sake. Other people try it out, but then leave after a few classes for whatever reason. Usually work, or it turns out they're not interested after all.
While the kid's swimming classes are usually full because many parents put their children on this sport for safety reasons, the adults usually come in waves. There are some moments where there's a waiting list, and some moments like now that the classes aren't full and no one applies.
"It has been, I told my manager we should try and recruit again" Ruth says.
(name) shrugs "We'll see. It comes and goes". They still remember when they started doing this 4 years ago on the wednesday evening, that there was a huge waiting list. The instructor before them apparently wasn't very fast in teaching people how to swim, and (name)'s manager praised them almost all the way up to heaven when, within 4 months of taking over the old instructor's classes, they already had a group of people going for their exam.
Walking through the next set of doors, they make their way through the building, to the staff room.
Downstairs are 3 pools, one large 50 meter long pool for swimming classes, lane swimming or other water sports. Then, there's a recreational pool with two slides and a long lazy river. Lastly, there's a (much smaller in comparison to the other two pools) warm water basin. A square, 15 by 15 metres, warmed up to 34 degrees and with an adjustable floor. This pool is used for classes for elderly, baby's and disabled people and the only place where adult classes are available as the usual 50m pool is in use of a swimming competition club.
Upstairs in the buidling is a gym. It all falls under the same name, but (name) rarely ever sees the people working there, or ever goes there by themselves. They have the possibility to go there for free, but they don't use it often. Their work already makes them exercise enough already in their opinion.
(name) quickly changes into their work attire, the colours turqoise and black standard in their uniform. They stretch their arms and move around a little before putting on their bathrobe over their swimming clothes.
Before class starts, they first have to set things up properly. Tapping around on their personal worktablet, they make their way over to the small pool. When they were a child, they already followed swimming classes here, and now that they've been working here for almost 10 years, they can almost walk through the hallways blindfolded.
Unlocking the glass door to the pool and tapping the button on the side to open it, they take in how the previous swimming instructor has left it behind.
A sigh escapes through (name)'s lips.
Dropping their tablet onto the white benches along the wall, they start to clean up the mess, only leaving the things on the side that they would probably need.
Class is indeed going to be relatively quiet when (name) checks their tablet again.
They have 3 levels coming in every wednesday. To get to your first certificate, there are different things people have to learn, and that is set into 2 different sections.
First, people have to learn the basics, acclimatisation to water, floating, and low-level swimming strokes.
Then, in the second section, people will learn how to swim in deeper water, advancing the strokes they already learned. (name) also sometimes lets the people come in with their clothes to let them experience how it feels to actually swim with clothes on if they get into the situation that they fall into the water.
The last level they teach is even further advanced, for people that want to develop further on their strokes and want to eventually move on to other swimming sports.
In their first level, they'll get 3 people. The man, Lolan, has been coming in regularly for a while now and is making great progress. The woman, Nona, is still quite nervous to swim on her back so (name) wants to expand on that a little more. And then a new name is added to the list. They have to read the name a few times before they're pretty sure they'll pronounce it correctly, but they'll probably let the person say their name first during the introduction.
With all the materials set up along the side of the pool, (name) moves over to the panel next to the closet. Turning the key in the panel and then pressing height the want the floor at, they move the adjustable floor of the pool until 1.20m. Nona is quite short, and they don't know how tall the new person will be, so they'll just stick to the usual depth.
A click is heard behind them, the familiar sound of the automatic door that they unlocked a few minutes ago opening smoothly.
A man in his 50's enters, smiling at (name) and putting a towel on the bench right beside where they put their own bathrobe.
"Good evening, Lolan. Just wait for a moment, I'm still moving the floor".
"No worries, I'm always a bit early, you know me" the man says, always cheerful.
(name) smiles softly and turns their gaze back to the panel. It only takes a few centimetres more, and then they lock it again by turning the key back. "Alright".
"Thank you, madam!"
