The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 1038 - 1007: Interview, Breaststroke

Chapter 1038: Chapter 1007: Interview, Breaststroke

Hearing He Tiantian’s explanation, Cui Ying had an epiphany.

"Hehe, so there is also this reason," Cui Ying laughed. With Tiantian’s personality, having these two reasons, she would definitely do the job well.

At noon, Cui Ying followed the dietary plan and let He Tiantian eat.

This dietary plan was also given to Lu Wanxia, so when they got home, they could eat directly.

As an athlete, they could no longer eat as usual; they must follow this diet plan to meet the requirements.

Huo Ruimin seemed even more excited than He Tiantian, holding a soup ladle like a microphone, interviewing He Tiantian, "Mrs. He, on the first day of becoming a professional athlete, how do you feel?"

"Cough cough!" He Tiantian chuckled and cleared her throat, "Becoming a professional athlete, I feel very honored, and today, I am very happy. What makes me happiest is that my three babies at home are very supportive of me, leaving me with no worries. Here, I want to thank my three babies at home."

"Don’t you need to thank Dad?" Huo Ruihua retorted, trying to get some benefits for Dad.

"Of course, I also want to thank the children’s father for his support," He Tiantian laughed, "Are you satisfied now? Can we eat? Mom has had a big training load and I’m hungry."

"Alright then," Huo Ruimin said, "Let’s start."

After lunch, the children took a short nap before Cui Ying sent them to school.

He Tiantian took a nap at home.

After getting up after two o’clock, it was just right to arrive at the city’s sports center by two-thirty.

The afternoon was spent training breaststroke.

He Tiantian didn’t seek speed at first, but how to achieve harmony between swimmer and water in her movement.

While He Tiantian was training, other athletes nearby occasionally glanced over at her.

They didn’t think He Tiantian’s speed was very fast; on the contrary, they felt that her breaststroke speed was somewhat slow.

Coach Xia came over and said, "Don’t you need to train? There are less than twenty days left before the competition, don’t you want to achieve good results? Don’t you want to make it into the national team?"

"We do!" the athletes shouted, putting away their curiosity and focusing on training.

After coaching those athletes, Coach Xia then came over to observe He Tiantian’s training.

After practicing for an afternoon, He Tiantian took a break.

"Teacher He, go all out for a 200-meter breaststroke at the end, and I will time your speed," Zhu Zhitao said, to see what progress He Tiantian had made after intensified training.

Although Zhu Zhitao also didn’t know if there would be any improvement considering the short time frame, he was still full of expectation.

Coach Xia observed seriously from the side without speaking.

"Okay," He Tiantian agreed, beginning to prepare.

Breaststroke is a swimming style that imitates the movements of a frog swimming and is one of the oldest swimming strokes. Unlike freestyle and backstroke, when doing the breaststroke, swimmers can easily observe if there are obstacles ahead to avoid bumping into them. The body is prone on the water, both arms symmetrically straighten and pull under the chest, and both legs symmetrically bend and kick, resembling a frog swimming through water. Breaststroke is one of the competitive swimming strokes.

To learn breaststroke, there’s a simple mnemonic: pull with the hands, legs don’t move, draw in the hands then the legs, first extend the arms then kick and glide straight together for a while.

He Tiantian’s starting movement was very standard, both arms stretched forward, body forming a straight line; then came the catch, with a slight internal rotation of the shoulder joint, arms reaching forward, slightly hooking the wrists, hands parting and pressing down diagonally, palms turning slightly downward. The third move is the pull, arms forming a 40-45 degree angle, wrists beginning to bend, and both arms and hands gradually actively pulling toward the sides, down, and back. During the pull, the angle between the forearm and upper arm constantly changes; drawing in the hands is the continuation of the pulling phase. The arms are drawn inwards and upwards under the front of the head, with the arm and elbow moving almost simultaneously; finally, during the extension, the palm turns from facing up to pushing down, while extending forward.

It flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water.

Her slender limbs seemed to contain great power, enabling her to move quickly through the water.

Back and forth twice, four hundred meters.

He Tiantian completed it in two minutes and forty seconds, a very fast pace, already reaching the level of foreign athletes.

Coach Xia’s eyes shone, if she had been discovered earlier, perhaps in the 1984 Olympics, Huaxia Country could have won a few more gold medals.

"Good, good!" Coach Xia applauded, "That’s really great, Teacher He, you must continue to work hard, strive to win the championship in next month’s competition."

"I’ll work hard," He Tiantian smiled and then headed to the changing room. After Cui Ying gave He Tiantian a massage, she went to take a shower and changed her clothes to go home.

In the evening, Huo Yingjie asked He Tiantian some questions.

"Are you getting used to it?" Huo Yingjie asked, "If you’re not, I can find a few more people to take care of you."

"I’m used to it, it’s going very well," He Tiantian smiled and took a walk with Huo Yingjie in the yard, "Every day is fulfilling, thank you, Brother Yingjie."

"Heh, no need to thank me," Huo Yingjie chuckled, "Life is short, we should do whatever makes us happy. We no longer need to worry about material things, so let’s pursue spiritual fulfillment; only then will we feel content."

"Yes, you’re right," He Tiantian smiled. From Huo Yingjie, she also learned a more carefree lifestyle.

It made her whole being feel relaxed and cheerful.

The weekends also had rest days.

Some athletes wanted to train more and didn’t rest.

However, He Tiantian felt that training should be kept distinct from normal life, so she took her regular rest days, taking her child to the old house and shopping with friends.

Although Coach Xia wanted to remind her, after talking to Zhu Zhitao, he was instead convinced by Zhu’s reasoning: "Coach Xia, that’s just Teacher He’s temperament. When it’s time to train, she concentrates fully on training; when it’s time to rest, she rests well and has a good time. Pushing her too hard could actually affect her training, so I respect her way of thinking."

"Alright," Coach Xia smiled bitterly, "She’s very talented, but older and has her own ideas, which we can’t control."

"Yeah, we can’t control her, so we adapt," Zhu Zhitao was quite open-minded. It was the weekend and he wanted to go on a date with Yuan Hua too, looking at the time, "Coach Xia, my date should be here soon, I’ll take her out for a stroll, so I won’t chat with you anymore."

"Go on, go on, young people should be falling in love. At my age, I don’t have such leisure and pleasure anymore," Coach Xia said with a cheery laugh, watching Zhu Zhitao depart.

Since Zhu Zhitao wasn’t worried, there was no need for him to worry either.

As long as she can deliver results, nothing else matters.

He had many other athletes to coach, and wouldn’t spend too much effort on He