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

Chapter 57 Charge Towards the World, Young Man! [5500 words]

Barcelona, ​​July 27, 2003.

The penultimate day of the 10th World Swimming Championships.

After completing his daily routine random checks, Wu Jin went directly to the competition venue. In the past few days, his urine was checked 12 times, his blood was drawn 8 times, and his erythropoietin was tested 3 times.

Although Wu Jin had become more open-minded about such things after experiencing the Paris incident, she still felt resentful about being treated like this.

The best way to vent your anger is, of course, through a competition.

Defeating your opponent in the match allows you to fully unleash that energy.

Although Wu Jin was not quite used to the weather in Barcelona, ​​the emotions he had suppressed for almost a week suddenly surged out of his body like the thrust of a car accelerating.

This caused him to be very excited when he arrived at the venue.

In a competition, this is called the "excitement point".

By adjusting psychological, physiological, and training methods, the key threshold for achieving optimal physical and mental performance can be reached.

Swimmers desperately need this kind of excitement.

Many athletes who break world records will more or less bring their emotions into play during the competition.

Wu Jin felt that her current state was exceptionally good.

Perhaps it was because it was his first time participating in an international competition, or perhaps it was because he had been holding back for so many days... his excitement for the competition was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

The first event in the morning was the women's 50-meter butterfly, for which no one in China has reached the standard; in fact, no one in the men either has either.

The same applies to the 200-meter backflip.

Currently, there is a severe shortage of backstroke swimmers in China.

Soon, the two preliminary rounds were over, and the next event was the 50-meter freestyle, which had garnered significant attention in the morning.

"Chen Zuo is in the second group, Wu Jin, you're in the fourth group!"

"Don't have any psychological burden, just swim as you normally do and feel the rhythm!"

Before the competition, Xu Guoyi was giving motivational speeches to his youngest disciple. He had witnessed Wu Jin's training over the past two months, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the most dedicated member of the entire swimming team.

The main problem is that he didn't use his full strength; if he had, he would definitely be number one.

Even so, he still spends the most time in the swimming pool every day.

I run 2 meters every day without fail.

Yesterday, he secretly used a stopwatch to test Wu Jin's speed, and it barely dropped. This shows that Wu Jin's method of forcing her to adapt to the swimming style over the past two months has been quite effective.

At least, it guarantees that there is a possibility of reaching the finals at the World Championships.

However, Xu Guoyi did not tell Zhao Ge and others about this. At present, apart from him, no one is optimistic that Wu Jin can enter the 50-meter final.

Even if Wu Jin swims a time of 22.62 seconds like in the championship, her chances of making it to the finals are still slim.

This result can only be attributed to good luck in getting into the finals; if it were bad luck, one could be eliminated even in the semifinals.

Because there are simply too many foreign athletes who can cover the 50-meter distance in 22-23 seconds.

Unlike in China, where you can already get a license.

"Coach, have the group's opponents been announced yet?"

Wearing a thick down jacket, Wu Jin took deep breaths to calm herself as she asked Xu Guoyi.

Xu Guoyi had a competition schedule in his hand, but it was in English.

Xu Guoyi could roughly understand which group it was, but he was also completely confused about who the opponents were.

With a long string of English names, it was indeed a bit of a challenge for him, an early athlete within the domestic system.

"Anyway, I don't know any of them!"

Xu Guoyi shrugged at Wu Jin, but Wu Jin was holding the schedule for Group 4 and looking at it seriously.

It's so realistic.

In fact, Wu Jin did know several of her group's opponents.

The main reason is that he was in the swimming circle in his previous life, so he was familiar with swimming experts both at home and abroad; in addition, his English is definitely much better than Xu Guoyi's, so by spelling out the letters a little, it seems... he can match them up a bit.

For example...Cesar Cielo Filho?

"Ok?"

"Sel...s...sie...lo?"

"Fuck, you can't, right?"

Wu Jin glanced at the name casually and felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

When someone is down on their luck, even something as simple as a toothache can become choking.

Is there really such a bizarre thing?
I only saw it at first glance!

Did I encounter a ghost?

We'll run into this guy in the group stage?!
César Siello!

The most famous swimmer in Brazilian history, bar none, because this guy is the future world record holder for the 50-meter freestyle in the long course.

