Swim Team

Etta is Bree’s mentor and swim coach. She’s an older woman who lives in Bree’s apartment complex in Florida. She is kind and welcoming to Bree and Ralph when they move in, and Etta has dinner with her when Ralph works late. As time passes, readers learn that Etta swam on the Enith Brigitha Middle School swim team when she was Bree’s age.

Etta’s youth shaped her approach to swimming and friendship. Because she experienced the transition from de jure segregation to de facto segregation, she recognizes how Black communities were cut off from access to resources like swimming pools. Importantly, she helps Bree by breaking down the stereotype that Black people do not know how to swim, explaining that “[t]he art of swimming is handed down, generation after generation” (81). As both a student at Etta’s former middle school and her protégé, Bree becomes a part of Etta’s lineage, and Etta appreciates this, telling her, “It’s been an honor teaching you, Bree” (105).

Additionally, Etta’s journey is tied to her own experience in middle school, in which she and her other Black teammates were left behind by their white teammate at a pool when a security guard refused to let them enter. This deeply affected Etta, as she saw firsthand the limited access Black people have to swimming pools, as many of them transitioned to private pools designed to price out or otherwise exclude Black community members. When the coach at Enith Brigitha explains the possibility that its pool—the only one open to the community after school hours—could be closed, Etta says, “We can’t let them take away pool access, like when I was a girl…I won’t let that happen again” (141). Etta is further strengthened when she reconciles with her teammates, feeling like “swim sisters.”

Etta knows that everything does always work out perfectly, which is evident in her retelling of the story of segregation’s end, which depicts jigsaw pieces missing from the puzzle. She also does not find all of the puzzle pieces that fell into the pool when she dove in to save Bree, and she’s okay with this fact. Instead, she is grateful that her decision brought her closer to Bree, which she celebrates by buying a new puzzle. Overall, Etta’s story is one in which she fights the injustice that she experienced as a child while also experiencing reconciliation with her friends, living out her message that friendship is more important than competition.

Ralph is Bree’s dad. He is a single father, and his acceptance into a technology training program is the reason they move to Florida. He works two jobs to provide for Bree, and he is a staunch supporter of her education, believing that it is the “one thing no one can take away from you” (5). He and Bree are close, and she lists cooking with him as one of her favorite activities. Likewise, Ralph shines in seeing Bree’s passion for math and school in general. She knows that he works hard to take care of them, and this is evident in her independence as she settles into life in Florida. However, because he does not attend her swim meets, they grow more distant, and Bree thinks that “[s]eeing less of each other [is their] new routine” (99). He later apologizes, confessing to her that the real reason he hasn’t come is the fact that he doesn’t know how to swim. Trying to live up to his word to be more present to her, he both attends the state championship and begins to learn how to swim.

At the start of the novel, Ralph emphasizes that friends are secondary to education, telling her to “[w]orry about making friends later” (5). However, by its end, he is less concerned about Bree’s commitment to being on the swim team than the friendships that she has forged by joining it. He recognizes that she has thrived in his absence because she has had friends who support her. This emphasis on friendship proves critical for Bree, who then recognizes that Etta has felt alone without her friends. In that moment, Ralph does whatever he can to support Bree, even though he isn’t sure why they’re driving around town at first. He believes in her ability to excel and to solve puzzles, even when the existence of the problem is not something he is cognizant of.

Clara is Bree’s first friend in Florida. She lives in the same apartment complex, and the two girls quickly become friends. Clara makes it clear from the start that she wants to join the swim team at Enith Brigitha Middle School and wants to emerge victorious with the state championship trophy. She is determined, and her confidence helps Bree to feel more comfortable at her new school. However, Clara also struggles in math, and she goes to Bree for help, making their friendship a reciprocal one.

A key moment in the novel occurs when the rest of the swim team learns that Clara may transfer to Holyoke Prep the next year. Bree is especially upset, not recognizing that her friendship with Clara is not contingent on being on the swim team or even attending the same school together. Bree’s fear of not making friends makes it even scarier for her. Clara had been her guide, and by the end of the novel, Bree is able to accept that nothing will get in the way of their friendship and that she will still have other members of the team supporting her. She even helps Clara study for the math portion of the Holyoke entrance exam, knowing that Clara is under a great deal of pressure to perform well, and it pays off.

Phillipa is one of Bree’s teammates on the swim team. She is the weakest swimmer on the team and struggles to be placed in races once Keisha, who has been trained more, joins the team. Other students call Phillipa “the Anchor” because she is not good at floating. This makes Phillipa upset, and she often takes out her feelings with anger, which she uses to hide her insecurity about not being as fast as her friends.

A critical moment for Phillipa occurs when Jamie, one of Etta’s teammates, addresses her fears about being “the Anchor,” telling her, “[M]aybe it’s because you’re the Anchor of the team, keeping everyone in good spirits […] You keep the team from drifting apart” (218). When Jamie also points out that Phillipa has a strong breaststroke, it makes her feel important and more confident, and she wears an anchor temporary tattoo on the day of the state championship.