Chasing the Break

by Michael Panckridge

  Jack must have noticed the surprised look I had.

  ‘I told you Sandhurst took their sport seriously. Just wait till you see some of the other sports and how they turn it on. There’s only one thing missing.’

  ‘What’s that?’ I asked, thinking that everything was here.

  ‘Parents,’ he replied.

  ‘Oh.’

  The ironwoman event was first. This was good and bad. Good, because I got a chance to see each of the events and how they were run. Bad, because it meant more time for the butterflies in my stomach to kick around. I didn’t usually get nervous, but there was something about Sandhurst and the whole sport thing that had really got to me.

  Mr Spears explained the scoring for the iron events. You got seven points for winning an event, five for coming second, three for third, two for fourth and one for coming fifth.

  I grabbed a bottle of water and walked over to the first event – the beach flags race. Mr Spears was calling over a handheld megaphone for any girls interested in the beach flags race to report to the start.

  ‘Wish me luck, Mitchell. I reckon I’m gonna need it.’

  It was Luci Rankin. She’d actually used my name.

  And then Mia Tompkins appeared. Everyone knew her name. She was one of the sportiest girls in the school.

  ‘Run your own race, Luci. Lock your eyes on a flag and don’t look away till you’ve got it in your hand,’ I said.

  ‘You bet,’ she said and walked off to the group gathering at the start.

  There were eleven girls in the race. Mr Spears wrote their names on a clipboard then explained that only eight flags would be posted for the first race, four for the second, two for the third race and then one for the last race, when there would be only two girls left.

  Luci was trying to get as far away from Mia as she could. Finally they were all lying down with their chins on their hands. A bit of a crowd had gathered by now and there was plenty of cheering. Bryce was standing close to the start, which surprised me until I saw him pull out a stopwatch and notepad. There was something for everyone today.

  The first race was a row of girls powering up the beach. It was hard to tell who had got a flag, but I noticed Luci walking back with a smile, nodding, so she had obviously made it through. I decided to wander down towards the finishing line, where all the action was.

  The competitors still in the race weren’t given much time for a break, and soon eight girls were hurtling down the beach. I found myself yelling ‘Go Luci!’ before I realised what I was doing, but I didn’t think anyone had noticed. She was doing fine, too, way out in front. She threw herself at a flag. Mia also made it through.

  The next run down was amazing, almost crazy. Luci was caught between Mia and someone else and they both pushed over into her running space, squeezing her back. Luci overbalanced and fell, way short of the flags. The fourth girl was out in her own fast lane and got one of the flags. Mia and the other girl just stood in front of the last flag and giggled (I think they were best friends or something). It was pathetic: they couldn’t decide who should take it. Then, all of a sudden, there were screams from kids in the crowd as Luci shot through between them, with her arm stretched out for the flag. Mia responded first and fell onto the flag, but Luci had got her hands on it first and she wasn’t letting go.

  Mia looked confused, but that confusion quickly turned to anger when she realised who had beaten her to the last flag.

  Luci didn’t win the final, but as she said to me later, she had picked up valuable points over Mia, who she knew was going to be tough competition in all the other sports.

  The girls all went in at the same time for the board paddle. They had to paddle out and around Matty, then across to Lisa. Matty and Lisa were sitting on their boards about 80 metres out from shore and roughly the same distance apart.

  Penny Watson cruised in first. Mia was second, about ten metres behind, then came another girl and Luci, totally even. They had a short sprint up the beach. This time Luci got in front and managed to cross the line first.

  ‘Wow, what a close competition this is!’ Mr Spears shouted through his megaphone. ‘In equal first place, on eight points, are Mia Tompkins, Katie Chan, and Luci Rankin with Penny Watson just a point behind. Two points behind her is Cara Thornton.’

  Mr Spears was getting pretty excited, and he was revving up the crowd of kids watching.

  ‘Okay then, three minutes and we start the final leg – the swimming.’

  ‘Cara’s easily the best swimmer,’ Jack said.