20 second 91!

He set the record in 09 at the São Paulo Swimming Championships in his own country, Brazil, and even in 2024, when Wu Jin was reborn, no one has been able to break this record in the past 15 years.

Because this record was achieved while swimming in a sharkskin high-speed swimsuit.

The shorter the distance, the harder it is to overtake.

而塞萨尔·西埃洛未来不仅打破过50米自的世界纪录，100米自也打破过，46秒91的纪录直到2022年才被短距离天才波波维奇再次刷新。

Two years later, Pan Zhanle surpassed the previous record again with a time of 46.80 seconds.

It can be said that before 2022, César Cielo was the undisputed number one in short-distance freestyle swimming.

Popov, Hogenband... are all things of the past in his eyes.

Even Brazil's first gold medal in swimming was won by this guy in the 50-meter freestyle at the 08 Beijing Olympics.

However, Wu Jin strongly suspects that he swallowed diuretics and shark skin to achieve those two high scores; because he was found to have taken banned drugs in 2011!

But now, Wu Jin's opponent in the group stage is actually this person?!
"How old is this guy again?"

"Isn't it still several years before it reaches its peak?"

This was the only thing Wu Jin was grateful for.

Just like Sun Yang is currently considered a weak player, the future king of short distances, Cesar Cielo, is unlikely to be strong either.

Wu Jin loves the feeling of tormenting these future big shots.

He looked at the eight athletes in the group stage, and besides Cesar Cielo, the future sprint champion, he also saw two familiar faces.

Ian Crocker, a silver medalist in the 50m butterfly and a gold medalist in the 100m butterfly at this World Championships, is a renowned American butterfly swimmer.

Grant Hackett, captain of Australia and the world's number one in the 1500m freestyle, surprisingly also participated in the 50m freestyle.

"Just dabbling in it?"

Wu Jin suddenly felt a bit of pressure.

This group would be absolutely phenomenal in the future, but for now... it's quite normal for two amateurs, plus a swimming newbie just like themselves, to be assigned to the average fourth group.

It can only be said that there are no weak competitors in the World Championships. Even in the group stage, the competitors are either swimming stars who are about to retire or rising stars.

They may be old now or not yet at their peak, but their past and future are legendary.

Wu Jin, too, happened to witness the birth and fall of a legend.

"16 years old!"

“Cielo is 16 years old…”

"I wonder how strong they are!"

Wu Jin saw that this guy was at the very end of his developmental stage, and anything was possible.

Although this guy only became famous in 06 in his previous life, he was already quite formidable at the age of 16.

"This group is going to be tough!"

Wu Jin handed the list to Xu Guoyi, who was quite curious as to why Wu Jin had been looking at it for so long. Could this kid even read English?
Xu Guoyi was the first to disbelieve it.

"Alright, get ready, the first group is about to go on stage!"

The first group is obviously full of cannon fodder. Even if you finish first in your group, you probably won't make it to the semifinals. That's the cruelty of the World Championship. The groups are ranked according to your best performance, so the later you get, the stronger your opponents become.

If the opponents in the final group are strong, it will stimulate my performance and I may swim even better.

If your opponent is weak, you will also be affected.

The first group finished their competition very quickly.

Just as Wu Jin predicted, the first place in the group, 23.03 seconds, did not even reach his qualifying time for the World Championships.

Basically, this group has been completely wiped out.

The second group was still in a precarious situation.

Chen Zuo only swam 23.05 seconds, which is even worse than his usual training results in China. It can only be said that being in a foreign country has a significant impact on athletes.

He finished second in his group and is currently ranked fourth in the qualifiers.

Only 16 players were selected in the semifinals, while there are still thirteen groups that have not yet competed.

It is highly likely that he will not be selected.

"Coach, I'm going in!"

Wu Jin had been keeping warm, and when she heard the fourth group enter, she immediately stood up from her seat.

Many members of the swimming team, including Wu Peng and Yu Cheng, immediately came to greet them.

"Go for it, Xiao Wu!"

"come on!!!"

"Just do it!"

"..."

His teammates clenched their fists to cheer him on.

This is a common practice in the national swimming team. No matter how divided the swimming fandom may become in the future, the relationship between teammates will definitely be more united than that of other national swimming teams.

