Each girl had collected a very thin dark blue bundle; however, none of them had made any move toward the changing rooms. Our coach looked from one girl to the next in silence and then pulled a whiteboard marker out of her pocket. There was a large whiteboard on poolside, upon which Lena wrote the beginning of a warm-up set for us. A total five hundred meters that would take us eight minutes at the most. Normally there was more... maybe she had a monster of a set planned for today and didn't want to give any hint of what it would be?
"Boys, sort yourselves into lanes one, two and three, then get started. Girls, you go and get changed and drop into lanes four, five and six when you get back."
Reluctantly, the male cohort shuffled into position dithered about pushing off.
Clearly none of us wanted to take our eyes off the women for more than a second, as if we expected them to strip naked where they stood and then disappear forever. Eventually I pushed off too. I kicked a little harder and pulled a little faster than normal -- still a warm up pace, but maybe I'd have more time to satisfy my curiosity of the girls waiting in the other three lanes when I finished. I began to entertain the thought that someone might not make it out before I finished swimming, and I got to watch some poor, naked bottom run past me and try to escape into the water in vain hope of preserving some dignity...
I coughed so hard I nearly had to stop in the lane. The first three lanes of the pool were the ones closest to the changing rooms; the half-naked women would have to walk past all three to get to a lane of their own. Lena had given us a short set, we would be done quickly, and every shy girl would have to be in the water in a short time or else they would have to walk with their pussies out, past a group of boys. This was genius... morally dubious at best, but still genius.
I chastised myself as I swam: They are still your friends, and you should respect their privacy. This is hard for them so don't be a dick about it. I reassured myself that I wouldn't look, I would get to the wall and face down the lane; the girls would walk behind me, and I wouldn't peak. Of course, I was still swimming noticeably faster than I normally would.
As usual, Jake swam in front of me and Matt swam behind me. With a shift of my head upward I could see Jake only a few meters ahead, and with a glance backward when I turned at the wall, I could see Matt the same distance behind. I couldn't deny to myself that I was swimming faster than normal, if I wasn't catching up to Jake, or pulling further ahead of Matt, they were swimming faster too. If this was a normal session, Sofia would be behind Matt. But this was not a normal session, and I could feel the three of us picking up speed. If the girls delayed too much or stood paralysed with nerves in the changing rooms for just a little too long, the three of us would make this even less of a normal session.
At that point, for the first time, I noticed the lane next to me. I was swimming just in line but for a few inches with someone, but I couldn't quite tell who with the half glances towards them every other breath. Almost painfully slowly, I inched further ahead until I was in line with their face.
Zeke!
Zeke was not a front-crawl specialist by any means, and he hated long distance. If he was keeping up with me at this pace... he must be killing himself. It was difficult, but I tried to get a look at the rest of the pool. This lane was by the wall, so I started breathing to just one side. This only gave me a brief flash of a picture once every few seconds, but it was enough; everyone in the pool was moving fast.
I couldn't see any activity beyond lane three, were none of the girls in yet? I didn't know if I should feel relieved or, in some way, ashamed that every other man had also decided it was the utmost priority to get glimpse of bare female buttocks. Did that say something about us? I decided not to think about it. Besides, I had promised not to look, I would be the perfect respectful gentleman.
I rolled into a tumble-turn and felt my feet connect hard with the wall. One hundred and fifty meters left, six lengths; I would be finished in less than two minutes. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw splash in lane four. Did that mean one of the girls had made a dash and gotten past us. I had a feeling that if one of them was brave enough to go first, the rest would be emboldened to follow quickly. I couldn't have admitted it to myself at the time, but I sped up.
The last hundred meters were a bit of a blur. I was barely counting the lengths, I just finished on instinct. Jake was there ahead of me... of course he would be, of all the boys in the pool, I could believe that he alone wasn't thinking about twelve half naked ladies nearby, he probably just noticed me speeding up and couldn't bear the thought of someone overtaking him.
That theory was laid to rest as soon as I had enough air back in my lungs to look up and around. Jake had his goggles on his forehead and was staring transfixed in the direction of the other lanes. I looked over too and the last three lanes of the pool were full. All the girls were crouched low in the water and clinging desperately to the wall like it was the last lifeboat on a sinking ship. Maybe it was the fact that they could now see me looking, but I pushed my goggles up to my forehead and stayed above the water, now I couldn't see their lower halves at all. That was not to say I wasn't still looking at them.
Lane four was the closest girl-lane to me. I silently cursed myself for not coming up with an excuse to jump in lane three at the beginning -- I could have been right next to them. Four girls made up the lane, and they were all crouched low enough that only their heads poked above the water. I could see the dark blue of their "swimsuits" just under the surface, and I tried not to look at the way the ripples distorted the shapes of their obviously bare lower halves.
The four girls huddled themselves into the far half of the lane, their fear of the men in lane three, obviously eclipsing any desire for personal space they might want between themselves. Despite their efforts, it was inevitable that one of them would be the closest to the men, and thus the most exposed of all of them. Claire was a keen butterfly swimmer, which was indicated by the muscular definition of her shoulders and upper arms. Out of the pool, she was instantly recognisable by her bright red hair, which was, at the moment, hidden beneath her swim cap.
Hiding themselves behind Claire was Lynn, Summer and Char. Lynn and Summer are both slim girls that were able to cram themselves into the corner where the lane-rope meets the wall. Char had a more voluptuous set of curves which she was trying to hide behind Claire. She offered Claire sympathetic, even apologetic looks, but remained steadfastly behind the redhead, somewhat shielded from the gaze of the boys, most of whom had come to the wall by now.
Beyond them it was harder to tell apart who was who. Sofia was a Portuguese exchange student, her slightly darker skin tone made her visually stand out among her peers. Normally she enjoyed that effect, but today was anything but normal. She was busy trying to hide herself behind Lucy, the dark-haired beauty who had, without doubt, the largest set of breasts in the club. Next to them both was Jess, a pretty, freckled girl who had received much attention from the male half of the club in the past. She had turned her back to the wall and was using her hands to hide herself from the front, but otherwise didn't seem as agitated as her friends.
Tearing my eyes away from those two I cast my gaze over to the last lane. Ella stood closest to me, although, from this distance, that didn't mean much. She had a much calmer look about her than the other girls, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it was amusement. I reasoned that she was some distance from the boys, all of whom had now returned and were trying not to obviously ogle the half-naked girls just next to them. Heather and Maise had retreated to the far edge of their lane and weren't fighting for position like the girls in other lanes, but still looked noticeably uncomfortable.
That's when I noticed. There were only three of them. Each lane should have four girls, and they were missing one. I whipped my head around to the changing rooms, and there was Izzy's head poking out from the doorway. Jake and Matt noticed my movement and they too noticed Izzy looking nervously out at the pool.
At this point, Izzy noticed us. She gave a frightened yelp, and her head retreated behind the wall. The noise caught the attention of everyone else in the water and everyone was silent for a fraction of a second.
"Izzy's not come out yet!" Harry's voice shouted from the lane next to me.
Instantly the pool erupted in cheers and teasing comments. The girls already in the pool did not grant her any mercy. Perhaps the shift of attention away from them was all the incentive they needed.
"Come out, you're late!"