  ‘What about Penny, the surfer?’ I asked.

  ‘She’s good, but nowhere near Cara.’

  Cara shot out in front and blitzed the others in the swimming leg. Mia was sticking pretty close to Luci, blocking her and jostling. Penny was coming fourth and Katie was well back. She could run but she couldn’t swim. Bryce was already figuring out the placings in his head.

  ‘This will give Cara 12 points, but if Mia or Luci come second, they’ll get 13 and win.’

  I think a few others had realised this too. There was heaps of screaming for the competitors as they swam around Lisa – the second marker – and headed for shore. Cara was on her feet and speeding towards the beach. Mia and Luci were still fighting it out. They were focused on each other, not the waves.

  Suddenly, I knew what was going to happen.

  ‘Watch out for Penny,’ I yelled.

  She had almost stopped as she turned to look at the waves coming in. A good set came through. Using one arm to paddle, and the other to guide her, she managed to get up and on top of a nice little wave that took her flying past Mia and Luci and in to shore.

  Cara had crossed the line by the time Penny was on her feet and running in for second place. Mia and Luci had given up their own little battle and were actually moving away from each other as they approached the beach. Once again, it was going to be a sprint to the finish. Luci looked determined as she got to her feet a few steps in front of Mia and flung her arms and legs out. She sprinted up the beach to the finish line. Mia jogged up slowly, as if all the fuss and effort was too babyish for her.

  I walked over to Luci.

  ‘You did great,’ I said.

  ‘Thanks. Now it’s your turn,’ she panted. She took a few more deep breaths then moved slowly over to the drinks. ‘And, Mitchell, make sure you beat Travis, okay?’ Luci had walked back a few steps towards me. She had a steely look about her, like this was something personal.

  ‘Yeah, sure, but–’

  ‘Just beat him, Mitchell. Go stretch.’ She turned away and walked off.

  The boys who had entered the beach flags race, about twenty of us, lined up in front of Mr Spears as he took down our names. We were one massive row of boys lying on the beach, faces on our hands, waiting for the start.

  I wasn’t too worried about the first few rounds. I knew I was fast enough to get a flag without too much effort, but I sure wasn’t going to take any chances. Jack was next to me, and even better, Fisk was way up the other end, right out of my way. I knew that wouldn’t last forever.

  We did the first run at about three-quarter pace. I think Jack and I realised at about the same time that it would be dumb to stay close together again: we’d be fighting for the same flag.

  Five kids had been eliminated and we were down to eight flags with thirteen kids running in the next round. Another five were going to be knocked out. Jack positioned himself next to Fisk. That was pretty brave of him. He was putting himself between Fisk and me.

  Just before we were told to lie down, Fisk jogged back to my end and pushed in between me and another kid.

  ‘Looks like you’re going down in the early rounds,’ he sneered, settling his big frame on the sand.

  ‘Okay, chins on hands everyone!’ barked Mr Spears.

  I stole a look at Jack. He was looking pretty annoyed. I shrugged. There wasn’t much we could do now. Fisk had planned his move and I knew what he was about to do. I had to think fast.


  ‘Heads up!’

  ‘Heads down!’

  ‘Go!’

  So much for thinking fast. For a big guy, Fisk was extremely quick. We were side by side, but his weight was pushing me over to the right. There was no way I could hold my ground. I only had one choice. As I started to lose my balance, I swung away to the right, did a full 360 degree spin and raced diagonally across the sand towards Jack’s end.

  I was behind everyone but catching up with every stride. Pumping my arms, I locked onto a flag that I thought I could make. I was going to have to dive through the bodies to get there.

  With about ten metres to go, I took a couple of massive paces then threw myself into the air at what must have been the last flag standing. Suddenly I realised that I was going to be about a metre short. I landed hard on the sand.

  But the momentum of the dive bounced me onwards, just enough to clasp the flag with my outstretched fingertips.

