章 56: Sponsors
The entrance to the fairly large stadium opened to reveal the swimmers coming out in their gear already ready for the upcoming race.
We are at the TYM swimming center where they have one of the largest centers when compared to the other schools.
The clean design, bright colors and modern technology make this a favorite for swimmers and audience member alike.
For me, I personally like the showers. Why? It's because it isn't filthy. Showers, the place where people need to be clean are some of the more dirty places.
Thankfully, TYM employs staff specifically to clean the shower in area and the changing rooms. Also, there are dividers for each shower head.
So no comparing and no soap dropping situations. It's a non-competition zone for all intents and purposes.
Once we leave the shower area however, the competition begins. After the warmup stretches, the scouts start to eye us like they were divorced women hanging around a college.
Some of the secondary swimmers are sadly neglected and left out to rot while the primary swimmers like Beom-sok, Owen Yang and I are the main focus.
The pool we are about to be swimming in is one of the biggest I've ever seen. It has been specially designed so that 10 people could swim in it side-by-side.
It was made for this competition where only 10 people could participate. There is literally no other reason to make a swimming pool this large.
The stands could easily fit a thousand people without trouble, two thousand if they were really desparate.
Right now however, the only attendees are the scouts, family members, some friends of competitors, classmates and even some sponsors.
Most of the swimmers are interested in pleasing the scouts, but the better swimmers are more interested in pleasing the sponsor representatives.
We already have our place in a swimming camp locked in, all we need is the backing to continue pushing into higher and higher leagues.
To reach the upper echelons of athletes, you don't need just skill. Skill only takes you so far. You really need the money. The bling. The gold. The moolah. You need to be wealthy.
If not wealthy, you need a wealthy backing. By wealthy, it doesn't just mean money either. Anyone who has power in the sport you are competing in is "wealthy".
If your father is the major sponsor of a major basketball team, you can get in easier than a regular basketball player. Remember that skill is needed, but you need to be wealthy as well.
That's the point of getting sponsors. In swimming, there isn't a lot of money and the richest swimmers are rich from their sponsors.
With sponsors, you can hold more power when negotiating deals. So if you choose to start up a gym, it's better to have a major brand on your gym instead of your name.
If you want to maybe get a better payday from your country when competing in global tournaments, your sponsor might be able to help you.
A funding here, a donation there.
That's the difference between a regular old athlete and a proper athlete.
As for I? I don't even need to beg for a sponsor. They come running to me once they take a glance at my report. Just look at me. Look into my eyes.
Can you see it? No, you can't. Why? Because you will get lost in them. It's better to have a handsome and good athlete than a ugly and amazing athlete.
Not that I'm not amazing, it's just that I'm still in highschool. Nothing near the top.
Whilst I was doing my toe touches, I looked up at the stands and made eye contact with a very beautiful lady.
Her skin was without imperfections while being a light tan, her hair tied up into a neat double bun, her eyeglasses perfectly framing her face and her tiny lips red with lipstick.
Her blouse was open with a button being unbuttoned for comfort and her black pencil skirt was hugging her body from below.
This woman was...this woman was Ji-woo's sister.
Yeah, that girl. The girl who took immense pleasure in teasing Jung, in plotting with me to tease her sister and the girl who was a shut-in for a couple of years.
She is now a beautiful, prim and proper lady sitting in the front row with a notebook and pencil in hand. When she realized who she was staring at, she smiled lightly before writing something down on her notebook.
'It seems like the flower has bloomed already'
I start thinking about the difference between this girl and the little teaser I first met when I was a wee little lad. She previously tan skin was noticeably whiter and she start wearing make-up.
This isn't even fair. She was already beautiful, now that she's wearing make-up, the other girls look inadequate. However, now isn't the time to thing about this.
I need to focus on pleasing the sponsors. If I remember correctly, Ji-woo's sister had her own company and she might be headhunting for a spokesperson for her company.
I know that a lot of things had changed about this life such as the stock market and other global news.
For example, instead of Company X's stock shooting up in value, Company Y's stock shot up in value. Instead of Company X discovering something, Comapny Y discovered it.
I tried investing into the stock market using a small amount of money and sure enough, the stock that had risen in my previous life was mostly stagnant while their competitor's stock double over a month.
It's a shame, but nothing I can do about it.
I also thought that maybe Ji-woo's sister might not even start her company, but as it turns out, she is here for her company...maybe.
Whatever. If she approaches me, I'll be more lenient with the contract compared to other people. That's the point of friends right?
I turn my head away from her and as I'm looking at the competition, I smirk lightly. Over these past few days, I've gotten even faster.
The other competitors were doing the similar thing, except their focus was me. I'm not sure if they were trying to intimidate me, sizing me up or admiring my Adonis body.
Whichever one it was didn't matter. All I was thinking of was who would be second? I'd assume it might be Beom-sok, but conditions can change from day to day.
Maybe he stubbed his toe a while ago and he finds it painful to kick. Maybe he ate too much and is heavier now, making him slower. There are many variables and my job was to lower my variables as much as possible.
I need to not eat too much, be careful with my toes and fingers and don't cause any major injuries to myself. It sounds simple, but people are clumsy.
"Alright alright! Let's go let's go, go up to your lanes. Now, Mr. Owen Yang is lane 1, Mr. Seung Jae-ho is lane 2, Roh Man-shik is lane 3..."
As the pudgy referee reminds us of out swimming lanes, I line up at lane 10 and fix my goggles onto my eyes so that they don't fall off.
Thankfully, I'm in lane 10. Lane 10 is the closest lane to the stands with the scouts and sponsor representatives so they find it easier to focus on me.
Beom-sok was on lane 9, meaning that he was one of the easier people to focus on. The unlucky ones were people from lane 3 to lane 7.
They are in the middle and some representatives or scouts who are slightly hard of seeing might not see you properly.
It's these little things that maybe decide if you are going to get a sponsor or not. I look over to the stands one last time with my hazy gaze obscured by my goggles.
Near the front was Ji-woo's sister, but some rows behind her was my friend group: So-young, A-yeong, Mi-cha, Young-jae and some of the other popular people.
Since A-yeong was cheering for Beom-sok and I, her friend group merged with my mine and it became a super friend group full of mutual friends.
Somewhere nearby was my family: mom, dad and Jung. I'm a bit bitter that only Ji-woo's sister could come in person, but I at least hope that she would tell Ji-woo about me.
About how I'm about to beat these swimmers black and blue. I coolly nod at them before readying my arms and stance to jump into the water.
*BRRRPPPPPP*
"Ready..."
The first whistle from the referee rings in my ear and I see from the corner of my goggles that the scouts and sponsors fixed their posture.
I straighten my back and take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves.
*BRRRPPPPPP*
"Set..."
The second whistle sounds out right next to me and at this moment, my legs bend into a near sitting position. With my right foot out front, I straighten my fingers to be as streamline as possible.
*BBBRRRRPPPPPPPP*
"GO!"
I hear the referee's yell and before he could even finish his "GO", I already jumped into the water. I wonder how big of a lead I could make?
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