Swim Fan

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.