Chapter 549: Champion Challenges Champion 2

Chapter 549: Champion Challenges Champion 2

The lane was ready, the referee in position, the cameras set, and the watching athletes had long since taken their places.

Meng Fan and Xu Wujin stepped onto the starting blocks. At the sound of the signal, their reaction times were nearly identical, but Meng Fan was far slower and shorter in his dive than Xu Wujin.

Xu Wujin’s entire body formed a perfect streamline, and upon entering the water, he shot forward like a fish springing from a bow.

As for Meng Fan, well, he truly plunged in like a reckless diver.

His entry posture was far from elegant, but the splash he created was absolutely spectacular.

His body hit the water like a heavy bomb, exploding outward, and it almost seemed possible to see the ripples pushing Xu Wujin in the adjacent lane forward even faster.

And indeed, this water-etiquette-defying dive startled Xu Wujin, disrupting his rhythm. The boost was helpful, but he had to quickly adjust and surface earlier, or he would have passed the 15-meter mark.

Swimming competitions have a rule: after entering the water, the underwater glide must not exceed 15 meters; going beyond is a foul.

Why?

Because underwater swimming offers the least resistance and is faster than any other stroke, and prolonged submersion makes it difficult to observe whether technical moves are legal. For these and other reasons, the 15-meter rule was successively established for all four main strokes in the 1950s, 1980s, and 1990s—meaning swimmers must surface before 15 meters.

Long-distance underwater swimming holds a significant advantage over other strokes.

In the history of swimming competitions, there have been many instances where underwater swimming completely dominated other competitors. This includes Chinese swimmer Mu Xiangxiong, who once swam 50 meters underwater in a race, opening a gap of over ten meters from the second-place finisher, breaking world records multiple times, and earning the title “Frog King.” Additionally, several Japanese backstroke swimmers relied on underwater swimming to win world championships and break world records.

There is also a claim that FINA specifically set the 15-meter rule targeting Mu Xiangxiong, as the timeline aligns. In the 1950s, the rule only applied to breaststroke; for strokes like backstroke, it wasn’t established until the 1980s and 1990s, after those who relied on underwater swimming had won championships.

In short, underwater swimming indeed holds an advantage.

And that’s precisely why Meng Fan proposed swimming underwater—not just because he was good at holding his breath.

It was a bit lacking in water etiquette, but since he was up against Xu Wujin, the fastest backstroker of the present and all time, he needed to find a way to close the gap, so the loss wouldn’t be too embarrassing.

Let’s see.

Meng Fan plunged into the water with a splash and never surfaced again. He kicked with a dolphin kick, his whole body moving like an underwater tank, practically skimming the tiles at the bottom of the pool.

Meng Fan was indeed heavy, but he was also strong. His dolphin kick churned like a submarine’s seven-blade propeller.

While both were underwater, Meng Fan couldn’t compare to Xu Wujin. But after Xu Wujin surfaced, the camera clearly showed Meng Fan closing the distance.

“Meng Dashen’s speed is impressive, fierce!”

“No wonder he’s the man who rides whales in the South Sea!”

“So terrifying! Is there any sport he can’t do?”

“Yeah, gymnastics and equestrian, hahaha.”

“Can he really catch up to Water Fish?”

“He’s not planning to surface, is he?”

“Definitely. Tie Shen is great at diving, right? His breath-holding must be strong. He’ll definitely swim the full 50 meters underwater. If he surfaces, he’ll lose his chance after falling behind.”

“Forty meters in, he’s closed to within two body lengths. Amazing!”

“Closer now, only one body length behind. Incredible! He might actually overtake... pfft, hahaha.”

Suddenly, laughter burst from the crowd, all because of Meng Fan’s clumsy turn at the wall.

Most athletes perform a flip turn, but Meng Fan’s was something else. After hitting the wall hard, he spun underwater, rotating his body parallel to the pool surface in a full 360-degree circle.

The move was actually smooth and quick, but it looked hilariously awkward.

As for the move itself, no matter how smooth, it couldn’t compare to the efficiency of a flip turn and push-off. Scientifically, after such a turn and push-off, Meng Fan would need a lot of strength to control his forward direction, making it far less efficient.

After the 50-meter turn, the gap between Meng Fan and Xu Wujin didn’t widen again. Although Meng Fan continued to close the distance, when Xu Wujin reached the finish, Meng Fan was still two body lengths behind—a clear gap. Still, his time was quite good. If you ignored his technique and considered his full underwater swim, converting it to a 100-meter backstroke in a 50-meter pool, it would meet the standard for an international-level athlete. That was truly impressive.

After all, he was only two body lengths behind the world record holder, and Xu Wujin had swum very seriously this time, giving a solid performance and achieving an excellent time of 50 seconds.

“Whoa!”

Xu Wujin, waiting at the finish for Meng Fan, splashed him with water as he surfaced, laughing breathlessly. “You’re too deadly! I swear, I’ll never race you again. It’s too painful! I’m doing backstroke, and you’re behind me. I had a good enough angle to see you the whole time, you know? Holding back my laughter was exhausting!”

“I should have done a few more spins just to crack you up.”

After surfacing, Meng Fan’s breathing was barely elevated, as if normal. His lung capacity was enormous; even this 100-meter high-energy exertion was still “aerobic” for him.

After a hearty laugh, he glanced at Meng Fan’s time and said with a grin, “If you practiced your turn technique, I’d definitely lose. With your weight, you’re inhuman!”

The two got out of the water, wrapping up the recording for the swimming segment. Meanwhile, the athletes and some crew members, as they packed up, chatted about Meng Fan’s recent filming. Apart from gymnastics and equestrian, in every other event—without exception—Meng Fan had achieved at least the level of a national second-class athlete, even in the 100-meter sprint, his worst performance. It was truly “terrifying to such an extent.”

Oh, right, the high jump hadn’t been filmed yet; it was scheduled for the next day. In this event, Meng Fan was genuinely helpless. He barely cleared 1.8 meters, and reaching the second-class standard of 1.83 meters was absolutely impossible during the filming period.

After finishing all the events that could be shot at the sports institute and nearby venues, Meng Fan followed the crew to other locations for filming.

One thing worth mentioning: during the archery event, Meng Fan triggered the [Sharpshooter] quest, which added the attribute “Shooting Precision.” This was quite different from the [Ace Thrower]’s “Throwing Precision” he had obtained earlier. His maxed-out throwing precision offered no advantage in shooting events, and vice versa.

Then, in the [Badminton] event, Meng Fan triggered [Ace Striker], which added the attribute “Striking Precision,” distinct from the previous two.

Striking Precision could apply to badminton, tennis, baseball, billiards, golf, and also boxing, fencing, and other sports.

The difference between Striking Precision and Shooting Precision was naturally significant.

At first glance, the three precision attributes seemed unrelated. But after acquiring these two titles, all three precision attributes were raised above 20. Their combined effect led Meng Fan to discover a qualitative change in his five senses.

(End of chapter)