Chapter 005: Scouting the Location
After Vice Principal Li's departure, Director Ma delivered an impassioned mobilization speech to all participating team members. He encouraged everyone: "Friendship is important, and so are achievements. Our focus is on participation, but we also strive to win as many medals as possible. Students, I hope you can perform at your best competitive state, achieve excellent results in the competition, and contribute your strength to our school in the competition for the third batch of 985 quotas"
Du Ke is passionate about swimming; it was his introductory sport. He now has hope and a sense of purpose, which makes him particularly diligent in training. Merely having a special skill is not enough to ensure his invincibility. This special skill allows him to gain an advantage within 6 seconds, but beyond those 6 seconds, he still relies on his overall strength. If you fall behind by several dozen meters, even having a special skill will be of no use.
The purpose of muscle training is to enhance muscular explosiveness. Du Ke primarily improves his leg explosiveness through barbell squats, dedicating 3 hours each day to this exercise. He is well aware that his greatest weakness at present is explosiveness, and thus he aims to address this shortcoming
After the opening ceremony, Vice President Li will delegate the command to Director Ma and encourage the students of our school to work hard and strive for excellence
There is no way, who can blame the swimming team for not achieving impressive results
Currently, there is an advocacy for comprehensive development; therefore, universities must not only achieve significant research results in academics but also make contributions in areas such as literature and sports, which will enhance their standing in the competition for the 985 quota
As a key university, Nankang University places great importance on this Provincial University Sports Games, sending a delegation of over 100 athletes to participate. Among them, the number of athletes in the three major ball sports and the two minor ball sports (badminton and table tennis) accounts for more than 70%.
The swimming pool at Nankang University is open to the public, and students of the university can purchase tickets to swim. It stops admitting the public only after 7 PM. Jiang Zhigang can occasionally close the pool for one or two days for all-day training, but it cannot be closed every day. He is merely a physical education teacher, not the principal, and the swimming pool was not built with his donations.
"Hey, Team Su, you really know a lot," Du Ke said, somewhat surprised
The speaker is Su Yun: "It is said that the Ministry of Education has specially approved an additional 985 quota for our province, and several 211 universities are eager to upgrade, including our school. The leadership of a 211 university is at the departmental level, while the leadership of a 985 university is at the provincial-ministerial level. After upgrading from 211 to 985, the administrative levels of all functional departments in the university will be elevated by one rank. Who wouldn't want a promotion?"
Jiang Zhigang led the team members around the pool, reminding them of the important points to pay attention to during the competition
After more than twenty days of continuous training, Du Ke discovered subtle changes in his attributes; his explosive power increased by 1, now standing at 7, while the other attributes remained unchanged
All team members applauded enthusiastically as Director Ma announced the immediate disbandment. Each project's team, under the guidance of their coaches, began preparations separately.
Du Ke looked around the swimming pool, observing the athletes from other schools adapting to the water. He knew that Jiang Zhigang had them familiarize themselves with the pool but did not want to reveal their full strength. He quietly asked Jiang Zhigang: "Coach Jiang, which schools are our stronger competitors? What level can we expect for the swimming events in this sports meet?"
Du Ke and Su Yun received individual training from Jiang Zhigang, while the other team members supervised and learned from each other
There are still more than twenty days until the opening of the provincial college student sports games. During this time, Du Ke goes to the swimming pool every day to train with the other team members
Du Ke asked: "What does this have to do with the competition of 985?"
A pressure plate has been installed on the diving platform, and the electronic timing device starts timing as soon as the jump is made
More than 2,000 university athletes from across the province will engage in fierce competition in thirteen major events, including athletics, swimming, gymnastics, basketball, football, volleyball, badminton, and table tennis
It seems that attributes can also be increased through training, although the increase is quite slow. After about twenty days of intensive training, Du Ke only improved his explosiveness by 1. It appears that obtaining rewards through system tasks is still the faster way.
Su Yun: "I am majoring in journalism, so I have to pay attention to a lot of information. Your whole family works within the system, don't you know that?"
When Du Ke first entered university as a freshman, he was invited by the school football team to join, thanks to the prestige of his second-level athlete certificate. However, he did not accept the invitation. At that time, he was somewhat weary of the daily training and did not join any campus sports teams
The leader of the Nangang University delegation is Vice President Li, who is the second-in-command of the university and a person of substantial authority, holding a deputy department-level position, which indicates the importance the school places on this matter. Of course, Vice President Li is extremely busy with his numerous responsibilities, so a deputy leader has been appointed, with Director Ma from the Logistics Department serving as the deputy leader, overseeing the specific affairs of the Nangang University delegation at this provincial sports meeting.
