the worth of a skill 

Lawrence allowed the waves to lift him up and carry him to towards the store. The sea held no terrors for him as he calmly swam back the rest of the distance to the land. Hm ran home happily as the sea breeze evaoorated the water off his body. A sense of urgency shook him.  He did not have a watch or a clock at his home. He knew there was not much time left for the swimming competitions to begin. The competition itself did not worry him as he had been swimming all his life but he bud to reach the newly constructed stadium in about half an hour. He had been there before and he knew that if he started now he would be able to reach there just in time. Lawrence knew that it would be the biggest would be the biggest break in his life. If he got the chance to represent his district in swimming there could be a way out of his present poverty. He had not been to school and felt that he was too old to start now even though he was only thirteen. He knew that if he won the swimming costume he would have the chance to attend special sports run by the government earn a scholarships and even hope for a government job later. Everything depended on his  winning the swimming championship. He knew that he would not have many serious challengers. On the sea front his swimming prowess was legendary. He had the rare gift of swimming fast as well as swimming over long distances.            Presently he was focusing  on the 100 _ Metre swim  He would consider taking up very short distance as well as long distance swimming later on he was in a hurry to reach the stadium .