Chapter 010 Provincial University Games Finals (Part One)

Du Dewey made an appointment with Hu Yucheng to watch the match together today. He said: "With Chinese characteristics, it's not like this is your first time hearing a leader's speech, why take it so seriously"

In the audience stands, Hu Yucheng frowned and said: "What does this have to do with anything? How can it be related to the London Olympics? No matter how these university students contribute, can it reach London?"

Director Zhang's speech has concluded, and a quarter of an hour has passed

A line of figures sat on the podium, with Director Zhang Weiguo in the center. He is actually the Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Education and is the highest-ranking official among the many leaders present. Since he holds the highest position among the leaders present, the host omitted the title of 'Deputy'.

It is almost 12 o'clock, and the freestyle swimming competition will commence next. The order of the freestyle events is 400 meters, 200 meters, 100 meters, and 50 meters, following international conventions where shorter distances are scheduled later. The 50 meters and 100 meters events in swimming are akin to the 100 meters sprint in athletics, serving as the grand finale.

Athletes strive hard for glory and medals, yet their contributions are attributed to the leaders, sigh, such is the characteristic of China. Old Du, I am not suited for an official position, which is why I have never worked in a government agency; I prefer to be a coach at the city team and enjoy my freedom. Don't get too smug; you are almost fifty years old, and you have only been assigned to the Sports Lottery Center as a minor section chief, and still as a deputy. You are actually not suited for an official position either; your political awareness and adaptability to the bureaucratic environment are far inferior to your wife's.

The men's 400-meter freestyle final is the first freestyle event to take place, and it is now Du Ke's turn to compete

The swimming events have set up two categories: freestyle and breaststroke. These two swimming styles are the most widely used and have the deepest grassroots foundation. It can be seen that this provincial university games still adhere to the principle of popularizing the competition.

A university student competition within the province can attract such a large audience for two reasons: first, today is a holiday, and it is still during the May Day Golden Week; second, several matches in yesterday's preliminary rounds were quite exciting, leading many returning visitors to come back today to enjoy the spectacle

Immediately following, the leaders of the Provincial Sports Bureau and the Provincial Communist Youth League also delivered speeches, encouraging university athletes to strive hard and achieve excellent results, preparing for the upcoming 9th National University Games, and contributing to the London Olympics in just over two months.

Du Ke and Xu Wenlin are in adjacent lanes, which is an unwritten rule in the swimming arena. The fourth and fifth lanes are generally reserved for the strongest competitors, while those who are less favored are assigned to lanes closer to the sides.

The eight finalists approached the diving platform, eager and ready to compete. Du Ke was assigned to lane 4, where he ranked second in the preliminaries. Xu Wenlin, who ranked first in the preliminaries, was in lane 5, and he would continue to defend the honor of the sports institute

Nearly 1,000 university students are required to attend today's swimming finals at the request of their respective schools. This is because leaders are present at the event to provide guidance, and it is essential to have an audience to avoid a lack of attendance.

Four champions in the breaststroke event were awarded, with the representative team from Nankang Sports Institute securing three of them, demonstrating the formidable strength of the sports institute

Faced with such a formal and clichéd official speech, some university student audience members are nearly falling asleep, while many are more focused on playing with their mobile phones

At 9 o'clock in the morning, the swimming pool surprisingly had over 1,000 spectators. The vast majority of these spectators were university students, with a few local residents also purchasing tickets to enter.

Swimming and athletics are major events. The athletics finals have not yet begun, so today, many leaders from the event organizing departments came to the swimming pool, which can be seen as a demonstration of the importance attached by the official departments within the province.

The 100 meters and 200 meters breaststroke events have a competition time of about one to two minutes each. By around 11 o'clock, four finals of the breaststroke events had already been completed

The university student audience who were forcibly brought in and those who came voluntarily differ in their attire. They all wore matching outfits, each donning a white T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Nanyue Province University Student Sports Meeting." Each university student in a white T-shirt received a bottle of energy drink, a small fan, and a phone case from the organizing committee, along with this pure cotton white T-shirt, which can be considered a benefit. When averaged out, these benefits amount to several dozen yuan per person.

After the conclusion of the frog swimming competition, a brief award ceremony was held, during which the relevant leaders of the organizing committee presented gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top three athletes. The gold medal is gold-plated, as it is not feasible to award genuine gold medals at this level of university sports events

There are approximately three to four hundred spectators who actively came to watch the match, which is slightly more than the number of spectators during yesterday's preliminary round

Du Dewey was not angry, he just smiled and said: "Everyone has their own aspirations. Even if you offer me a high-ranking official position, I would be too lazy to accept it. The higher the position, the greater the responsibilities and the more burdensome the duties. In fact, being a carefree wanderer is quite enjoyable. Also, don't try to sow discord between my wife and me. The competition is about to start, so let's focus on the match!"

Director Zhang, in his fifties and wearing glasses, spoke in a calm and measured tone characteristic of leaders: "Good morning, students and athletes! In the field of higher education, we have always advocated for the integration of knowledge and action, as well as comprehensive development. Students of the new era need to diligently study and lay a solid foundation for realizing the Chinese Dream and our great national rejuvenation. At the same time, they also need to possess a strong physique, balancing both literary and martial skills, for the hope of national prosperity... In the field of higher education, we have always advocated for the integration of knowledge and action, as well as comprehensive development. Students of the new era need to diligently study and lay a solid foundation for realizing the Chinese Dream and our great national rejuvenation. At the same time, they also need to possess a strong physique, balancing both literary and martial skills, for the hope of national prosperity..."

Hu Yucheng pointed to the podium and said, "Look, your Director Ke is quite impressive, sitting on the podium. At the next provincial sports meeting, she might just be the one to speak. According to convention, there must be at least one woman in every leadership team, so Director Ke still has room for advancement, much more promising than your position as deputy section chief."

Director Zhang speaks with great eloquence, addressing topics ranging from cultural and educational undertakings to national fitness. He references Confucius and Shen Kuo, discusses the father of the two bombs, and transitions to figures such as Rong Guotuan and Zhuang Zedong, touching upon ping-pong diplomacy, and then highlights contemporary sports stars of the 21st century in China, including Liu Xiang and Dayao.

The next day, on May 6, at the Asian Games Town Swimming Pool. Today, the finals of the provincial university games swimming competition will take place

Eight competitors took their positions on the diving platform. The referee signaled the preparation command. Ten seconds later, the start command was given, and the eight competitors leaped into the water, marking the beginning of the competition

In this provincial university games, only swimming events are held, while diving and water polo have not been organized due to insufficient registrations. Synchronized swimming has been arranged as a demonstration event, with a total of two teams participating. Open water swimming is naturally not included; this event is akin to crossing the Yangtze River or traversing Poyang Lake, and it is quite non-mainstream on a global scale. Open water swimming was only established as an official competition event at the 2008 Olympics.

At 9:15, the on-site host passionately announced: "Dear students, please give a warm round of applause to welcome Director Zhang Weiguo from the Provincial Department of Education to deliver a speech!"

At this moment, the referee blew the long whistle, indicating that the contestants could take the stage

The swimming finals officially commenced at 10 o'clock. The first event was the breaststroke competition, which included a total of four finals for both men and women, covering distances of 100 meters and 200 meters. Du Ke had already completed the final entry, and he was watching the competition together with Jiang Zhigang in the athletes' waiting area