In the morning, several swimmers from different countries who weren't competing were doing freestyle practice in the training field of the Olympic Village.
Chen Shu was naturally among them.
They didn't go to the competition venue to cheer for their teammates.
Because those who weren't competing were not allowed to enter and exit the competition venue at will.
"How many matches are there this afternoon?"
After swimming a few laps in the water, Chen Shu gasped for breath and sat on the shore, asking Zhang Zhanshuo, who was a head taller than him.
This guy, at 16 years old, was 1.95 meters tall. He didn't know what he ate to grow so much. He was incredibly tall.
The coaches told him to stop growing.
Otherwise, it would be detrimental to his future swimming performance.
"It's the same as yesterday, 5 matches, but they are all group matches."
"200-meter men's and women's freestyle, 100-meter women's breaststroke, 100-meter men's backstroke, and 400-meter individual medley!"
"Captain Pan, Xing Ge, and Ice Sister, Junxuan are in the 200-meter freestyle."
"Qianting and Chang Jie are in the 100-meter breaststroke."
"The backstroke is Jiah Yu Ge, and the 400-meter individual medley is Shun Ge!"
The individual medley requires swimmers to be proficient in all four swimming strokes.
The 400-meter individual medley is 100 meters each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.
The competition follows the order of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, each swimming 1/4 of the distance.
Athletes need to complete all four swimming styles simultaneously, requiring a good all-around training level.
To achieve good results, they must also excel in a particular event.
Therefore, this event tests an individual's all-around abilities.
It's comparable to all-around gymnastics.
Currently, the Chinese swimming team doesn't have many athletes who can participate in this event.
Many of the athletes, like Chinese gymnastics, specialize in one event.
For example, Qin Haiyang specializes in breaststroke.
Pan Zhanle in freestyle.
Xu Jiayu, also known as Jiah Yu Ge, in backstroke.
Zhang Zhanshuo actually has the potential for this medley.
He's ranked among the top three in the medley in domestic competitions.
But currently, the team's number one medley swimmer is, of course, the oldest captain, Wang Shun.
He has always trained in the medley, focusing on all four strokes.
He excels in freestyle and backstroke, both at the top level domestically.
So, combining the four strokes in the medley, his results are particularly outstanding.
However, Wang Shun is among the world's top in the 200-meter medley. He won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and was the first Chinese to win a gold medal in this event.
The 400-meter is quite different. It's mainly due to his age.
At 30 years old, his physical fitness is declining.
This participation is likely more about participation than anything else.
Besides, there are four group matches.
Most of the participants will be able to advance.
Sure enough, good news came in the afternoon.
Pan Zhanle and Ji Xingjie both advanced to the men's 200-meter freestyle semi-finals.
They finished third and fourth in their group, ranking 14th and 16th in the final pre-selection.
In the women's 200-meter freestyle, Li Bingjie and Yang Junxuan, one finished first in her group and the other third, ranking first and twelfth in the pre-selection.
Without a doubt, Li Bingjie will advance to the final.
Her state is quite impressive.
It must be the stimulation of yesterday's relay gold medal.
As for the women's breaststroke and men's backstroke, they are strong events for the Chinese swimming team.
Tang Qianting and Xu Jiayu, one finished first and the other third, steadily advancing to the next round.
As for Yang Chang and Wang Shun, they were eliminated.
Now, Wang Shun can focus on his 200-meter individual medley, his strongest event.
And Yang Chang, at 23 years old, has no more events to compete in.
But she won't be returning home until the last day of swimming with everyone else.
The swimming team actually has many "unknown" athletes like her.
She might be strong in Asia!
But worldwide... she can only qualify for the Olympics.
Of course, this is still an incredible achievement.
Participating in the Olympics proves your strength.
After all, not everyone is Qin Haiyang or Pan Zhanle.
There's only one champion, most are just participating.
...
After swimming the 200-meter freestyle in the pool, Pan Zhanle, along with several other athletes who competed in the afternoon, came back laughing and joking.
The three swimming coaches, Cui Dengrong, Zheng Kunliang, and Zhu Zhigen, also followed in.
This situation doesn't look good!
Chen Shu was about to get out of the water when Pan Zhanle walked over.
He pointed at him and said, "Don't move, time is tight. Zhanshuo, you're going to race against Shu Ge in the 200-meter."
"Coach Cui, my master, and Coach Zhu are here!"
It was clear that the afternoon's advancement had put the three coaches in a relaxed mood.
When the three heard that Chen Shu was practicing the 200-meter, they were naturally happy.
There were several good 100-meter freestyle swimmers on the entire men's team.
But in the 200-meter, let alone Zhang Zhanshuo, even Pan Zhanle wasn't at the world's top level.
In a few days, there's the 200-meter freestyle relay. We have the people, but they're not specialized. Many are mixed medley swimmers, and long-distance freestyle swimmers are brought in to make up the numbers.
So, winning... is almost impossible.
In the 200-meter freestyle, the Chinese swimming team actually... lacks people.
Of course, we lack butterfly and backstroke swimmers the most.
There are no top butterfly swimmers.
In backstroke, we only have Xu Jiayu.
The only backstroke swimmer on the Chinese men's team!
We don't even have a second-best backstroke swimmer in China.
But Jiah Yu Ge is also nearing 30.
He might not even be able to compete in the next Los Angeles Olympics.
If there are no young talents in the next four years, he might have to compete in another Olympics.
After all, in swimming, the men's and women's mixed relays rely on backstroke for two medals.
Without backstroke, China wouldn't even be able to reach the finals, let alone win medals!
"No way..."
"Coach Cui, Coach Zheng, Coach Zhu... I was just joking with Shu Ge!"
"It's not necessary to be so formal..."
This situation scared Zhang Zhanshuo enough.
He was just making a private bet with Chen Shu.
But now, he's alarmed the three coaches.
This put him in a difficult position.
"What are you afraid of, kid? Shouldn't Chen Shu be the one saying that?"
Cui Dengrong laughed, "You're the 200-meter starter, he's not even a reserve..."
"Right!"
Pan Zhanle chimed in from the side.
"Go on, don't waste time. Race and then go to sleep!"
Zheng Kunliang was a quick-tempered man. He glared at his apprentice and smiled.
If it weren't for Pan Zhanle's competition in the evening, he would have made him swim a race too.
This kid was adding fuel to the fire!?
Zhang Zhanshuo's coach, Liu Ziyuan, didn't come this time.
So Zheng Kunliang was temporarily responsible for his swimming training.
Zhang Zhanshuo was promoted to the national team from the Shandong Provincial Team.
"Alright..."
Zhang Zhanshuo shook his head helplessly, looking at Chen Shu beside him.
Cui Dengrong couldn't stop laughing either.
"It's as if you're challenging Chen Shu!"
"Look at how calm Chen Shu is!"
"He hasn't trained in the 200-meter before, you go easy on him, okay?"
"Oh!"
Zhang Zhanshuo pursed his lips.
At this time, Chen Shu was already standing on the starting platform, taking a deep breath.
He had just swum in the pool, so he basically knew when to accelerate and sprint.
The most important thing was that the 200-meter freestyle involves swimming four laps in a 50-meter pool.
There are three underwater turns. If this skill could be improved, his 200-meter freestyle speed would be faster.
So, if he really wanted to train in long distances, this skill would definitely be the first to upgrade.
Saving 0.1 seconds per turn, that's half a second for five turns.
For mid-distance races where a second can determine the outcome... this time is terrifying.
"Let's start, I'll time you!"