  Rolling over onto my back, I clutched the stick tightly, afraid to let it go. I looked down the beach towards Fisk. He had a flag in his hand and was scowling.

  He tossed it to a teacher and started walking towards me, then thought better of it and headed back to the start.

  ‘What happened, Mitch?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Fisk tried to eliminate me early, but I scraped through. What’s the plan now?’

  ‘This time we make the last move. I’ll hang back, then get next to him and try to knock him out,’ said Jack.

  I must have looked impressed.

  ‘By being faster, stupid, not literally!’

  ‘Jack, you’ve got a great chance of winning this. Don’t get yourself stuck near Fisk,’ I said.

  But the teachers must have realised something was going on, because we were called back to the start and told to line up in the order read out by Mr Spears.

  From the top it went: Will, Fisk, Matthew, Jason, Lan, Jack, Theo and me. Fisk had a brilliant position.

  ‘I’ll go left,’ Jack whispered to me as we lined up.

  ‘Jack, just take the first flag you see.’

  There was plenty of noise coming from the kids lined up along the edge of the race. There were even some other people who had strolled over to check out what was going on.

  I lay down on my stomach. I was feeling out of breath but wanting to get on with it. They sure weren’t giving us much time between races.

  Mr Spears barked his instructions and once again we were flying through the sand towards four flags about fifteen metres away. I could see Fisk over on the left. Then I focused on my race. I was well ahead of Theo on my left and decided to go for the flag furthest on the right. I timed my dive better this race, and grabbed the flag before my body hit the sand.

  I looked over to my left to survey the scene. Fisk, Jack and Lan had scored the other flags. Theo had missed out. I took a few deep breaths.

  ‘Three minutes,’ Matty shouted. ‘Head back to the starting line again, guys.’

  This time I was sure I wouldn’t be so lucky with my position in the line. And I was right. I didn’t know which would be worse, being next to Jack or being next to Fisk. I got both of them. Lan was on the outside left, then Jack, me and Fisk on the other end.

  If I could at least get into the final, then I would score, at worst, five points. I sensed that Fisk was a better swimmer, but I could probably match him on the board. I didn’t really care about winning. It was more about beating Fisk, even if we came fourth and fifth – or worse.

  We lined up and waited for the instruction to lie down. I didn’t know about the other three, but I wasn’t feeling so sparky anymore. My legs felt heavy and the last thing I wanted to do was sprint through soft sand to dive for a flag again.

  Hopefully the others felt the same way.

  This time my start wasn’t so flash. I was behind right from the beginning and that didn’t change all the way down the sand. Fisk powered across in front of me and stayed there. Jack had his side stitched up and Fisk had me on toast. I eased up. Fisk had won this. I wanted to conserve energy. I was going to have to put everything into the last two legs – the board and the swim.

  Fisk was tough, there was no doubting it. And he let me know it, too.

  I was definitely barracking for Jack in the final. Not only would it be great for him to win but he could take points away from Fisk. Jack knew he had to get ahead of Fisk early so Fisk couldn’t use his bulk to get Jack off-balance.

  Fisk and Jack both shot out with sand flying everywhere. Jack managed to edge in front of Fisk and he stayed there till almost the end of the race. Jack started to overbalance and topple forward. Fisk was getting up level with him. Jack’s arms were everywhere as he tried to keep himself balanced.

  Over the shouts of the kids watching, someone yelled ‘Dive!’ Fisk dived for the flag as Jack fell forward.

  They hit the flag together. In all the sand and confusion, no one knew who had got it. They were both too exhausted to fight for it, and Mr Spears declared it a draw – they would each get the same points.

  ‘Great work, Jack!’ I shouted as he struggled to his feet.

  ‘If he hadn’t tripped me, he probably would have won. I hate the diving bit at the end, but I had no choice.’

  We were heading over to the board area. Mr Spears was making an announcement about the last two legs of the ironman contest.

  ‘ . . . and so we’ve decided to join the two events,’ he said. ‘As soon as you come in on your board, drop it on the sand here, run around the flagpole and then head straight back into the water for the swim leg.’

