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

Chapter 55 Is This Still an Earthling? [6000-word long chapter]

"Oh no, what's going on with the diving team this time?"

"Only four gold medals?"

"I think I'll be in big trouble if I go back!"

"We're the ones who are really miserable, okay? Didn't you see Coach Zhao's face? It was as black as Guan Yu's!"

"Shh, you can't say that! Let's focus on preparing for tomorrow's match!"

"..."

Yu Cheng and a few others were chatting quietly by the pool. This was the venue for tomorrow's competition, and they were all getting used to it in advance.

The water flow speed felt noticeably slower than in training facilities in China.

In theory, the water flow in an outdoor swimming pool is relatively fast because of the wind speed; but precisely because of this, since Old Ou has money these days, he installed some high-tech technology!
In the future, swimming pools may be able to keep the water flow still, and the increasing speed of swimmers will be largely due to the water flow.

Of course you swim slower against the current, so many competition pools have made various adjustments.

The advantages of being the host country are thus easily demonstrated.

Wu Jin was also in the pool. He had met with top experts from Australia, Russia and the United States in the past two days, but it did not discourage him. Instead, it made him somewhat excited.

The thought of competing alongside these future swimming stars made him eager to participate in the competition.

The team members all felt that he was a fearless young man, the kind of player who would thrive in big competitions.

Generally speaking, many newcomers participating in a competition for the first time are nervous. It is rare to see someone like Wu Jin. Little do people know that he has the awareness of an adult, so his performance actually reflects his "real" age.

Strictly speaking, he is an "older" athlete who is older than all the other participants in this World Swimming Championships, and of course, he is very experienced.

"Ok?"

"Alright, let's go do the urine and blood tests!"

Team leader Huang Qi suddenly strode in and shouted, and Yu Cheng, who was about to swim two more laps, immediately shook his hand.

"Damn it, why do we have to get checked again?!"

"Wasn't it just checked this morning?"

"Team Leader Huang, do those of us who don't have a match tomorrow still need to go for the race inspection?"

Wu Peng asked.

"All!"

"Hurry up, these foreigners are only waiting for us for half an hour!"

"Exceeding the limit will result in disqualification!"

Huang Qi was just relaying the message: these pre-match tests are all done at designated locations, and there's no time limit; they're different from the tests done after the match.

The testing for the match was done after the game, in the backcourt area, where they were all during the match.

Such pre-match notifications are temporary.

Before the appointed time, they packed their bags and left.

"Yellow Team Leader, are we the only ones who need testing? What about the other countries?"

As they disembarked, the group walked toward Huang Qi.

"How would I know!"

Huang Qi himself was also frustrated, as he had just received the notification.

In principle, one test a day is usually enough. I was already tested this morning, but I didn't expect to be tested again now.

"Are you targeting me?"

"It was definitely intentional!"

"Can I file a complaint? It's pool time now!"

"It's past the time limit..."

The group grumbled and cursed as they changed in the locker room and then followed Huang Qi to the testing site.

I didn't see any people from other countries.

Clearly, this was an extra test only for Chinese swimmers, and the reason is obvious to everyone: the negative impact of a certain incident a few years ago is still lingering.

"When the predecessors cut down trees, the successors suffer the consequences!"
It hasn't gotten to that point yet, but the Paris Olympics 24 years from now, that's what you call targeted.

Not only was there pre-race poisoning, but I was also tested 5 or 6 times a day, even dragged out of bed in the morning for testing, and then called to the testing site at night. Plus, there was another surprise test while I was experiencing the pool. It was disgusting.

We're only at this stage.

Wu Jin was actually fully prepared mentally.

Those who have experienced the underhanded tactics of foreigners in the future will now see these as trivial matters.

Because Chinese swimming hasn't yet threatened white dominance, their current response to your doping issue is simply to give you one more test than us.

Once your swimming ability truly improves to the point of threatening them, then all sorts of underhanded tactics will be waiting for you.

Even if you don't use performance-enhancing drugs, I can still create them for you by putting trimetazidine in your food; the key is that this is a domestic swimming competition in your own country, what can you do about it?
There are far too many traitors among the Chinese people.

Therefore, Wu Jin didn't say anything from beginning to end, unlike Yu Cheng and the others, who were obviously very unhappy.

"I guess the diving team gets the same treatment, right?"

"Damn, so many tests, and all outdoors, in the blazing sun and wind, no wonder there were problems!"

"This is just messing with people's mentality, damn it!"

On their way back, the group continued to curse, and the first competition to be held tomorrow was Yu Cheng's 400-meter freestyle.

The next morning, unsurprisingly, everyone was tested again.

