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saying.
    “What’s more, it is good to be nervous,” Margo continued, her voice still sharp. “What is bad is to be too relaxed. I hope
     you will never stop being nervous. That is what will make you do your best.”
    Traci looked at Sophia. Sophia looked concerned, but Traci couldn’t tell whether Sophia felt that Margo was being too tough
     or just tough enough.
    “Sorry,” Traci mumbled. “I’m not used to this and I’ll keep working, I promise.”
    Margo gave one of her stiff nods. “If you do, youwill make progress. Now let me see your approach once more.”
    Traci kept working on the approach and hurdle, and later demonstrated the diver’s jump. Margo was satisfied with the jump
     right away, and eventually had no further comments to make on the approach, either—except to urge Traci to keep working at
     home and not to make it either too slow or too fast.
    Finally Margo said, “It’s time for you to change and use the pool.”
    Traci changed into her swimsuit as fast as she could. Sophia was waiting for her next to a one-meter diving board. She had
     a small exercise mat, the kind that folded lengthwise, under her arm. Margo was nowhere in sight.
    “Is that mat for me?” Traci asked.
    Sophia nodded. “We’re going to get you started on backward dives today, and for that, you’ll be using this mat.”
    Traci was surprised.
“Backward
dives? I thought I’d be doing forward dives first. I mean, all that drilling on approaches and hurdles—that’s for forward
     dives, right?”
    “Right,” Sophia said. “When you do backwarddives, you stand at the end of the board with your back to the pool. Obviously, you don’t do an approach for a backward dive,
     since you do it from a standing start.”
    “Okay,” said Traci. “But what’s the mat for? And why don’t I do forward dives, since I’ve been working on them all this time?”
    “Take it easy,” Sophia said. “Backward dives are as important as forward dives, and you need to learn the technique for them,
     too. We’ve found that the mat is a good introduction.”
    She swished the mat in the water. “That ought to do it,” she said. “Come on.”
    “Why did you get it wet?” Traci asked.
    “To make it slippery. Now take it easy, this is new to you.” Sophia had Traci walk out on the board. Sophia followed with
     the mat.
    Traci was startled at how far down the surface of the pool seemed. One meter was just over three feet and hadn’t looked like
     much of a height—until she was looking down from it. The board was much wider than a balance beam, so Traci wasn’t worried
     about falling. Still, the bottom of the pool was a lot farther away than the mats beneath the beam had been.
    Sophia handed Traci the mat. “Put it down so the end of the mat is even with the end of the board. Then lie down on it face
     up, head at the end.”
    Traci did as she was told. The wet mat felt chilly. Or maybe she was breaking out in goosebumps for some other reason?
    “Okay,” Sophia said. “Scoot back till your head is off the mat. Lift your feet a little, but don’t bend your legs. Point your
     toes toward me. Reach both arms over your head and clasp your hands together.”
    Once Traci was in the right position, Sophia said, “In a moment, I’m going to lift the end of the mat under your legs until
     you slide off into the water. As you do, don’t move your head or arch your body and keep your hands clasped. Ready?”
    “Uh-huh,” replied Traci, holding her position.
    Sophia raised the mat, and before Traci had time to feel nervous, she slid into the pool.
    As Traci came to the surface, Sophia called out, “You okay? How’d that feel?”
    “Fine. Did I do it right?”
    “That was a good start. Let’s run through it again.”
    As Traci went back out on the board and lay down on the mat, Sophia said, “You arched your back thattime. Try not do to that. Also, don’t move your head and keep those toes pointed. Got that?”
    “I think