August 11th, Sunday, sunny.
I learned that there was a swimming competition (preliminary) today, and my niece Xiao Qi would also participate. Su Simei specifically asked someone to switch shifts so she could go early to cheer for Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi did not have much sense of competition at first. As a result, her aunt was more nervous than her. Su Simei got up early in the morning to cook, worried that she would constantly want to go to the bathroom. In the morning, she did not even make porridge, but hot milk and toasted buns, paired with pickles.
Su Simei also deliberately dressed up a bit and wore her most flamboyant skirt, saying she wanted to cheer for Xiao Qi.
The skirt Su Simei wore was really ostentatious. In fact, if Su Simei lost 50 pounds, wearing such a flamboyant skirt with a smile, she might have had the feeling of a model in a publicity poster. It's just that with Su Simei’s current weight, wearing this skirt was indescribable. But as long as Su Simei was happy, it was fine.
Xiao Qi wore light shorts and a T-shirt because she would mainly wear a swimsuit later anyway, so it was easy to change.
They arrived at the gym early in the morning. Sure enough, because there was going to be a competition, there were many people. Early in the morning, the parking lot at the entrance of the gym, as well as both sides of this road, were full of cars. A huge red arch-shaped inflatable was also blown up at the entrance for publicity.
There were also red publicity banners.
"Pre-congratulations on the complete success of the 16th Jingnan Provincial Swimming Select Competition."
There were a bunch of other banners around, all from various sponsors, as well as Lee's special fragrant buns and Old Street Crayfish...
"It's quite lively. I heard Coach Wu say that I thought it was just an internal small competition. I didn't expect so many people," Su Simei said in surprise.
Xiao Qi was also quite surprised. Because the coach said it was very simple, she also thought it was a small competition.
At this moment, seeing a bus stop at the entrance of the stadium one after another, people got off one after another, dressed in neat and uniform clothes. Looking at her sportswear, she seemed very irregular.
Xiao Qi did not stay at the entrance for too long and went in first.
After changing into a new swimsuit and rinsing off in the shower, her swimming goggles hung around her neck. Aunt did not change clothes and diligently helped carry things.
Xiao Qi came out with a bath towel on. Aunt helped her carry water and her bag. At this moment, she felt good to have someone accompany her. It was indeed inconvenient to be alone. There were many people today and coaches were also busy.
When she walked into the swimming hall, there were indeed a lot more people already. The swimming pool was not open to the public today.
So the people who came should be those participating in the preliminary contestants and their relatives, coaches?
Xiao Qi took the card that the coach had given her earlier and only then brought her aunt in.
Among a group of coaches, Coach Wu found Xiao Qi before Xiao Qi found him and called her over.
"Stretch first. Today is just the preliminary round. It's relatively simple, but players from all cities have come, so there are more people and it takes a little longer. I see your schedule is around 9 o'clock. Pay attention to keeping warm." Coach Wu explained seriously again.
There were other team members around the other coaches.
Xiao Qi was not very familiar with them, so she just smiled and greeted them.
There were indeed a lot of people who came. The people from the two buses Xiao Qi saw outside just now also came in. They were neatly dressed in team uniforms that had swimsuits inside, also in a series, quite recognizable.
A group of women's teams, wearing the same swimsuit, appeared in the swimming pool. The picture was still very beautiful. Swimmers gave people the feeling that their figures were not bad. The tight swimsuits were very coordinated, and their legs were also quite long. The only feeling that seemed a little lacking was probably because swimmers used their arms more, so their arm muscles looked a bit developed, and their shoulders seemed a bit strong, lacking the soft beauty and gaining more of a sense of strength.
Xiao Qi took a look and then stood in the corner where she usually trained to continue stretching.
Next to her was a mirror where she could see what she looked like stretching. Her movements were standard.
She was happily surprised to find that the learning efficiency buff could not only be used for learning to read, but now sports seemed to work for her too.
Stretching was more efficient and more focused, not relaxing too easily.
The girl in the mirror was tall, much thinner, now 165 cm, weighing less than 100 pounds, with very large portions for every meal, at least two bowls of rice plus one bowl of soup base, and then eating snacks and more.
Her figure proportions were quite good. Her shoulders did not particularly stand out as muscular. Perhaps it was because she had not been swimming for long, or perhaps it was because she also ran to exercise.
It was eight o'clock when she arrived at the venue. Because it was a preliminary contest, it was a little messy with too many people, and the venue arrangement was a bit crowded.
Xiao Qi stretched every part of her body in the corner. She finished stretching everything once, and there was still a lot of time. Aunt went around for a walk, taking pictures with her mobile phone, came back excitedly and said, "I took a picture of the swimming champion Li Enya, a very beautiful girl, surrounded by many people. I squeezed in with great difficulty."
Xiao Qi took a look. The photo taken by aunt was a bit blurry due to the crowd. But in the middle was a little girl who looked quite young, also stretching. But around her were assistants and coaches holding water and looking very diligent.
After a while, huge music sounded in the swimming hall, the athletes’ procession song. At first, the volume was probably not well controlled and the sound was piercing to the eardrum. After a while, it gradually became more appropriate.
Then someone cleared the game site and people from different cities sat down according to different areas. Xiao Qi also went to the Three Flowers team she belonged to.
Since she was new, she was not very familiar with them. She saw most members of the Three Flowers team were from the sports school. They were together, and a more mature girl took the initiative to greet her.
"You are Coach Wu's student, right? I am Zeng Tingting."
"Hello." Xiao Qi reached out and shook hands with the other party. She felt the other party's hands were soft but quite powerful.
The feeling of years of swimming.
"Coach Wu said you are very outstanding. But you haven't been swimming for long. Just get familiar with it today, don't be nervous."
"Mm-hmm." Xiao Qi was not nervous at all originally. She was much more confident now than before.
With the sound of the start of the competition, everyone stopped chatting and watched the track attentively, listening to the broadcast.
Soon Xiao Qi heard her name called and went to prepare.
As coach Wu was responsible for maintaining order at the scene today, he could only take the opportunity to speak when Xiao Qi was about to enter the field.
"Don't be nervous, just play at your usual level."
The lanes were standard 50-meter ones. The competition event was women's 200m freestyle. The top three would be determined by individual performance, and the team score would also be calculated.
This was why people in the Three Flowers team were dissatisfied that Coach Wu had crammed his newly recruited student in, worrying that she would drag them down. They had no thoughts about the first place. It was said that the previous champion, Li Enya, had already been spotted by the national team. She would only participate this time because she came from Jingnan Province.
When she really came to the game field, Xiao Qi finally felt a little nervous.
The lane she usually swam in was equipped with starting blocks. With the whistle sounding, the athletes stood on the starting blocks and prepared.
On the opposite side, her plump aunt waved a red flag she obtained from someone whose target was big so she could recognize it.
Xiao Qi calmed her mind. Her results were usually pretty good. She underperformed in the college entrance exam which was actually a big blow to her. So coming to participate in the swimming competition was also an opportunity for her to temper herself and not panic during exams. She told herself.
With the whistle of the interconnected timer, she jumped into the water and then started swimming according to her usual pace, without looking at the people on the left and right, just focusing on herself. Every time she practiced, she tried to be better than last time because she felt there was still a lot of room for improvement with her short practice time.
After four laps, she returned to the original position.
Xiao Qi didn't even care about other people, just thinking faster, faster, watching the number on the screen increase rapidly.
After the game ended, there were waves of cheers, irregular. The specific results did not come out immediately, but Xiao Qi saw that she was the first to arrive in this group, she just didn't know how it compared to the other groups.