Their smile turns into a tighter one as Lolan passes them to get to the stairs.
Nona enters right after, saying a soft hello before getting into the pool.
Usually, (name) jumps in too, but because someone has their first class, they prefer to stay out until they arrive to give a proper introduction on the side of the pool.
Watching Nona and Lolan get to their individual exercises and already giving the man a tip about the position of his feet, they wait for the last person to enter.
It doesn't take too long until the automatic door clicks again, swinging open. (name) turns their head and puts up their usual smile "Welcome in, are you here for the adult swimming class?".
A man, taller than (name), walks in. He's wearing black swimming trunks with a single thick white stripe along the sides, and a tight black swimshirt with long sleeves. "Yes, good evening".
(name) also notes how nervous he seems to be, glancing at the water with one blue eye. The other is obscured by his white hair, and what seems to be a black patch. He's also wearing glasses, one glass blacked out while the other looks like a normal prescription.
"It's nice to meet you, my name is (name) and I'll be your instructor" they say, stepping closer to the man.
Used to the different cultures they meet during this work, they don't immediately offer a hand to shake. But he does offer a hand, so (name) reciprocates.
"I'm Qifrey, it's nice to meet you too. You're the usual teacher?"
(name) nods.
He nods in response.
The instructor glances to the side to check up on their two students before looking back "How are you feeling? Is this your first time swimming or do you already have some experience?".
Something flickers in his eye, but Qifrey answers rather quick. "It's my first time actually swimming, I never did it before… but uhm…" he scratches the back of his head "That's because I don't like water".
"Alright, that's good to know. Can you tell me why?" (name) asks, glancing to the pool again and then to Qifrey "It will help me gauge how to help you best".
"I- I experienced something traumatic"
"Do you mind sharing with me?"
The man fidgets with the sleeve of his swimshirt.
"It's alright if you are not comfortable with that. I'm just asking so I know what to look out for and approach certain situations with extra caution".
He meets the instructor's gaze for a moment "I almost drowned when I was younger".
It's not the first time they've heard about people having an experience like that. These are very delicate cases and they take a lot of time, especially because the people have to get over their fear and boundaries that they've set for themselves.
"I'm very sorry to hear that" (name) tells him genuinely, their brows furrowing "I understand that such an experience would make you feel uncomfortable being in or even around water".
Qifrey nods, barely visible to anyone except (name) who is close enough to see it.
They take a step to the side to be more in his view "I'll tell a little more about how these classes are set up".
He meets their gaze again, listening.
"These are group classes, but I teach everyone individually. That means that there can be up to 6 adults in the class at the same time, but I don't teach everyone at the same time. It rarely happens that I call everyone together to teach something to everyone at once, because everyone has their own learning curve and learns at a different pace. During the 45 minutes, everyone practices individually, while I walk around and give pointers or explanations. If you need help, you can always shout to get my attention, and it's my job to keep everyone safe so I usually have an eye on everyone at all times". (name) rambles, having done this routine many times before.
They gesture to the side "The pool is set up so everyone's able to stand on the floor, as this is the starting level where you learn how to move around in the water. Right now it's on 1 meter and 20 centimeter. Whenever you're ready, you can go into the water using the stairs, or you can slide into the water by sitting down on the edge".
"Thank you, eh-".
"(name)".
"Yes, thank you, (name)".
The instructor smiles kindly and then steps towards the pool, using the stairs that move along with the floor to get into the water.
In the corner of their eye, they see Qifrey hesitantly walk over to the stairs too. But instead of using it to go into the water, he uses the railing for stability, looking at the pool by standing at the side of it.
"The water is 34 degrees, so it's nice and warm" they note as they pass Qifrey, walking through the water to get to Nona to tell her what they're planning on practicing with her today "Take your time to get into the water and I'll be with you shortly".
After helping Nona, they then move on to Lolan, giving him a challenging exercise to build up more strength in his legs so swimming the breaststroke will become easier.