  Bryce and Bubba raced over.

  ‘We’ve been doing some calculations, Mitch. We checked with Mr Spears. He’s doing the scoring. You and Lan have three points, Fisk and Jack have seven.’

  ‘So you’re four points behind,’ burst in Bubba.

  We all looked at Bubba.

  ‘Hey, I’m the human calculator.’

  ‘Impressive,’ mumbled Jack.

  ‘Now they’ve combined the events,’ said Bryce, ‘they might combine the score, too. If you win and get seven points, Fisk can only win the ironman if he comes second. If he gets third, you tie with him. If you get second, and Fisk gets third . . .’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Fisk wins. And if Fisk gets fourth, and you get second . . .’ Bryce continued.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Fisk still wins.’

  ‘And what if they give separate scores for the two events?’ I asked.

  Bryce and Bubba looked at each other. ‘Right.’ They scampered off to do more calculations.

  If it was all one event, then I couldn’t believe my luck. If I could get ahead on the board, then maybe I could stay ahead of Fisk during the swim . . . whatever. I just had to paddle and swim my own race. The rest would take care of itself.

  About 30 of us lined up along the beach, boards in our arms. My first warning of trouble was that I couldn’t see Fisk anywhere nearby. My second was when I saw Jimmy Paisley and Richard Mazis on either side of me.

  I started to back away but was beaten by Mr Spears yelling ‘Go!’ through his megaphone.

  I was up and running. Straight away, I knew what Fisk had planned. Mazis and Paisley were boxing me in. They were doing it carefully so they wouldn’t attract attention. They stuck close to me like leeches. The faster board riders, Fisk included, were leaving the pack behind as they headed out towards Matty – the first turning point.

  At one stage, I felt someone grab my leg. I kicked out savagely and landed a solid blow on Paisley’s face. He swore at me. I had no choice but to fight them off. There were enough kids around us for them to be getting away with it. And no kid would dob on these two: that would mean getting on the wrong side of Fisk.

  Another fifteen seconds and the whole thing would be over. I needed to think quickly. If I could only get away from them for a moment, I could paddle clear of them forever.

  They were bustling in close to me, Paisley on my left, Mazis lurking near my f
eet. We were still in amongst the main pack, but there were three or four paddlers getting out beyond the break now, and heading towards Matty.

  Without another thought, I flung both my legs out, kicking powerfully. One foot landed against Paisley’s chest, and the other caught Mazis a nasty blow a bit lower down. I went for a fifteen-second turbo-burst, breaking free of their clutches. I settled on the board, on my knees, and tried to use my whole upper body to drive the power into my arms to surge away from the main pack. I was lucky to roll over a few waves which, seconds later, broke all over Paisley, Mazis and the others, leaving them further behind.

  I found myself in clear water and kept up my furious paddling, trying to get back in touch with the leading group, about fifteen metres ahead of me. Chaz Green was in front, which was excellent, but Travis Fisk was second, which was not so good.

  There were another three kids between Fisk and me. I was pretty confident that I could reel in those three, but I was going to need a lot of luck to get to the others: like me catching a wave coming in to shore, and them missing one – or better, missing plenty.

  I rounded the first marker, which was Matty sitting on his board. I lay on my board stroking towards the second marker about 40 metres away. Chaz was blitzing everyone, including Fisk. I didn’t know whether Fisk knew I was catching him or not. The race all depended on one or both of us catching a ride in to shore.

  I caught up to one of the three guys between Fisk and I halfway between the markers, and picked up the other two as I approached the final turn-around point. Sneaking around on the inside of them I jumped back onto my knees, searching for any swell or movement that might give me some carry towards shore.

  There wasn’t much happening. Fisk must have been about five or six metres on from me. Chaz was already where the waves were breaking, and catching a free lift in to shore.

  He was right out of the picture.

  I was gradually gaining on Fisk, who was beginning to look tired. Maybe he was more desperate for a wave than I was.