The Swimmer

Ned Merrill arrives at a pool party at old friends' house, dressed only in a bathing suit. The hosts offer cocktails as they nurse hangovers from the night before. He stands apart, listening to familiar stories about swimming and the suburb's social games.

Around the party, Ned recalls an adventure swimming up the clean green headwaters of a local river with a friend. He imagines a chain of backyard pools forming a river that could carry him home. The day’s mood blurs memory with present behavior, hinting at his fragile grip on reality.

Ned dives into a pool and emerges at the far end, beginning his journey through a sequence of backyards. The other guests watch as he treats each pool as a rung on a fantasy river back to his house. His tone is determined, yet increasingly disconcerting to those around him.

Ned meets Julie Ann Hooper, a 20-year-old former babysitter for his daughters, who agrees to join his plan. They crash another pool party and sip champagne as he explains how he will protect her and lead her toward home.

Julie reveals a schoolgirl crush on Ned. He elaborates on his protective plans, making the interaction feel intimate and invasive. The exchange unsettles Julie, who eventually runs away.

Ned meets the Hallorans, a wealthy older couple who are nudists. They are unmoved by his eccentric behavior but unimpressed by his posturing. The encounter leaves him largely isolated, with no real connection formed.

In an abandoned empty pool, Ned tries to teach Kevin to swim by imagining the water present. Kevin warms to the method, and Ned must step back when Kevin climbs the diving board over the deep end. Ned returns to safety, tense and unsettled.

Ned enters Grace Biswanger's party as a gate crasher. Joan, a bubbly guest, becomes intrigued until Ned's speech grows fantastical, and a friend leads her away. He splashes into a pool with a loud rush, triggering attention and a petty dispute over a hot dog cart that used to be his.

Ned visits Shirley Abbott, an actress with whom he had an affair years earlier. The warmth of memory contrasts with her experience of being the other woman, highlighting the pain of his past actions. Ned wades into the deep end, unable to reconcile the memories with the present.

Ned walks barefoot along a busy highway to a crowded public swimming pool. A gatekeeper treats him with disdain, and local shop owners deride his wealth and his family’s troubles. Overwhelmed and humiliated, he flees the scene.

The sky darkens as rain begins to fall and the sun sets. Ned staggers home, cold and drenched, past the faded tennis court and a house that is locked and deserted. Windows are broken and the household feels utterly out of reach as he struggles to open the door.

In the rain finally, Ned collapses at the doorway, a sense of loneliness washing over him. The imagined river remains just out of reach, revealing the gulf between his fantasies and reality. The home he longs for seems inaccessible, marking the end of his swim.