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

Chapter 54 A Gathering of Masters! A World-Class Stage!
July 13, 2003, Beijing time, the first day of the Barcelona World Swimming Championships.

Wu Jin, however, was still undergoing grueling training in the final days of her two-month-long training program at the National Sports Administration's swimming pool.

He was among the last group of athletes to travel to the World Championships, departing on the 16th, as the 50m freestyle qualifying rounds would not officially begin until the 27th.

The entire World Championships will last for half a month, with diving, synchronized swimming, open water marathon and water polo events already underway; swimming will begin a week later, followed by a 7-day competition.

The schedule is similar to that of the World Championships, since the World Championships are a training and selection event modeled after the World Championships. So the first day, July 21, will feature the men's and women's 400m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay events.

Wu Jin's 50-meter freestyle was once again her last competition day before the end of the event.

In other words, the competition was basically coming to an end for him after he finished.

So even if he departs for Barcelona on the 16th, he will have plenty of time; while the third group of swimmers, who departed earliest, just boarded the plane this morning, first arriving in Paris, France, and then transferring.

These days, there are no direct flights to Barcelona, ​​Spain.

……

"Has the first gold medal been awarded yet?"

Wang Haibo asked Zhang Lin, who had just finished showering and changing clothes.

Their training for today has ended.

These two were competing in the last few days, so they were in the same group as Wu Jin; while Chen Zuo, Zhou Jiawei, Luo Xuejuan and a few others had already left with the main swimming team.

This includes Wu Jin's roommate Cai Li, as well as the head coach, team leader, and so on.

The entire training hall was empty at this moment, except for a few coaches and athletes.

"Good morning! Outdoor matches are much slower than indoor ones!"

"I doubt he'll even come out after going back to his dorm!"

Zhang Lin glanced at Wu Jin, who was still swimming, and said with some admiration, "Brother Bo, are all the players on the Zhejiang Provincial Team this dedicated?"

"No, it's just that Xiao Wu is really tough on himself!"

"Hey~~"

"Those who are on the same side know their own business," Wang Haibo sighed.

He knew why Wu Jin was like this; the subtle changes in his physical development meant he had to adapt to this body every day.

Frequent practice is also to become more familiar with swimming strokes.

"strong!"

"Won't I hurt myself from training like this? Old Zhao won't let me train like this!"

While Zhao Ge was away, Zhang Lin secretly spoke to Wang Haibo.

There weren't many people in the stadium. Although he had completed his training for the day, the national team's rule was that you could go back late, but you couldn't "leave early."

The shuttle bus that picks you up and drops you off doesn't arrive at the gate until 9:30.

"It'll be in the next few days. After the World Championships, Xiao Wu should change his swimming style!"

"Changing at only 12 years old? Surely it's not too late after the Olympics?"

Zhang Lin also went through the developmental stage and successfully overcame it, so he was well aware of the difficulties involved.

In his opinion, it's not too late for Wu Jin to change his moves in another year; he himself changed his moves when he was 13.

However, everyone's developmental age is different, and Wu Jin had no choice but to make this decision; if he had to choose, he would definitely choose after Athens, so that he would have a full four years before the next Olympics.

And it was the Beijing Olympics, held right on our own doorstep.

A year in Athens is indeed very rushed.

Why don't you go ask him?

Wang Haibo smiled, got up, and prepared to go to the locker room.

After completing one round trip, Wu Jin also finished the last event of the evening, the 5000-meter swim, with ease.

These distances are all for evening recovery training, to experience the smoothness of swimming strokes; you can imagine how terrifying the training volume during the day must be.

Wu Jin has been living like this for the past two months.

Moreover, he has increased the intensity of his training in the past week.

Fortunately, it will be over in two more days.

"Let's go, get some data collected, then go back to sleep!"

Xu Guoyi also spent two whole months with Wu Jin, adjusting various data and body postures.

Now it is time for liberation.

"It's 115g lighter..."

"Let's have some late-night snacks later!"

Xu Guoyi said to Wu Jin, who had recently been strictly following the gram measurements for her diet.

To put it bluntly, you have to get tested after you poop.

The master and apprentice chatted all the way. After Wu Jin finished showering and changing her clothes, she boarded the shuttle bus back to the apartment with him.

The events on the first day of the World Championships were the men's and women's synchronized 10-meter platform diving, which are among the events that the Chinese diving team is most proficient in. Winning gold would be a sure thing. However, the only variable was that the pool at the Barcelona World Championships was outdoors.

Moreover, the competition was held in Spain at around 5 p.m., when a gentle evening breeze was blowing, which made the audience feel relaxed, but the diving athletes' movements would be severely hampered by the wind resistance.

"Previously, training was all indoors, mainly because there weren't suitable outdoor training grounds in China!"

Xu Guoyi was somewhat worried.

In addition, many diving competitions are held indoors, which is a huge challenge for young divers.

Fortunately, the women's 10-meter platform final, which was held first, was won.

Just as Wu Jin was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard shouts coming from upstairs and downstairs.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Chinese diving team should win the first gold medal at this World Swimming Championships.

Lao Lishi and Li Ting gave their opponents no chance, leading from the first dive to the end, and winning first place with a margin of more than 20 points.

"Oh oh oh!"

Countless people cheered, while Wu Jin slept peacefully.

The next morning, as expected, major websites published news of the Chinese swimming and diving team winning gold medals, and CCTV's morning news also reported on it.

Although there aren't many sporting events these days, the World Championships, especially the Swimming World Championships, still attract a lot of attention. Last night, CCTV-5 Sports Channel even broadcast the entire event live.

"I rely on!"

