DIVE!!

Book 4 Chapter 1 - Dream Match

The stage where the dreams of boys were bet. Such a thing wasn’t particularly rare. No matter who they were, no matter which competition, the boys and girls standing on the platform were betting something there. That was something she had learned from coaching while teaching students at a DC in the New York suburbs for six years. Sometimes she witnessed close battles, like a stomach ache, and sometimes she supported from behind the scenes at the big stage of an away competition. She should have tamed the nervousness from before a competition a long time ago.

And yet, why is my heart pounding so violently?

In the stands of the “Namihaya Dome” that Sachiya named the “Giant Dorayaki”, (1) Kayoko, very much unlike herself, was losing her mind, shivering and praying while she waited for the competition to start. She herself didn’t even know what she was praying for. She will kneel down before God no matter who won among the boys competing here today, and no matter who lost, she will elbow God.

For now, she was relieved that all four of her students had passed the preliminary round.

At these qualifying trials, where the ticket to Sydney was betted on, the girls’ high dive and springboard, as well as the boys’ springboard had already occurred the day before, but no diver had met Chairman Maebara’s condition. As a matter of fact, Japan’s delegation was supposed to be decided at today’s high dive.

Will the second representative who will break through the wall of 600 points be born today?

Or, will Teramoto Kenichirou go to Sydney alone?

Of the twenty-eight who entrusted their last wishes to these qualifying trials, sixteen people—excluding the twelve who passed the preliminary round in the morning—had already been eliminated. Even while thinking that it was still the preliminaries, and that the real competition was after this, Kayoko couldn’t supress the undulating waves of intense emotions every time her students dived. In fact, during the preliminaries, the waves of unexpected results that disproved rumors came one after the other.

It could be said that it was good fortune that that child was left in the finals. Working tirelessly in a place where the sun doesn’t shine, and rewarded by coming here. I think that it was good luck that that child broke through to first place. That child’s favorable condition was helped by the other divers’ bad conditions. It could be said that that child being in third place was passable. He was put in a good position. The problem is that child. Who would have thought that he would end up at fifth place? No, even fifth place might be his limit for today. Oh, why haven’t I noticed it sooner…?

The ears of the worried Kayoko heard the announcement prompting the divers to gather.

“It is now time to begin the competition. All athletes must end their practice, and line up at the designated location.”

From the ten-meter, seven-meter, and five-meter, the twelve who had been throwing themselves into their final practice on each platform gathered on the poolside. They lined up in the order of their preliminaries rankings and walked around the diving pool in a line. Though cheers suddenly reverberated from the stands, as always it wasn’t for them, but for the university students’ winter swimming championships being held at the neighbouring pool.

―The divers silently diving in the shadow of the showy competitive swimming, are like the shining and darkening moon next to the lush and verdant Earth.

In the past, Kayoko had been indignant to hear such rubbish coming from the mouth of some kind of conceited commentator. It’s not a joke. Diving isn’t a satellite of swimming. On that tall platform, divers shone with their own will, without borrowing anyone else’s power. Even if everyone overlooked them, only they themselves won’t be able to miss that light.

“Even so…”

As Kayoko concentrated on her students’ every move, Ooshima complained in a stage whisper from her right side.

“This entry table has really amazed me. Their last ten dives…Reiji’s forward 2½ pike and Youichi’s reverse 2½ pike are reasonably safe levels, but what’s Tomo doing, the 4½? I didn’t think he’d bring such a risky technique to the finals.”

It seemed as though Ooshima was displeased with Kayoko only divulging to Keisuke their entry events until just before.

“But I was most amazed at Shibuki’s ten dives. When you’re talking about forward dives in straight position, isn’t it a kid’s technique to only dive forward? The degree of difficulty is only 1.6. I can’t believe he’s throwing the game from the very beginning.”

Wrong. Shibuki wasn’t just diving forwards; of course he wasn’t throwing the game. Whether it was risky or not, Tomoki needed the 4½ to gain the victory and go to Sydney. And Youichi would never bring a safe technique to the finals.

She wanted to reply back loudly. But before that could happen, Keisuke’s voice came in from her left.

“Coach Asaki consulted and decided with the children for those entry events. Those children are entrusted to her. And those children probably entrusted something to her.”

Kayoko stole a look at Keisuke’s profile as she searched for that true meaning.

As the head coach of the MDC, he was always composedly and carefully settling the situation, but what is he really thinking? Keisuke, whose career as a coach spanned decades, did not sincerely support the way that she, a novice coach, did things. However, there was only one time where he barely let slip his true opinion from the shadow behind that tolerant mask.

“Coach Fujitani. Do you remember what you’ve said to me before?”

It might have been due to the excitement before the competition. This was the first time that Kayoko spoke about that thing that still remained in her mind.

“Did I say something to you?”