In addition to the three hours of training in the pool each day, Du Ke actively requested to increase muscle training during the day
Du Ke and Su Yun are also part of the team representing Nankang University. The Nankang University swimming team has sent 8 members to compete this time, with 3 male and 5 female athletes. Under the guidance of coach Jiang Zhigang, the 8 team members proceeded towards the swimming competition venue
In fact, Jiang Zhigang has realized that he can no longer teach Du Ke anything new. In the field of freestyle swimming, Du Ke's stroke and various technical movements have already reached a standard level. What Du Ke needs to do now is to get into the pool to find his rhythm, swim repeatedly, and adjust his physical condition, competitive state, and muscle condition to their best before the competition
It is not only the swimming team from Nankang University that is familiarizing themselves with the competition venue; other university swimming teams have also arrived at the facility, and many competitors have already entered the pool to swim.
The training of professional athletes is similar; it involves the repetitive execution of the same movements in a cyclical manner. To achieve excellence, there is no other way but to become skilled through practice. Training is, in fact, a rather monotonous endeavor. If one does not genuinely love the sport, lacks hope, or does not have aspirations, many would find it difficult to persevere.
Time is limited, and Jiang Zhigang can only focus on the key points, placing his hopes on Du Ke and Su Yun. Most of the other team members only received his professional training after attending university, and with average talent and qualifications, all around the age of 20, no matter how much they practice, they can only achieve so much
The various competition venues in the Asian Games Village are not far apart, and it only takes a few minutes of walking to reach the next competition venue and the * map * book. The swimming competitions will begin with the preliminary rounds on May 5, and there are no competitions today, allowing the representative teams from various universities to enter the venues and familiarize themselves with the facilities
Jiang Zhigang presented his pass to the staff at the entrance and led 8 team members into the swimming pool facility. He instructed the 8 team members to change into their swimsuits and swim trunks in the changing room, preparing to get into the pool to familiarize themselves.
Although there is training every day, the swimming team trains for an average of less than 3 hours each day
Du Ke: "My friend is carefree and unconcerned with politics; this field is very complex and not suitable for someone as simple-minded as I am"
"Stop chattering, we have arrived." As Jiang Zhi finished speaking, they had already reached the entrance of the Asian Games Town Swimming Pool.
All events of the current Provincial Games are held at the Asian Games Town, which previously hosted the 16th Asian Games, and the venue's hardware facilities meet international competition standards
On May 4th, coinciding with Youth Day, the 7th Provincial College Student Sports Games grandly opened in Nankang City, the capital of Nanyue Province
A total of 115 universities, including first, second, and third-tier institutions, as well as higher vocational colleges, are participating in this provincial sports event, sending a total of 2,118 competitors, marking the largest scale of participants in the history of the event
Therefore, the swimming team can only train after 7 PM, and the team members come from various colleges. During the day, they also have to attend classes, so they can only train in the evening
The pool walls at both ends of the lane are equipped with touch pads. It is essential to touch the wall when turning or reaching the finish line; otherwise, the result will be disqualified. Remember, this is very important. Unlike our usual manual timing, where I can turn a blind eye if you miss the wall by a few centimeters, electronic sensing and timing with a stopwatch are very precise and strict, leaving no room for error
Vice President Li led all the athletes from Nangang University to participate in the opening ceremony held on the 4th at the main venue of the Asian Games City
The strong remain strong, and teams with good performance can receive more resources and support. Each cohort of sports special recruits sees the top performers sent to the basketball and football teams. The weak become weaker; teams with poor performance, such as the swimming team, can only struggle to survive in the cracks, selecting students with even a slight swimming specialty from the general populace
After going around in circles, they returned to the starting area. Jiang Zhi just ordered: "Each person will take a jump from the diving platform once to get a feel for it, swim 200 meters, and then come ashore. Also, don't swim too aggressively; just aim for about 60 to 70 percent of your usual training level."
Jiang Zhigang mumbled as he walked: "Bureaucratism, sports are just sports, they love to overemphasize and insist on linking it with politics"
This swimming pool hosted the swimming and diving events of the 16th Asian Games two years ago, with stands capable of accommodating nearly 3,000 spectators. It features high-end hardware and advanced facilities, and is a standard 50-meter pool, fully meeting the requirements for the swimming competitions of the current Provincial Universiade.
After training with the swimming team for a week, Du Ke discovered that, apart from himself and Su Yun, the others were essentially at the level of swimming enthusiasts, at best considered to have standard techniques and swim relatively fast among enthusiasts
The basketball and football teams each have their own dedicated training facilities, which are undisturbed by outsiders 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The primary responsibilities of the team members are to train, compete, and achieve good results; they do not need to worry about their academic studies, as assistance is provided to manage that.