Swim Fan
A high school senior with a
promising swimming career has a one-night stand with consequences.
STORYLINE
New Jersey high school senior Ben
Cronin is a former juvenile delinquent, whose past criminal behavior was fueled
by and for drug use. He credits the support of his now longtime girlfriend Amy
Miller and getting into competitive swimming as the primary reasons for turning
his life around, which includes working part-time at a hospital where his
single mother works. He has become the
star swimmer of his high school team, so much so that scouts from Stanford
University are coming in a week’s time to watch Ben swim. Ben has a new swim
fan in Madison Bell, a recent transfer student to Ben’s high school. Despite
Ben making it clear that he is in a committed relationship, Madison seduces
him, the seduction to which he succumbs. They agree afterward that their
encounter was a one-time only event, but Ben slowly comes to the realization
that despite Madison’s assertions to the contrary, she has more in mind with
him. He feels her constant unspoken threats to expose their tryst and
ultimately rebuffs her totally, unspoken threats to ruin his life in whatever
means possible. Ben quickly learns to what extremes Madison is willing to go, especially
when he finds out about her past. He has to figure out how to regain his life
back from his known stalker, which is aided by the reason Madison is in New
Jersey in the first place.
Synopsis
The story opens with Ben Cronin (Jesse
Bradford) who is a star swimmer at his high school and being pressured by his
coach to deliver when scouts come to watch him compete in a week. Ben also
works at a hospital and has the perfect relationship with his girlfriend, Amy
(Shiri Appleby), but the two are under a little pressure since they are leaving
for college and aren’t sure if they will get into the same school. One day at
school, he helps a new girl named Madison Bell (Erika Christensen) get her
locker open by picking the lot with her hair pin. Madison tells him to keep her
pin just in case she needs saving again.
Ben’s friend Josh (Clayne
Crawford) tells Ben he has a thing for Madison, but she’s staying with her
cousin Christopher Dante (James DeBello) whom Josh bullies. Later, Ben nearly
hits Madison with his car accidentally, and takes her home, but she leaves her
notebook of music in his car and goes to her house to return it. The two go to
lunch and Ben tells Madison he’s been in trouble with drugs and stealing
before, but he’s changed. Madison tells Ben she plays cello to escape her
problems and flirts with him, but Ben tells her he has a girlfriend, which she
is fine with. But wants to keep hanging out with him.
The two go to a pool, he
encourages her to come out in the water, but she can’t swim and asks him to
teach her. Eventually, she persuades him to have sex with her. Ben hesitates,
but they do. She asks him to tell her loves her, even if he doesn’t mean it,
and he does. They promise to keep it a secret. But Ben starts having trouble
focusing on swimming because of his guilt and is criticized by the coach and
Josh. At a party that night, Amy introduces Ben to Madison as a friend and the
two try to pretend like nothing’s happened. Amy later goes to move Ben’s car,
but Madison tells Ben that she left her panties in his truck. Ben barely gets
there in time to stop Amy.
Ben tries to avoid Madison even after
her attempts to page him and talk to him online with the screenname “swimfan85,”
but Madison stops by his house and brings his mother flowers. Ben tells her to
back off and Madison gets upset that he wants to pretend nothing even happened.
The next day Madison sends naked pictures of herself to Ben and is almost
caught by Amy. At swim practice, Ben discovers that Madison is now going out
with Josh so he assumes she’s off his back. But she corners him in the locker
room and wants to know why he hasn’t been returning her calls. Ben, fed up,
just tells her he wants her to leave him alone, but Madison brings up that Ben
told her he loved her. Flustered, Ben says she told him to but doesn’t know
what else to say and leaves.
At work, Ben is in a bad mood. After
somehow giving his favorite patient the wrong medication the patient nearly
dies. Ben is fired. Furious, he goes to school to find Madison playing her
cello which he throws down. He tells her to leave him alone once and for all,
which she agrees to do. He decides to tell Amy the truth, but she’s busy with
work they agree to talk the next day. At school the next morning, everyone
knows about his one night stand. Amy slaps him and storms out with tears in her
eyes.
The next day is the big swim meet.
Ben’s urine tests showed traces of steroids and he is kicked off the team and
disqualified. The scouts heave and Ben confronts Josh, convinced that he helped
Madison. Because he had drug problems in the past, no one, even his mother or
Amy, believes Ben. Later Josh and Madison are kissing in a car when Madison
starts to call Ben’s name. Josh gets angry and even scolds Madison for messing
up Ben’s life. Madison is upset.
In the locker room, Ben finds a
bat in his locker which he sets down, then he goes for a swim only to bump into
Josh’s dead body floating in the water. His head has been smashed in with a bat
that the police say have Ben’s fingerprints on it. They tell him not to leave
town. Ben goes to Madison’s house, but Madison is playing cello for her family.
In her room, he finds a bottle of steroids and a hospital volunteer coat. Chris
finds him there, tells him to leave or Madison will kill him and sneaks him
out. With Chris’s help, Ben finds out Madison was obsessed with a sport’s star
in her hometown named Jake Donnelly, who was almost killed in a car accident
that Madison survived.
Meanwhile Madison is shown in Ben’s
car dressed as Ben. She made a copy of his car key when she visited his house
and she hits Amy on her bike with Ben’s truck. The police are looking for Ben
at the hospital while Madison is dressed as a worker and intending to finish
Amy off. But she hears Jake Donnelly’s name being called over the intercom and
sees who she believes is him in the hallway. She follows him to the parking
garage only to find out its Chris in Jake’s jacket. She attacks him with a
scalpel but Ben stops her and holds it to her throat. She admits to Josh’s
murder and says Ben doesn’t have the guts to do the same. Ben’s friend Rene
(Kia Goodwin) recorded the whole thing. Madison is arrested.
Ben apologizes to Amy who forgives
him and Ben returns home only to find that Madison has escaped and attacked his
mother. Ben is knocked out. When he wakes up, he finds his mother unconscious
and Amy missing. Ben gets in his car and gets a page from Madison that says “Feel
like a dip?”
He heads to the pool where Madison
has Amy handcuffed to a chair. When Ben arrives Madison demands Ben admit that
he loves her, but Ben refuses so Madison throws Amy into the pool. Ben swims down
to save her but is unable to lift the chair and every time he comes up for air
Madison tries to hit him with a bat. He goes to Amy once more and finds Madison’s
hair pin which he uses to pick the handcuffs and release Amy. Ben resurfaces
with Amy in his arms while Madison tries to hit him again. He grabs the bat and
pulls Madison into the pool while swimming out with his girlfriend. He gives
her CPR to get her breathing again while Madison, who can’t swim, struggles to
stay above water. Amy starts breathing again and when they look out to the pool
they find that Madison has drowned.
