[They both have the same thought, to just finish the race, and that's the thought Makoto grasps onto. Finish the race, and he'll be fine. Swim as far as necessary, and he'll be safe. So long as he's swimming, and swimming fast, whatever it was that killed those boaters won't get him.
It's the ocean, but he can treat it like a pool.
When he reaches the end, he'll...be...fine....
And that carries him a great deal further, because that sort of thinking is believable--until he realizes that they set their goal out in the middle of the ocean. When he gets there, he won't, in fact, be safe. He'll be at his most vulnerable when they finish the race.
And thus it is that with only a few strokes to go, that's what makes him freeze up. He has enough sense when he goes under the water to kick and break the surface again, but it's a near thing.]
no subject
It's the ocean, but he can treat it like a pool.
When he reaches the end, he'll...be...fine....
And that carries him a great deal further, because that sort of thinking is believable--until he realizes that they set their goal out in the middle of the ocean. When he gets there, he won't, in fact, be safe. He'll be at his most vulnerable when they finish the race.
And thus it is that with only a few strokes to go, that's what makes him freeze up. He has enough sense when he goes under the water to kick and break the surface again, but it's a near thing.]