“I was woken up at 5 a.m. for a urine test. It's so disruptive to my sleep!”
“Seven urine tests a day. I've already taken 42 in the past few days. I can't sleep at night. I’ll fall asleep, and then I'll be woken up. Is this how WADA treats our Chinese swimmers?!”
“Chinese athletes have the highest number of urine tests worldwide!”
“Why don’t some American athletes like Bean need urine tests?”
“Don't you think this is discriminatory towards Chinese athletes?”
Inside the temporary training center for the Chinese swimming team in Paris, the athletes watched Zhang Yu Fei's pre-Olympic interview on TV, each filled with indignation.
Chen Shu had been dragged to take urine tests over 20 times in the past few days, not to mention the world champions.
Meanwhile, Gretchen Walsh, the world record holder in the 100-meter butterfly from the United States, had zero urine tests.
Furthermore, many members of their team are exempt from testing because some have asthma, depression, or neuroses and need to take specific medications.
This blatant double standard angered many members of the Chinese swimming team, leading to the interview video currently playing.
“Train!”
“Beat them on the field, and then they’ll shut up!”
“We don't have time to attend the opening ceremony tomorrow!”
“We have competitions in the evening!”
Head coach Cui Deng Rong barked orders, while Chen Shu jumped into the pool and began his routine training.
This kind of pool training also boosts the system’s skill experience.
However, the higher the level, the harder it is to improve.
Defeating opponents, not actively but through competition, provides more experience.
Of course, competitions provide the most experience.
Chen Shu had conducted experiments.
Winning a group match in a city-level competition yields 100 experience points, enough to level up a Beginner skill by one level.
The finals provide 200 points, enough for two levels.
Provincial level competitions offer even more.
Olympic qualifiers, especially winning the finals, can directly level up a Beginner skill to Intermediate, a 10-level jump, providing 1000 experience points.
Therefore, Olympic finals must provide even more experience.
Winning a gold medal will not only unlock skills but also grant even more experience.
Therefore, breaking records and winning gold medals are Chen Shu's current goals, allowing him to participate in more swimming events.
For example, the 100-meter freestyle, 200-meter, 400-meter, and even the 1500-meter!
This requires strengthening his skills.
Currently, Chen Shu has no problem with the 50-meter, but the 100-meter is still a bit risky.
Since he only signed up for the 50-meter qualifier, he couldn’t participate in the 100-meter event.
However, he can try to break into the 100-meter freestyle relay team.
He's not sure if the head coach will allow him to participate.
The swimming team has many skilled 100-meter freestyle swimmers.
His current position on the national 100-meter freestyle relay team is a reserve, with his average performance ranking fifth.
Everyone on the team was tested multiple times when they first joined.
The top spot naturally belongs to Pan Zhan Le, the current world record holder in the men’s 100-meter freestyle.
He shattered the men’s 100-meter freestyle world record in the men’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay at this year's World Aquatics Championships, shocking the entire swimming world.
Therefore, he has a high chance of winning a swimming gold medal for China at this year’s Paris Olympics. If things go well, he might even win one or two medals in the relay.
The second-place swimmer is Wang Hao Yu, with a personal best of 47.89 seconds.
He was the runner-up in the 100-meter freestyle at this year's Championship, only losing to Pan Zhan Le.
The third and fourth swimmers are Ji Xing Jie and Chen Jun Er, with similar abilities, both around 48.5 seconds.
Ji Xing Jie might be slightly faster.
He was the third-place finisher in the recent Championship, with a time of 48.33 seconds; Chen Jun Er finished with 48.50 seconds!
Chen Shu isn’t sure how fast he can actually swim, because he hasn’t tested his limits in a while.
He hasn’t tested his speed since the Championship.
The rewards he received from the Championship, including experience, were directly exchanged for Sprint.
It directly pushed him to level 29, just one level away from Master.
Master level Sprint provides a 10-second buff.
And it's even stronger when you sprint!!
Currently, the most lacking skill in Chen Shu's 100-meter freestyle is Underwater Turn.
He hasn't intentionally improved this skill; he only gained experience while practicing the 100-meter, and his level is still Beginner lv9!
“Free practice for one hour to get familiar with the Paris pool!”
“Then choose the lineup for the 100-meter freestyle qualifying round!”
“Chen Shu, Zhan Shuo, Guang Sheng, and Wang Shun, you guys participate as well!”
Cui Deng Rong addressed Chen Shu and the other three.
The four of them do not specialize in the 100-meter freestyle, and they are mainly competing in other events.
For example, Chen Shu’s roommate Zhang Zhan Shuo specializes in the 1500-meter freestyle; Wang Shun specializes in the 200-meter; and Niu Guang Sheng specializes in the 200-meter butterfly.
However, they sometimes take on relay duties, they’re basically the tallest among the short people.
China doesn't have many skilled 100-meter freestyle swimmers, and most are dual-purpose swimmers.
However, even so, only China can gather a full relay team besides Europe, America, and Australia. Japan and South Korea don't have four athletes, let alone backups!
Only swimming powerhouses can assemble these relay teams.
Splash! Splash!
Chen Shu swiftly swam through the water.
His Intermediate Acceleration lv11 and Advanced Sprint lv29 barely provide any experience during regular training, so he’s focusing on practicing his Underwater Turn.
Ding!
After almost an hour of practice, the familiar upgrade notification sounded.
【Congratulations, host, for your tireless efforts, Underwater Turn has reached Intermediate level!】
【Intermediate Underwater Turn lv10】：Turns grant an additional 0.2-second time bonus, and technique proficiency is improved.
“0.2 seconds?”
That’s a terrifying amount of time.
Beginner level only provides 0.1!
Frankly, Chen Shu’s Underwater Turn is far behind Pan Zhan Le and others, even Niu Guang Sheng’s.
He likely has the worst turning motion out of everyone.
And the longest time!!
After all, he’s only 13 years old. How can he compare to those with more experience?
That’s why he only signed up for the 50-meter freestyle, a straight line distance that doesn't involve turns.
The longer the race distance, the more turns are needed.
Therefore, the quality of turning directly affects race performance.
In general, a correct and perfect turn can be 0.5 seconds faster than a bad turn.
In modern swimming, where the level of competition is rapidly developing, races are often decided by fractions of a second.
Therefore, mastering the correct and quick turning technique is crucial.
Chen Shu currently takes about 1 second to complete a turn.
Pan Zhan Le takes about 0.5 seconds.
This is with Chen Shu using the Beginner Underwater Turn.
Otherwise, it could take him 1.1 or even 1.2 seconds!
Now, with the level up, it’s possible that Chen Shu's turns will only take 0.9 or even 0.8 seconds!
That's a significant improvement over his previous performance. Just in the 100-meter freestyle, he saves about 0.2 seconds.
Not to mention the 200-meter and 400-meter.
Clap, clap, clap!
Suddenly, the sound of Cui Deng Rong clapping came from the shore: “Alright, rest for 5 minutes, then we’ll have another round!”
“Three chances!”
“The fastest four will compete in the men's 100-meter freestyle relay qualifying round tomorrow night!”
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