Moreover, this competition stipulates that swimmers who false-jump will be disqualified immediately. It seems that some of the FINA's future regulations are gradually being implemented in many major competitions, which Wu Jin strongly supports.

The more formal the competition, the more advantageous it is for him.

Soon, the first event of the swimming competition, the men's 400-meter freestyle, officially began.

Yu Cheng was placed in Group 7. This ranking was based on the World Championship qualifying results. The better your performance in the World Championships, the later you will be placed in the group, and you will receive various preferential treatments in the lane.

The semifinals will be decided based on the group stage results.

Yu Cheng's 400m freestyle time is in the middle, not too good, but not at the bottom either, so his chances of making it to the semifinals are still very high.

Unfortunately, he didn't execute that shot very well.

3 minutes 49 seconds 20!

His swimming performance was significantly worse than his usual average, which undoubtedly affected his mentality to some extent.

Therefore, he was ultimately eliminated in the qualifiers, ranking 19th among all players in his group.

The player ranked first in the group is none other than the current world's number one flying fish, the world record holder in the men's 400-meter freestyle – Ian Thorpe.

He didn't sprint in the last 50 meters, but still swam in first place, more than 2 seconds faster than his teammate Grant Hackett, who came in second in his heat.

Hackett is also a top athlete, captain of the Australian swimming team, specializing in long distances, a Grand Slam winner in the 1500m freestyle, and the world record holder in this event.

He won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, and will likely win another gold and a silver medal in the same event at the Athens and BJ Games.

Currently, they have absolute dominance in the long-distance event.

Moreover, like Phelps, this guy also suffered from asthma and lung disease since childhood; at one point it was very serious, to the point that he was almost dying and had to be hospitalized for antibiotics, and before participating in the Beijing Olympics, there were even rumors that he was going to die.

But in the end, this guy won a silver medal, saying that his dream of winning three consecutive Olympic gold medals gave him magical power. The medical team even praised him as a human miracle. It's just that ridiculous.

It's just as "outstanding" as the inspirational story of Michael Phelps, an asthma patient who became the king of swimming.

When it comes to doping exemptions, Australia is definitely the ancestor of the Americans!

Throughout the entire treatment, this guy was exempted from all medications, since he was close to death, right?

"The gap is too big!"

"These guys are all incredibly fierce!"

Looking at his group's ranking after failing to advance, Yu Cheng couldn't help but shake his head backstage.

On the women's side, the 400m freestyle was also eliminated in the group stage.

The team got off to a bad start, and the mood in the locker room was not very high. As a result, the two 100-meter freestyle relay events in the evening were also far from ideal. The women's team finished fifth in the final, and the men's team didn't even make it to the final.

The swimming team's first day of competition ended in such a dismal start.

The second day was still dominated by the United States and Australia, with the men's 50m butterfly and women's 100m butterfly. But to everyone's surprise, an Asian athlete emerged in the men's 100m breaststroke.

Kosuke Kitajima, who just broke the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke last year, also made it to the finals in the 100-meter breaststroke with exceptional strength.

It's worth noting that at last year's Asian Games, he broke the world record that had stood for 10 years with a time of 2 minutes and 09.97 seconds, becoming the first Asian athlete to break a swimming world record since 1972.

Therefore, not only Japan, but many people in Asia have high hopes for this guy.

He is also the first athlete in Asia to compete wearing a sharkskin speedsuit, and this time he is also wearing the second-generation sharkskin produced by Speedo.

Wu Jin knew very well that this guy was going to win gold in both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events, and he was coming on strong.

不出意外的话，这一次北岛康介会将斯洛得诺夫在2年前福冈世锦赛上创造的59秒94男子100米蛙泳世界纪录，直接提高了0.16秒！
59 second 78!

A new world record for the men's 100-meter long-course frog race.

He also won the first gold medal for an Asian athlete at this World Championships.

This is Japan's first World Swimming Championships gold medal, and also the first gold medal for an Asian athlete in a men's event.

Significance.

This is why Kosuke Kitajima was called the Frog King in the future; it wasn't until after 2018 that Chinese athlete Qin Haiyang took his place with that title.

"The first gold medal in Asian men's swimming is going to be won by the Japanese!"

You could tell from Zhao Ge's face that he was very unwilling.

It's fine if people from other countries take it, but not Japan... This is something many older generation swimmers don't want to see.

The 100-meter breaststroke final officially began at this point.

Just when Wu Jin thought that the 100-meter frog was about to be defeated by Kosuke Kitajima, an unexpected scene occurred.

False jump! Kosuke Kitajima false jumps!

"What the hell?"

Wu Jin stared wide-eyed at the live broadcast of the competition backstage, feeling completely numb.

