Hector had practiced all spring for the lifeguard swim test. The summer job at the town pool needed three hundred meters in under six minutes. In training, he had done it easily. On the day of the test, he wanted to start strong. When the whistle blew, he pushed off the wall like a rocket.
赫克托为救生员游泳测试练了整整一个春天。小镇泳池的这份暑期工作，要求在六分钟内游完三百米。训练时，他轻轻松松就做到过。测试那天，他想一开始就冲得猛一些。哨声一响，他像火箭一样蹬离池壁。
The first lap felt great. By the second, his arms were heavy. By the last one, he was barely moving, and his breath burned in his chest. He touched the wall and looked up at the instructor.
第一圈感觉棒极了。到第二圈，他的手臂已经发沉。到最后一圈，他几乎游不动了，胸口像火烧一样喘不过气。他摸到池壁，抬头看着教练。
"Six minutes and two seconds," she said, holding up her stopwatch. "Two seconds too slow. You can try again in three weeks."
“六分零二秒，”她举着秒表说，“慢了两秒。三周后你可以再试一次。”
His friends had all passed. They left for the snack stand, laughing. Hector sat on a bench with a wet towel over his shoulders. He felt like he had lost the whole summer because of two seconds.
他的朋友们都通过了。他们笑着去小卖部了。赫克托坐在长椅上，肩上披着一条湿毛巾。他觉得自己因为两秒钟，丢掉了整个夏天。
"You swam the first lap like someone was chasing you," said a voice behind him. It was Signe, one of the older lifeguards, who was putting away the pool ropes. "Then you spent the last lap holding on for dear life."
“你第一圈游得像有人在追你，”他身后有个声音说，“然后最后一圈，你就拼了命地硬撑。”那是西涅，一位年长些的救生员，正在收泳池的分道绳。
"I wanted a good start," Hector said.
“我想有个好的开头。”赫克托说。
"A good start is the easy part. Pace is a skill, and nobody ever teaches it." She sat down next to him. "Split the swim into three equal parts. Breathe every third stroke. And if the first lap feels too easy, it means you are doing it right."
“好的开头是最容易的部分。配速是一门技术，却从来没人教。”她在他旁边坐下，“把全程分成三个相等的部分。每三次划水呼吸一次。要是第一圈觉得太轻松，那就说明你做对了。”
For the next three weeks, Hector came to the pool at seven every morning. He borrowed a cheap stopwatch from his father's drawer. At first, he hated the new method. Swimming slowly felt like losing on purpose, and he had to fight the urge to speed up.
接下来的三周，赫克托每天早上七点来泳池。他从父亲的抽屉里借了一块便宜的秒表。起初，他很讨厌这个新方法。慢慢游感觉就像故意认输，他还得克制想加速的冲动。
Signe watched from the lifeguard chair and called out his times. By the second week, his laps were almost the same. By the third, they were within three seconds of each other. He wrote his target times on his wrist with a pen. That way, he could check them at every wall.
西涅坐在救生椅上看着，报出他的成绩。到第二周，他每圈的用时几乎一样了。到第三周，各圈之间只差三秒以内。他用笔把目标时间写在手腕上。这样，他每到一次池壁都能核对。
On the day of the second test, the first lap felt too easy again. His arms wanted to go faster. He looked at his wrist, took a breath, and stayed calm. In the final lap, he still had energy left. He used all of it in the last fifty meters.
第二次测试那天，第一圈又觉得太轻松。他的手臂想游得更快。他看了看手腕，深吸一口气，保持冷静。最后一圈，他还留有体力。他在最后五十米把它全部用了出来。
"Five minutes and forty-one seconds," the instructor said.
“五分四十一秒。”教练说。
Hector climbed out of the water, shaking. High up in the chair, Signe held up a thumb. Later, she threw him a red whistle. "Welcome to the chair," she said.
赫克托从水里爬出来，浑身发抖。高高的救生椅上，西涅竖起了大拇指。后来，她扔给他一只红色的哨子。“欢迎坐上这把椅子。”她说。