"The men's 10-meter synchronized diving team only won a bronze medal!"

"Even with double insurance, we still couldn't secure it!"

Contrary to outside reports, the swimmers inside the training hall looked on in disbelief.

Tian Liang and Hu Jia, the men's synchronized 10m divers, were the team's double insurance, having won the gold and silver medals in the individual event at the Sydney Olympics. This time, they didn't even manage to get second place, let alone first.

This is definitely a "major accident".

On the first day, the Chinese team only won one gold and one bronze medal. Just when everyone thought that Tian Liang had only missed the gold medal yesterday due to a mistake, on the second day, the women's 1-meter springboard and the men's 3-meter springboard both missed the gold medal again.

The women's 1-meter springboard team didn't even make the top three, while the men's team won a silver medal.

"That's it, it's even worse than yesterday!"

"The diving team is definitely going to get fucked when they come back this time!"

"This puts a lot of pressure on our swimming team!"

"It looks like we're not going to be able to keep our eight gold medals in diving!"

"..."

Wang Haibo muttered to himself for a moment, then packed his things and prepared to leave.

They will be among the last group to travel to Barcelona for the competition, along with Wu Jin.

After 16 hours of circling in the air and an 8-hour layover, Wu Jin finally arrived at Barcelona Amprat Airport at around 9 a.m. on the 18th.

I'm practically in a semi-complete state and need to go back to the hotel to adjust to the time difference.

Barcelona is 6 hours behind Beijing time in the summer.

Meanwhile, bad news came from the front.

In the women's 10m and men's 3m, neither of them won gold medals; Tian Liang only won a bronze medal. Lao Lishi, who had just won the gold medal in the women's synchronized 10m platform, also only came in second.

"Even the slight breeze outdoors can affect the athletes' performance!"

"But the most important thing is mindset!"

Xu Guoyi was talking to Wu Jin and the others on the way, and he also looked worried.

No one expected that the Chinese diving team, which was highly anticipated before the competition, would not only win the first gold medal but also have such a terrible start.

Forget about the pre-competition goal of 8 gold medals; even if we win all of them, we'll only have 6 left.

Fortunately, today's competition is the women's 3-meter springboard, which is also the most stable event for the diving team; the diving queen Guo Jingjing and the future five-time gold medalist Wu Minxia are the current world number one and world number two in this event.

But the final result was a mixed bag.

Diving queen Guo Jingjing lived up to expectations and won first place; while Wu Minxia won the bronze medal, which was obviously not a very good result.

When Wu Jin and the others arrived at the venue after adjusting to the time difference, they happened to see the awards ceremony for the 3-meter springboard.

He came to join the swimming team and also to experience the competition venue in advance.

The World Championships in Barcelona this year are being held at the Montjuïc Swimming Pool, an outdoor swimming pool near the sea.

The scenery was beautiful, but it wasn't very athlete-friendly, especially for divers.

The higher the score, the less consistent the performance.

At this point, the most important test for athletes is their mindset.

The national diving team is certainly technically proficient, but because they rarely compete outdoors, even the slightest emotional fluctuation can affect their final results.

Guo Jingjing's high status in the diving world is not without reason; her performance is indeed consistent. Tian Liang, on the other hand, is clearly much worse. Even though he won the gold medal in the synchronized 10-meter platform at the Athens Olympics next year, the swimming team still dealt with him seriously.

Because there are plenty of people who can replace him, while there are far fewer people who can replace Sun Yang; that's the difference.

Wu Jin thought of many things in an instant, and as he stood up, several familiar figures immediately came into his view.

Swimming team members from several other countries also came to cheer on their diving teams.

And each person was wearing a team uniform, clearly distinguishing them from the others.

Australia, dressed in yellow team uniforms, led by the tall, imposing, and arrogant current swimming champion Ian Thorpe, sat in the front row.

Jenny Thompson, the United States' top female swimmer, dressed in a red and white star-spangled flag outfit, won two gold medals at the age of 14 and three gold medals in two consecutive Olympic Games. She sat next to Brendan Hansen, the captain of the men's team and the king of breaststroke.

Behind them is a lineup that will dazzle people in the future—Michael Phelps, the future five-time Olympic gold medalist who will break five world records even in the non-sharkskin era; Natalie Coughlin, the future world's first five-time Olympic gold medalist in the 50-meter backstroke to break 1 minute…

3rd time!
This group of swimmers won a total of about 35 Olympic gold medals over the next three Games, making them the most glorious and golden generation of the US swimming team.

The next 12 years will belong to this group.

Both Australia and Russia are under immense pressure and are completely overwhelmed.

Russia, whose current swimming strength ranks third in the world, is led by 32-year-old veteran Tsar Popov, who has won four Olympic gold and five silver medals, and sits on the far left of the second row.

The US team is on the far right.

These three groups of people are the three major obstacles currently looming over the Chinese swimming team.

Even with diving included, China's current strength in the sport only ranks fourth.

Heroes from all over the world are as numerous as carp crossing a river, yet even the most outstanding individuals struggle to make a mark. For the first time, Wu Jin truly understood what a world-class stage was.

Before his rebirth, he could only sit in front of the television and watch the group of people in front of him.

Now, he will carve out his own path from these three mountains.

"Then... let's start with the 50-meter section!"

Wu Jin's gaze was fixed on Russia, which was in third place.

That 32-year-old veteran, who still exuded considerable charisma despite having a stab wound to his lung.

Alexander Popov.

The current world record holder for the 50-meter dash!
21.64 seconds!!!

He set a men's world record in the 50-meter freestyle three years ago on Russian soil.

(End of this chapter)