No, what... what's going on?

Wasn't it the first gold medal, breaking the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke?

That's it... just like that?!
Wu Jin opened her mouth, and many of the teammates around her actually felt sorry for Kitajima Kosuke's foul. Even head coach Zhao Ge shook his head. Only Wu Jin was disappointed.

He knew about this match from his previous life.

Is this... a butterfly effect change that occurred after my rebirth?

"Beidao still has the 200-meter frog, which is his strongest event. He'll have another chance the day after tomorrow!"

Although Zhao Ge was unwilling to admit it, as a coach, he still highly recognized Kosuke Kitajima's abilities.

But two days later, in the 200-meter breaststroke final, Kitajima once again missed out on the gold medal, winning only a silver medal.

The false start in the 100-meter frog jump did have some impact on him, as his start was noticeably slower.

On the other hand, the Chinese team finally won their first medal, and... their first gold medal!
Zhou Yafei and Luo Xuejuan!

Zhou Yafei won China's first swimming medal at the World Swimming Championships, taking the bronze in the women's 200m individual medley with a time of 2 minutes and 12.92 seconds.

As for Luo Xuejuan, she set a new Asian record in the women's 100-meter breaststroke with a personal best time of 1 minute 06.80 seconds, winning the first gold medal for Asia at this World Championships.

Only 0.32 seconds slower than the world record!
She also held the previous Asian record.

In fact, this competition was quite dangerous. Luo Xuejuan only ranked third in the semi-finals, and the entire swimming team was in a gloomy mood because Australia's Jones was in superb form and set a new world record in the semi-finals. At that time, the entire swimming team was completely desperate.

Fortunately, Luo Xuejuan withstood the pressure in the final, while Jones failed to maintain her semi-final prowess and was further affected by Luo Xuejuan's momentum on the adjacent track, ultimately finishing as runner-up.

This gold medal also marks Luo Xuejuan's first successful defense of her title in this event in the history of the World Championships!

She broke the tournament record in the previous Fukuoka Games and also came in first place.

The swimming team was finally able to relax a bit, at least they could go home and report back, unlike the diving team which was in such a miserable state; the goal of winning 8 gold medals before the competition was only half achieved.

Although the swimming team has only completed half of their task so far, there is still a difference between 2 medals and 8 medals.

"Keep up the good work, Xuejuan! Try to do the same in the 50 meters tomorrow!"

Xu Guoyi was encouraging his beloved student, and Luo Xuejuan did not disappoint everyone's expectations. The next day, despite a bad start and entry into the water, she eventually overtook others and won her second gold medal at this World Championships.

He was only 0.01 seconds away from the world record for the 50-meter breaststroke; his opponent in this competition was also the world record holder in this event.

Every shot was a tough battle, but in the end they won decisively and retained the gold medal in this event.

"Haha, mission accomplished!"

"Sister Juan is amazing!"

"These two gold medals are incredibly valuable!"

"absolute!"

"Even a competitor with two world records couldn't beat Sister Juan!"

The swimming team members all gathered around Luo Xuejuan, and Qi Hui especially wanted to share in the joy; because tomorrow was her 200-meter breaststroke competition, and she was the world record holder for this event.

This gold medal is also very promising.

The Chinese team is even poised to sweep all the gold medals in the women's breaststroke!
"All the news in China right now is about Sister Juan!"

"It's everywhere!"

"The two gold medalists are truly different!"

The female team members were very excited, while the male team, including Wu Jin, was facing criticism.

Just now, Luo Xuejuan's good news reached China, and Sports Weekly published a news article about it.

"A lose-lose situation: When will the Chinese men's swimming team wake up?"

Compared to the women's glorious gold and bronze medal wins, the men's swimming team had a lackluster performance, creating the worst record in the history of the World Championships. They didn't even make it to the finals in any individual event, and only made it to the semifinals in two events.

Ouyang Kunpeng and Wu Peng both only achieved ninth place in their respective events, just one place behind the eighth place finisher in the finals.

The remaining players all suffered defeats in the group stage.

"The match wasn't even over yet, and the media reporters were already criticizing us!"

"Although I know there are many factors that can affect your performance, I still hope that you will stick to your posts for the last three days!"

"Let's show the spirit of the men's swimming team!"

"We can lose, but we can't be so dejected!"

"The reporters photographed you all!"

"..."

Zhao Ge was yelling at the 16 male swimmers in front of him: "All of you, raise your heads and stand tall!"

It's not really the athletes' fault; who's happy when they lose?
But in the sports world, being bad is the original sin.

If you win, you can say whatever you want, but if you lose, there are a million ways to attack you.