This is determined by the system and civilization.

Wu Jin hummed in agreement and nodded without saying anything. After glancing at them, he looked at Xu Guoyi with a fierce fighting spirit and a look that made him look like he wanted to devour someone.

Although he looked very young, the entire swimming team knew that this kid was ruthless and taciturn, appearing quite mature. "Go in!"

"Don't think about anything!"

"Swim your best in your usual form for one lap, and you'll win!"

As he spoke, Xu Guoyi patted Wu Jin on the shoulder, his face showing absolute trust in his disciple.

"it is good!"

Wu Jin only said one word before turning around and walking easily into the contestant passage.

Each step he took seemed to show increasing determination.

"Director Xu, how did Xiao Wu do the test yesterday?"

Wu Peng asked Xu Guoyi in secret.

"It was alright, I can only say I played well, and I still have a chance in the semifinals!"

"That's good!"

Wu Peng pursed his lips. He had always been quite worried about this younger brother in the team who shared the same surname as him. In fact, many people in the swimming team knew that Wu Jin's height and weight suddenly increased as the World Championships approached, catching the entire coaching team off guard.

He persevered through the training all by himself, all for this day.

"Go for it, Wu Jin!"

Wu Peng suddenly clenched his fist and shouted, looking at the live broadcast of the Chinese team's backcourt rest area, where the third group's match had just ended.

The fourth group of contestants is about to take the stage.

Wu Jin had already arrived at the athletes' tunnel and was in the last line, which meant that lane eight was the exit.

This is the outermost lane, a very unfavorable view.

The future king of sprint, Cesar Cielo, is in the golden fourth lane, while Ian Crocker of the United States and Grant Hackett of Australia are in the third and sixth lanes, right next to Cielo.

The three of them were wearing swimming goggles and thick national team uniforms for warmth, but unsurprisingly, underneath they were wearing the most expensive and advanced second-generation sharkskin swimsuits currently on the market.

Currently, each piece costs $9000 USD, but the price will drop to 7000 RMB after the patent is revealed. To achieve the best effect, each piece can only be worn six times.

This price may not be much for athletes from developed countries such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea, and Chinese athletes may be able to buy it if they need approval, but athletes from other third-party countries basically cannot afford it.

African swimmers, in particular, are far behind, which is one of the reasons why there are very few African athletes in swimming competitions.

Actually, if Black people train hard, they can be competitive in the pool.

Ding-dong-

The announcement came from inside the passage that the fourth group of contestants was about to take the stage.

The swimmers, lined up in order, filed out one after another; unlike the finals, where they appeared one by one and each had their own individual shot.

The group stage is about going out together and then standing in your own lane.

Wu Jin arrived at the far end of lane eight, where the cheers from the surrounding spectators were incredibly enthusiastic, but they were mostly white people; currently, Chinese people are still at the bottom of society globally, and very few people actually watch the games.

In addition, Wu Jin had no fame whatsoever, and all she could hear were the shouts of Ian and Hackett's fans.

Hiss!

Wu Jin suddenly pulled down the zipper of her team uniform jacket, revealing a regular swimsuit with the national team logo.

It's sponsored by Nike; domestic sports brands are still in a very primitive stage.

He was patting his whole body and relaxing his muscles, and all the swimmers in the next lane were doing the same; about eight swimmers, five in sharkskin second-generation fast swimsuits and three in regular swimsuits.

The ordinary ones are obviously from small countries, while there are also Chinese players like Wu Jin.

drop!
As the starting signal sounded, the eight swimmers in the fourth group immediately adjusted their swimsuits and goggles and stood by the starting platform.

Each person placed one foot on the starting platform, shook their body, and then stood still, taking their starting positions one by one.

"Whoo~~~"

Wu Jin let out a long breath, bent over and gripped the board, her posture completely different from two months ago.

It is more stretched and slender, and the muscles in the arms are also noticeably thicker.

She grew 2 centimeters taller, and even her starting posture had to be subtly altered.

He looked at the pool in front of him, which appeared somewhat deep under the sunlight, and his mind was locked in a state of relative isolation from the competition, a kind of focused concentration that was undisturbed by anything around him.

With such focused concentration, the cacophony of shouts and noises seemed to fade away, leaving only the senses of the nerves and hearing yearning for that familiar sound.

