They promised to win the swimming championship, but what's with this "Grand Slam" thi

Chapter 1 The Swimmer's Heart!
"Wu Jin, are you alright?"

"Wu Jin?"

"Brother Jin?"

Worry mixed with youthful or mature voices rang in Wu Jin's ears.

The next second, he seemed to wake up from a hangover. The moment he opened his eyes, several familiar yet unfamiliar faces were staring straight at him with unusual clarity.

The splashing water and the noise of conversation around him suddenly exploded in his brain like a depth charge.

Incredibly noisy and real.

"Wake up, wake up!"

"Don't move him, just let him lie on his side like that!"

"Everyone, spread out and keep the air circulating..."

"Coach Zhu... Coach Zhu..."

Wu Jin opened her mouth and watched as a serious-looking adult woman dressed in sportswear walked up to her.

"Wu Jin, are you alright?"

Teaching assistant Zhu Ying squatted down in front of Wu Jin and waved her hand in front of his eyes. Wu Jin covered his head, feeling dizzy.

I really drank too much yesterday.

However, he was happy!

Finally, the Chinese swimming team broke the United States' 40-year monopoly on a single gold medal, which had lasted for ten consecutive years.

Men's 4x100m medley relay!

40 years!

It took the efforts of generations of swimmers to achieve this hard-won first place.

"breathe!"

"Adjust your breathing!"

"Slowly inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds, and exhale through your mouth for 6 seconds... Repeat three times!"

Zhu Ying gently placed one hand on Wu Jin's shoulder while giving him instructions with the other.

My student must have just finished high-intensity interval training and is experiencing some oxygen deficiency.

Your physical condition... is still a bit lacking!

He's far inferior to Sun Yang.

"Sigh~~"

Following the instructions of the coach he remembered, Wu Jin inhaled deeply, but a smile appeared on his face.

If we were to talk about the most glorious and illustrious period of Wu Jin's first thirty-odd years of life, it would definitely be the time between when he was 8 and 12 years old.

He started learning to swim at the age of 6 and was sent to Chen Jinglun Sports School at the age of 8. Yes, that's the Hangzhou Sports School that produced Olympic champions such as Sun Yang, Luo Xuejuan, and Ye Shiwen, and is known as the cradle of world swimming champions.

Wu Jin was a student who entered the university at the same time as Sun Yang, and they were both taught by Zhu Ying.

Who could have imagined that Sun Yang, who would later win three Olympic gold medals and break world records multiple times, had a less outstanding record than Wu Jin before the age of 12?

The two are the same age, both born in 91, with Wu Jin only a few months older than him.

So this is awesome enough for Wu Jin to brag about for a lifetime.

But in the end, Sun Yang became an Olympic champion, while Wu Jin returned to school at the age of 13, took the middle school and college entrance exams, and eventually became a swimming enthusiast and a coach at a training institution!

"It should be fine now, and your blood oxygen saturation is normal!"

The sports school's first aid team raised Wu Jin's lower limbs to promote venous return while listening to her breathing.

"Wu Jin, take a break. If you have any problems, be sure to tell us immediately!"

Zhu Ying instructed Wu Jin.

"Okay, Coach Zhu!"

Wu Jin smiled and nodded. Coach Zhu was quite pretty when she was young. How come she hadn't noticed before?!
"Hey, how's it going?"

A rather tall, somewhat goofy-looking guy approached, and Wu Jin smiled broadly.

Sun Yang!

He must have been 12 years old when he saw this. It's amazing that his dream has come true now. Every time he watches a swimming competition in the future, he will think of his time at Chen Jinglun Sports School.

It was truly bitter, and truly tiring, but the memories are truly cherished.

It's a pity he didn't pass the development stage.

What many people don't know is that about 36% of male swimmers reach their age group peak before the age of 13, but... only 12% of them are able to maintain their early advantage into adulthood!

Less than one in ten.

This is the path many swimming prodigies take.

Being a child prodigy doesn't mean you're a true genius; it's merely a threshold to entering the realm of genius. Only after crossing that threshold can you glimpse the truth of a profession. And that's all—just a profession!
Occupations are also divided into different levels.

To reach the pinnacle, or even the finals, or the top three, is the ultimate limit.

Wu Jin was lucky; he failed at the first step and didn't have to face the second or even the third.

The most painful part is for the contestants who hover between the second, third, and final stages of the competition, striving day after day, year after year, to overcome what they may never be able to achieve in their lifetime.

But in the end, all we could do was look up at those figures coming and going.

Just when they felt they were about to reach the top three, they discovered that a new king, 10 or 20 years younger than them, had arrived.

Age and talent are particularly cruel in swimming!
Ding!
Do you want to make up for the regrets of your past life? Yes/No?

"Ok?"

A pop-up window resembling a game suddenly appeared in front of her, causing Wu Jin, who was just about to chat with Sun Yang, to pause slightly.

"Pity?"

"I have no regrets!"

It's a pity when an athlete falls short of the finals; he just lacks talent!
"Okay, yes!"

Wu Jin felt that today's dream was longer than the previous one and quite unusual, and subconsciously muttered to herself.

Ding!
[Congratulations, host, you have activated the 'Swimmer's Heart'!]

【The Swimmer’s Mind】: A professional belief formed from long-term dedication.

[New Player Mission]: Try returning to the pool to earn your first reward!
Swimming once symbolizes your return to the lane and your journey to the peak!

"The heart of a swimmer?"

Wu Jin shook his head and smiled, not taking it seriously. Looking at the young men and women in the pool and the coaches and assistant coaches shouting excitedly on the shore, he really wanted to swim.

even once!
Let's just indulge in this dream for once!

"Wu Jin?"

Sun Yang was startled when Wu Jin suddenly stood up from the ground.

Did you recover that quickly?

He was just looking like he was about to die from lack of oxygen, but all I did was torment him a little.

thump!
Without any hesitation, Wu Jin plunged straight into the pool where he and Sun Yang had just been training.

There was no one else in this lane, so Wu Jin could swim to the other side in one go.

A 50-meter-long pool.

For Wu Jin, who was 35 years old in her previous life, this distance was a piece of cake.

So Wu Jin mustered all her strength and rushed toward the shore.

Hearing the commotion, Coach Zhu Ying rushed over and her expression changed when she saw Wu Jin swimming recklessly in the pool.

Continuing to engage in strenuous exercise after experiencing oxygen deprivation can be fatal!

"Quick, stop him!"

"Pull him up!"

Zhu Ying shouted towards the lifeguards on the shore, and several lifeguards jumped into the water to try to stop her.

Wu Jin had just swum halfway there when he saw them jump down behind him, but he was still 20 meters away from the shore.

"Haha, I was so fast in my dream!"

"I wish I could swim that fast in real life..."

It was a completely different experience from swimming freestyle in a pool at 35. It felt like being a barracuda. ​​The frequency of the strokes and the kicks were beyond Wu Jin's imagination.

close!

We're getting closer to the shore.

He felt the waves behind him; someone was desperately chasing him.

As if in a competition, Wu Jin watched the pool shore getting closer and closer to him, and with the last bit of his potential, he rushed to the shore in one breath.

Snapped!
The familiar touch, that kind of familiar feeling that haunts my dreams.

Wu Jin's eyes welled up with tears.

I dreamt I was back at the swimming pool, and the feeling is still so strong. What a wonderful dream it was; if only it weren't a dream.

Ding!
[Congratulations, host, you have completed the beginner's mission!]

[The Swimmer's Heart unlocks its first skill—Basic Acceleration!]

[Acceleration]: lv1 (0/100), grants a 1-second boost to swimming speed!

(End of this chapter)