With the first lap done, I and the other swimmers start the second lap. By now, I'm guessing that I may be one of the more tired people here, but I'm in front.
The spectators, Seung-ri and my teammates who are watching must know that Tim tired. Even if I don't show it in my body language, they know how hard I was going.
They must have seen how fast I was going and at that speed, even fully professionals would feel the burn in their stomachs.
The problem was that my competitors must know that I'm tired as well. Or at least the person next to me should have felt the strong current going past them.
However, I can't just pause this tournament or shoot my competitors in the legs so they stop swimming and I can get a head start.
Maybe in some other sport that is legal, but here, it's not...at least in this tournament it's not legal.
So, continue trucking on.
With my legs strongly kicking through the water, I see that I'm barely pulling away from the competition behind me.
My hip was yelling at me to calm down, but I could only apologize and continue on. At this point, it hurts just to kick my right leg, or the side where my hip was hurting.
When I finally reached the end of the pool, I had to bring my head up for a split second to breath before going back down to flip.
This was so short. It may as well have not happened for those viewing. However, I tocan really mess up your momentum.
I would have not done it, but I didn't have a choice. I also took the time to lightly massage my hip before continuing. At this point, it was as clear as day that I was tired and hurting.
Like a race horse running a race after being hurt. That's what it must have looked like, especially looking at my massive, sculpted thighs.
I mean, I could destroy heads with these things.
With the final lap almost done, all of the competitors are rushing and rushing to beat me. At this point, the closest person to me had their hands at my stomach level.
This wasn't good as they were slightly gaining. The intense stress and tension put into my back from pulling and calves from kicking was immense.
It was to the point that I was afirmad of getting a cramp. It felt like I was just on that cusp of having a cramp, walking the thin line between tensed muscles and cramped muscles.
If I had a cramp at this moment, I'd definitely be out of this race. That isn't something I'm too fond of, so I'll try avoiding that.
To kick as hard as possible, you need to tense your legs to be straight and when you finally kick, you bend your knees to give your kick that little oomph you need.
The higher you bend your knee and the harder you bring it back down, the stronger the kick you will produce. Obviously, the stronger the kick, the better.
There isn't a situation where a weaker kick would be good unless you want to lose or you want to save your strength for something. However, doing it multiple times is a bit risky.
As I said before, the chance of cramps increases every single time. That's where my brain comes in. I'm using the feeling in my legs and hips to decide how strong I want my kick.
A weaker kick if I feel it another strong might hurt my leg and a stronger one if my stamina is regained a bit. It's a hard process that takes my full attention.
I can't even think about where the other competitors are, it's that hard.
However, my perseverance pays off since out of nowhere, my fingers jam into the start/finish point wall.
I quickly lift my head and take a deep breath mixed with pain and relief. I can't hear anything around me even though I see a lot of mouths open.
I look around the pool quickly to check for my competitors. My heart is racing with anticipation and tiredness from the recent swim.
All of my senses are now focused on breathing and looking and when I turned my head to the lane beside me, I feel my heart drop to the ground.
Nearby me was Beom-sok just floating there with a light smile on his face as he was looking at the crowd.
'Ahhh, was it not enough?'
I can't express what I feel right now. It's definitely depressing and sad, but I can't let out my emotions. My eyes aren't crying and my mouth isn't yelling out in frustration.
I can only clench my fist to not let my emotions take over. My adrenaline is still coursing through my veins and I really really want to just punch myself and him.
Even after that screaming time in qualifying, I freaking lost? I lost. To Beom-sok. What a joke. How the hell do I lose to someone like him.
I'm pissed, I'm annoyed. I'm every single definition of frustrated right now. If I could, I would have thrown something to release my anger.
To think that all of my hard work that was leading up to this moment and I get a measly second.
I use whatever strength I have left and leave the pool. Obviously, I wait until the rest of field finishes as it's proper etiquette and if you leave early, it's ruder than you might think.
It's like saying that the rest of the field isn't worth waiting for.
So, once that happens, I jump out of the pool to may my way straight to the locker room. By now, the adrenaline is wearing off and my hearing is getting better.
The only problem was that my legs were wobbling since I was tired. When I stood up, I was immediately hugged by Seung-ri and even So-young and A#yeong rushed down the stands.
"Min-chul! Min-chul!!! You did it you did it! Amazing work!"
"Min-chul oppa, you won!!! Woohooo!"
"I...won?"
"Huh? Yeah, you won!!!!! Woohoooo!"
Both of the girls are squealing in excitement and embarrassingly, so was Seung-ri. He was the most excited.
Since I thought I got second,mi was incredibly baffled and confused. I tilt my head up to look at the leaderboard and to my surprise, I wasn't second.
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100M FREE LAP TIMES A LEAGUE FINALS
🥇1ST: Kim Min-chul (RF 3RD YEAR) - 1:08.32
🥈2nd: Lee Beom-sok (TYM 3RD YEAR) - 1:15.69
🥉 3rd: Sang Jae-hyun (SM 3RD YEAR) - 1:19.43
Seung Jae-ho (SST 2ND YEAR) - 1:21.32
Owen Yang (SM 2ND YEAR) - 1:22.44
Roh Man-shik (RF 3RD YEAR) - 1:24.11
...
...
...
...
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It was a smashing victory. A victory so bad that it would make professionals look bad. In reality, 1:08 for a 100 meter freestyle was extremely quick.
If you got 1:10, that was quick. So to think I got 2deconds quicker, it seems surreal, but considering how hard I worked during the race, it's definitely plausible.
The reason I thought I lost was because I saw Beom-sok at the end looking pretty happy and not as winded as I thought.
My reaction was a bit embarrassing, but nobody will find out. It's fine. Phewwww, seems like I'll have to play this off as I'm just tired and not angry.
"I WON!!! Wooohoooo!!!!!"
And thus, I won the gold medal for the 100 meter freestyle. One down, one to go.
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(A.N) yo! Another chapter for you beautiful and handsome readers and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter today! It was the climax of the current race and I hope you are happy with it!
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