Page 1 of Beyond the Stroke

one

. . .

RORY

“You have to wonder if this is the end of the road for Rory Shields.”

The voice cuts through the quiet afternoon like a slap. I glance at the screen. With gray hair and a smug grin, Roger Selby’s face fills the frame. The wordsRetirement for Rory?are plastered under his name in bold.

I press the ice bag tighter to my knee.

“He’s thirty-four, coming off a tough injury, and the competition is only getting faster. You look at guys like Xio Valdez stepping onto the scene, and Connor Fisk who’s in his prime, and you have to ask—does Shields still have what it takes to compete at the highest level?” Roger Selby, Swim-Span’s lead swimming correspondent, remarks before turning to one of his co-hosts. “What are your thoughts, Jim?”

Jim Koster, a legendary swim analyst, nods, considering Roger’s point before speaking.

“I wouldn’t count him out just yet. We are talking about a guy who has been at the top of this sport for over a decade. He knowshow to push through adversity. But, I’ll admit, the timeline is tight. If he’s not at full strength soon, his chances for another medal run could slip away.”

“What do you think, Jan?” Roger asks, motioning to Jan Stevens, an Olympic gold medal swimmer and former training teammate of mine at the Carolina Current. “Does Shields have a chance?”

Jan hesitates, the way a friend does before saying something that hurts. “Only if he wants it. But even then, comebacks at this age aren’t just physical. They’re brutal mentally. And someone younger might need that roster spot more.”

“Let’s not sugar coat it. He’s not getting any younger, and swimmers don’t have the longest shelf life. Even if he does make it back, is he still a medal contender, or is he just swimming to prove a point?” Roger remarks.

“You’re no spring chicken either, Roger,” I mutter at his visibly white hair on screen.

“So, you think Shields should retire?”Jim asks Roger.

“Definitely. I think with the MCL injury he sustained after nationals last year; he doesn’t have enough time to rehab to full strength and get what is ultimately seen as an older body in the world of swimming into the shape he’ll need to be in to compete with guys half his age.”

I remove the ice bag from my knee and drop my leg from where it had been resting on my coffee table to the ground. While full body ice baths have been a weekly routine for years to keep inflammation down, icing my rehabilitated knee has become part of my everyday routine.

It’d be easy to drown out the noise of naysayers like these guys, but even my parents think I’m done.

The television goes dark, and I swivel my head to find my best friend, Eli Mitchell, standing behind my couch with the remote in his hand.

“That’s all bullshit and you know it.”

“Do I?” I thought I had. After the surgery, rehab went exceptionally well and once I was back in the pool, I felt like my old self again, but since I made the decision to return to Coral Cove, the training home of the Carolina Current, I’ve been bombarded with negative news media. It’s not how I imagined my homecoming and return to training with my team would go.

Eli sets the remote on the coffee table, then drops into the chair adjacent to the couch. “These guys are idiots.”

“What about Jan?” I ask, lifting my brows.

“You know my rule about calling women names.”

I nod. Eli has a rigid exterior, and I don’t mean his toned physique that has made him the world’s fastest back stroker. But within that quiet, contemplative body is a heart of gold. He’s by far the gentleman of the team. Cool under pressure and laser focused. The only time I’ve seen him get frazzled is when someone mentions his ex-girlfriend, Blair. He completely shuts down, so we’ve learned to keep her name out of our mouths.

“When athletes are injured, people speculate they can’t come back, let alone stronger than they were before. You’ll show them what’s possible.” He nods, affirming his motivational words.

“Thanks, man.”

The front door slams shut, no knock preceding it.

Voices fill the hallway. I know it’s not a home invasion, because outside of the aquatics center, my beach house is team headquarters. It’s how it’s always been.

Charlie Wallace strolls in with all the confidence of the reigning world record holder in both the one-hundred-meter and two-hundred-meter freestyle, wearing a backwards hat and a neon yellow t-shirt that saysCool Vibes, and carrying a cardboard box.

Behind him, Logan Wilson, four-time national champion, and international gold medalist in the one-hundred-meterand two-hundred-meter butterfly, follows carrying a bucket of chicken.

---