"beep--"

The starting gun fires!

Swish!
Without any hesitation, Wu Jin pushed off with her left foot, and her body leaped off the starting platform like a rabbit.

As soon as it hit the water, the intermediate acceleration system, which was emitting a green glow, also suddenly flashed.

The preliminary rounds for the 50-meter freestyle, Group 4, have officially begun.

"it is good!"

Xu Guoyi, who was watching the live broadcast of this group stage match from the back field, couldn't help but wave his arm when he saw Wu Jin's position after falling into the water.

After two months of training, Wu Jin finally overcame his long-standing problem of poor reaction time, no longer lagging behind other competitors; he fell into the water almost simultaneously with the other competitors.

To the naked eye, there isn't much difference.

But the difference becomes very obvious the moment the water comes out, just a few seconds later.

"Brilliant!"

"rush!"

"First!"

Wu Jin was in first place, taking the lead immediately after emerging from the water. Even though he was in lane eight, which had the least competitive advantage, he still maintained his absolute advantage at the start.

Xu Guoyi did not calculate the time from Wu Jin's entry into the water to her exit, but it was definitely a world-class departure.

"Come on!"

"Wu Jin!!"

"Wu Jin!!"

At this moment, all the athletes in the back row of the entire Chinese swimming team, including the members of the women's team, gathered around the wall-mounted TV and shouted at the figure on the screen that was getting closer and closer to the finish line.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~~~
The water in the lane kept churning. Wu Jin felt the muscle memory he had developed over the past two months of training. With the system constantly boosting his speed, he felt as if he had completely merged with the system at this moment.

So what if you can't see your opponent?

So what if the waves crashing against him from the side lanes affected his swimming style?

The advantages of second-generation sharkskin, the advantages of Caucasian Europeans... all of these were slowly left behind by his figure paddling forward.

Leading!

Wu Jin has been in the lead ever since she came out of the water.

Moreover, this leading advantage continues to expand.

Wu Jin arrived faster than the other seven swimmers in the pool. Even Cesar Cielo, the future world number one who was in second place, saw a red figure appear on the horizon the moment he took a breath.

The first time, he felt level with himself; the second time, there was a clear deviation.

He was all too familiar with this kind of deviation.

Faster than me!

This player who seems to be on the side lane is actually in front of me?!

"I'm going to surpass him!"

At 16, Cesar Cielo was in the prime of his swimming career, and he immediately showcased his talent in the pool.

After 25 meters, this guy actually started to accelerate.

Wu Jin was already very fast and was still in the lead, but Cesar Cielo and Ian Crocker had begun to accelerate and were constantly closing in on Wu Jin, who was in first place.

The lead that had just been widening seemed to be shrinking little by little.

30 meters, 35 meters, 40 meters... There are only 10 meters left to the finish line.

"Hold on!"

"Wu Jin, hold the line!!!"

All the members of the Chinese swimming team clenched their fists and placed them in front of them, praying.

Some even closed their eyes, unable to bear watching what was about to happen.

Countless times, members of the Chinese swimming team have been overtaken in the last ten or twenty meters; the white swimmers are indeed very strong in the later stages.

Sprint!

In a single breath, Wu Jin unleashed the last bit of energy in her body, along with a mid-level sprint.

Seeing that Cesar Cielo, whose later stages were clearly more intense than Wu Jin's, seemed poised to overtake him, the waves on the sidelines noticeably quickened again.

5 meters, 4 meters...2 meters...

"The last meter!"

Rush!
Wu Jin slammed her arm against the pool wall in one breath, splashing water everywhere, and then leaped into the air.

Snapped!
Wu Jin instantly hit the wall.

the first!

Wu Jin won first place in the fourth group.

Meanwhile, Cesar Cielo in lane four barely made it to the finish line a second later.

His eyes unconsciously glanced towards lane eight.

Next up is Ian Kroc!
The two people stood one in front of the other.

boom!
Wu Jin slapped the pool hard with her left hand, then smiled slightly.

Won.

He defeated César Cielo.

Although the opponent has not yet reached their peak!
But that's still a win.

If you win the first time, you'll win the second time, and countless times!
"Huff...huff..."

He subconsciously looked up, his chest heaving rapidly, at his results this time.

(End of this chapter)