When (name) glances at Qifrey, he's still on the side of the pool. He's sitting down now, but is looking around, clearly uncomfortable.
Swimming across the pool, (name) dives down for a moment to fully get their hair and body wet after only having the back of their hair a little wet due to the exercises they showed to Nona. When coming up, (name) pushes a hand through their hair and blinks the water out of their face.
Qifrey notices them approach. He has his arms wrapped around his legs, just a toe touching the water when a wave pushes far enough to reach. "Sorry, I'm not sure if I can do this".
(name) watches him for a moment, but shakes their head "No need to be sorry. What happened isn't nothing. If you need time to adjust, please take it. Everyone moves at their own pace here. And this is a safe space to do just that. And I'm here to help, support and guide".
The man nods, and gazes at the water once more.
(name) moves to sit down on the edge beside him, keeping almost a full arm of space between them. "Can I ask, do you also have difficulty showering because of the water?"
"I'm not fond of it, but I do it because it's necessary, of course".
"Alright, that's good to know" (name) says with a nod, and then glances at him "Then I assume you wash your hands as well?"
For the first time, the man chuckles softly "Yes".
"Good, then let's wash our hands first".
With their legs still dangling in the water, (name) puts their hands in the water too as if they're washing them with soap in a sink.
In the corner of their eye, they see Qifrey watch them closely.
(name) glances back "Go on, try it out. We're going to start with things you're already familiar with".
Crossing his legs, the man bends a little to slowly stick his hand in the water. "This is quite a nice temperature".
Smiling, (name) nods. They watch his other hand join, and slowly begin to move, as if he's washing his hands.
Slowly but surely, (name) makes him put the water onto the sleeves of his shirt, then on his legs, and the rest of his shirt. Lastly, his face. He still looks uneasy, but he's not dry anymore.
"Do you think you're ready to go in the pool, now that you've gotten a little bit used to the water?"
Immediately, his whole body locks up. His expression changes too. (name) clocks it immediately as anxiety, fear.
"There's no pressure, it was just a question" they state "Do you want to try? You can use the stairs to slowly go in, step by step".
Qifrey shakes his head "I think… not".
"You can also stay over here and let your legs dangle just like what I've been doing" they say, letting their legs sway back and forth.
"Yeah… I'll do that". The man shifts and sinks his legs into the water, waves lapping at his knees.
"Alright, I'm going to help out the others and then come back".
(name) slips back into the pool and swims over to Lolan.
Eventually, class ends and the next person already enters, sitting down on the bench and waving over at (name). They wave back "Hi, nice to see you again, Randall".
The instructor finishes up with Nona and Lolan, wishing them a good evening, before moving over to Qifrey, who is still seated on the same spot.
"Well done today".
He frowns a little, staying silent for a moment before responding with a soft "Yeah".
"Qifrey!"
(name) looks up in surprise when they hear a rough voice come from the door. A man, clearly coming from the gym upstairs, holds up a white towel "I got your towel, it was still in my bag. How did you forget such a thing?".
"Ah, Olly" Qifrey stands up and moves towards the door. The man called Olly steps through the door, excusing himself to Nona, and pushing the towel into Qifrey's hands.
"How did your class go?" he asks, glancing at (name) before looking back.
Qifrey sighs "It was alright".
"Good".
"Did you do your exercises too?"
The black haired man laughs, putting his hand in his neck "Yes, yes. But it was pretty hard, not gonna lie".
(name) decides not to listen in any further, and turns around to welcome Randall into the pool. They give him a reminder of what they did last week and that they want to expand on it to work towards his upcoming exam, and that they'll soon move the floor down so they can practice properly.
"(name)".
They turn to the person who called their name, seeing Qifrey gently smile at them "Thank you, see you next week". The man beside him also holds a hand up in a simple gesture of goodbye.
"Bye, well done today! Have a nice evening" they respond, waving back and watching both men walk through the door.