Gordon has swam at least once every day for the last 587 days, rescues permitting. As a former (gold medal, mind) Olympian, he understands the importance of keeping to a routine, and his is regimented.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are always endurance-focused days, dominated by long, slower swims. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are sprint days, designed to maintain muscle mass. Sundays are his leisure day—every athlete knows recovery days are as important as the training itself.
Gordon enjoys every day of swimming and the new lengths he can push himself to, the milliseconds he can shave off his current record—but he enjoys no days better than the ones when Dad joins him for his early morning swim.
That Dad's schedule is entirely unpredictable is half the fun. Suddenly there will be another presence in the water, one lane over, and Gordon will grin as he grabs another lungful of air.
Sometimes, once they've both warmed up, they'll freestyle a mock race. Dad's no Olympic athlete but he is no slouch either, and Gordon relishes the challenge of having another person in the water next to him, churning up waves that never fail to get Gordon's competitive blood pumping.
Other times they'll backstroke, matching the other's pace and staring up at the stars as they fade from the lightening sky as they talk—about things that matter, about things that don't, about rescues and business and world news and Tracy Industry's latest prototype and Gordon's current conservation projects and music and the rest of the household.
Gordon relishes the opportunity to hang out one-on-one with Dad. They lead busy, unpredictable lives, the absolute opposite of the press-reported playboy lifestyle, and sometimes it can be hard to make time for the people that matter. If there's one thing his hydrofoil accident was good for, it forced him and Dad to mend their relationship. The pool became a place of mental and emotional healing as well as physical.
So they swim and they talk and they debate and they laugh and if they cry, well, their faces are already wet anyway, and it isn't like anyone else is around to see.
Yes, Gordon thinks, tossing Dad a smile as he hangs onto the side of the pool, waiting for him to get settled so they can race, this is definitely his favorite part of the day—getting to spend time with the man who saved him.