Coupled with the outstanding performance of the women's team, this further highlighted the incompetence of the men.

Media reporters are submissive in their external communications, but their own athletes have always been adept at delivering powerful blows, which has always been their advantage.

"The men's events are all finished for today!"

"Tomorrow, don't let reporters take similar photos again!"

"Be more proactive during the interviews..."

Zhao Ge didn't want to say too much, as he was afraid of affecting the emotions of the players who hadn't even competed yet.

If I don't say anything, and I get scolded again, the whole swimming team will lose face.

He glanced at the schedule posted on the wall and prayed for the first time that the competition would end quickly. Although the Chinese team's performance had been decent these past few days, the Australian and American teams had been absolutely phenomenal.

Those world records were like paper, broken one after another, like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Especially that young American player, Michael Phelps.

Just one hour ago today, two world records were broken in 45 minutes, setting a new record in swimming history and surpassing the feat of American swimming legend Mark Spitz, who broke four world records at the 1972 Olympics.

Just a few days ago, he had already broken three records in a row, and in the 400-meter individual medley, he broke three records in a month... His excellent form made the coaches of the Chinese team feel suffocated.

It was incredibly suffocating.

Is this still a human being?
Keep in mind, this guy just turned 18; he only had his birthday last month.

At this World Championships, they have already won 3 gold and 2 silver medals, and there are still several more opportunities to win gold. Their performance is so impressive that it makes people despair.

As for the other Australian legend, Thorpe, he remained invincible, winning gold medals in the 200m and 400m freestyle and breaking the world record, becoming the first swimmer in World Championship history to win the same 400m freestyle title three times.

However, this record was later broken by Sun Yang.

He won the 400m freestyle gold medal for four consecutive World Championships and became the first person in the world to win and defend his title in both middle and long distances.

The next part of the script involves the incident of breaking the sample.

"1 days left!"

Wu Jin lay on the bed counting down the time for her match.

To be honest, he was a little upset after seeing the criticism of the male swimmers in the domestic media.

Every athlete trains very hard, but they are inherently at a disadvantage compared to Westerners who are equipped with high-tech swimsuits.

The second-generation sharkskin fabric, based on the first generation, features granular dots on the surface to reduce water resistance by 30%, resulting in an overall performance improvement of 7.5% compared to the first generation.

That means it can increase swimming speed by 10.5% to 15%.

How can you compare something with such a gap?
Luo Xuejuan truly defeated her opponent through absolute strength and willpower.

So praising Wu Jin of the women's team is perfectly acceptable, but it would be unethical to slander the men's team because of this.

Of course, Wu Jin also knew that she was not strong enough, so anything she said would be a lie.

Only the competition!

Only competition can prove oneself.

The next day finally brought the women's 200m breaststroke competition. Qi Hui, who was favored by everyone, failed to perform to her potential as the world's number one and ended up in third place.

Domestic media once again criticized Chinese athletes for their poor mental fortitude, pointing out a significant gap between them and their Western counterparts.

The World Swimming Championships have now come to an end on the 27th, with only 2 days left; only the final 13 events remain.

Among them was Wu Jin, who participated in the 50-meter freestyle.

It will take place at 10 a.m. on the 27th, ranking third among all the events of the day.

Following the women's 50m butterfly and 200m backstroke, the men's 50m freestyle single-lane "flying fish" battle will take place.

The 100-meter sprint a few days ago created a spectacle with 75 million people watching simultaneously worldwide. The total viewership of the World Championships reached 6.45 million, making this World Championships the most successful in history; it is hailed as the most successful World Championships ever held.

The current world record holder in the 100m freestyle and Sydney Olympic double gold medalist, Pieter Hogenband, the veteran who won the 100m freestyle gold medal for the first time in history, and swimming legend Ian Thorpe will compete for the gold medal in this year's 100m freestyle.

Ultimately, to everyone's surprise, 32-year-old veteran Popov emerged victorious.

Meanwhile, Paganband, the reigning 100m champion from Sydney and future Athens, only managed second place; Thorpe's advantage in the 100m was clearly not as strong as his in the 200m and 400m, so he took third place.

These three will also compete for the gold medal in tomorrow's 50m freestyle!

This can be described as a war of revenge.

Will Popov have the last laugh, or will Hoogenband get his revenge, or will Thorpe dominate the short-distance game he's not good at?

Swimming enthusiasts all over the world are actually looking forward to it!

　This is just a prelude; the real action begins in the next chapter!
　　I hope you can understand that writing directly about the competition wouldn't effectively convey the emotions involved!
　　Winning isn't satisfying enough!!

　　As for the news and data inside, they are all official...

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)