Athanasia had not meant to scare her rescuer, but it seemed like he had thought she was dead. She was shivering, she felt a bit nauseous and her head ached, but she was alive. “I’m fine … I think,” she replied. “And I’ll be so still that you won’t even know I’m here.” She would have offered to lighten the load and swim to shore if she had not been so dizzy.

She couldn’t look back to see what was happening behind her, but most of the competitors had not caught up with them yet. Her savior was a good rower. Though she would have liked to ask what had happened to her, she didn’t want to break his concentration.

There were only a few tubs ahead of them. “You’re doing really well,” she remarked.