It was the end of BYU’s opening meet of the season – the blue and white meet. All the swimmers were wearing blue and white caps representing their respective teams.
The swimmers lined up behind their blocks for the co-ed 400 free relay. As soon as the first swimmers sprang off the blocks the speakers blared horse-race music typical used at the Kentucky Derby. The Richards Building came alive like I’ve never seen before.
The swimmers all gathered around the pool, jumping up and down and crouching to yell at their underwater teammates. In the final leg, Andrew Rutherfurd and Brent Murray sprinted neck and neck down the lane.
It was too close to call without checking the clock, so as soon as the two touched the wall the whole team looked up with anticipation to the scoreboard and after the brief pause, cheers erupted as the clock showed that Rutherfurd had barely beat his teammate by two-hundredths of a second.
The blue team secured the win, but everybody looked ecstatic. I’ve never seen such intense, yet good spirited competition among teammates.
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