“Yes. One day, you spoke to me, who was furiously urging on the divers. You said that diving is a sport that requires months and years, that their futures are long, and that isn’t it our role to teach them that length and not shortcuts?”

Keisuke narrowed his sunken eyes.

“I said such a thing?”

“Yes. Certainly.”

“…That might have slipped from my mouth unintentionally. I should have understood that you are forced to take shortcuts in order for the MDC’s survival. But, if you were worrying about that, then I am sorry.”

“No,” Kayoko shook her head. “I understood it recently. That those words were caught in my chest because I’m not sure if I’m working so hard just for the MDC’s sake. For the past six years in New York, I have met many excellent athletes. But in Japan, I was awaited by talents that could outshine them. Sakai-kun. Okitsu-kun. Fujitani-kun. It seemed like a dream to be able to train these treasure-like athletes. Thinking that, I was ecstatic, overjoyed. My ambition as a coach ran wild, and I thought of those children as reusable pieces for my own use (2). But, they followed me even though I was like that. They endured practices that would make even a large adult escape in half a day, worked harder than any athlete I’ve met so far, bruised their whole bodies…and for those children finally arrived here at last, the only thing I can do now is to firmly see them through to the very end with these eyes. And yet for all that, to my embarrassment, my fingers are shaking.”

The entry table slipped from Kayoko’s fingertips to her feet. Keisuke picked it up and returned it to her hand, but her fingers were still trembling.

“I can’t stop shaking no matter how hard I try. My throat is dry, my cheeks are burning, and my heart feels strange. This embarrassing thing disqualifies me as a coach. It’s embarrassing, but I am happy. As a coach, I am happy that I had the good fortune to run into athletes who would make me lose my judgement.”

For a moment, it seemed that tears were spilling from Kayoko’s eyes. But then, a smile like the morning sun overflowed from there.

“That’s enough. Those children really did a good job. Even if the MDC was forced to close, that would be my responsibility.”

“Wrong,” It was Sachiya who responded to Kayoko’s decisive assertion. “It won’t be because of you, Coach Asaki.”

Sachiya perched himself next to Keisuke, and gripped a handmade, supporter-like flag in his hand.

“It’s not anyone’s responsibility. Coach Asaki, and Youichi-kun and the others all did their best, so nobody should get blamed. Everyone in the MDC knows that. That’s why you should stay here forever. Don’t take responsibility and go somewhere else.”

“Responsibility…?”

Kayoko tilted her head suspiciously, but in the next instant, she straightened back up with a start.

The whistle announcing the start of the competition had reverberated through the dome.

As though her eyes had been flicked, she looked up and saw that the top batter of the divers—Reiji—had already appeared on the platform.

For the performances in the first round, both the diving side and the spectating side were nervous. Since the limited-choice dives, where the degree of difficulty was restricted, lasted until the fourth round, no high-level, fancy techniques appeared. In very basic dives, however, there was the fear of unfalsified ability, physical condition, and even mental condition being seen through for this very reason.

The first one was a trial of courage.

That child’s forward 1½ pike went as smoothly as it did in practice. Because of nerves, he has a habit of jumping out slightly to the right, but today he seemed to have calmed himself. Or it could be said that he was too calm. If he made his takeoff bigger, he will surely still be able to dive. Higher. Faster. Defter. First of all, the person himself must believe in that possibility.

There was none of that usual sharpness in that child’s backward 2½ tuck. The center of his rotations is off, and the timing to extend his legs is completely out of sync. If it was an ordinary diver, launching up splashes that resembled fireworks would have definitely been deemed as a misdive. Nevertheless, it was thanks to his inherent, superb saving techniques that the judges didn’t give him less than 6 points. However, he cannot compete in this competition with saving alone.

She had goosebumps from that child’s backwards dive in stretch position. That superhumanly strong jump, as though he was piercing into an invisible ice wall. That beautiful arc carved into the air with that strong body. How much time had he spent on taking into account that “beauty” with his natural “strength?” But now, that child had made those two matchless qualities completely his own. It was a great loss in life that only the person who was doing that strongest dive cannot be seen.

That child’s inward 1½ pike was also excellent. There was no indication that the perfect form from the preliminaries had weakened in any way. The sleeping lion appeared to have started moving in earnest. But, that was still just a warm-up, and the talents rewarded to that child’s small body would push him up higher and higher. And now, that child had the emotional strength to endure that.

Before she knew it, Kayoko’s trembling had stopped, dragged into a plotless, momentary drama.

The ten-meter platform stretching from the top to the surface of the water. On there, there were exemplary lines, there were small deviations, there were corrections. There was beauty, technique, and harmony to overwhelm the spectators. Sometimes there were mistakes that made her want to cover her eyes, and tragic results. But now, she didn’t care about success or failure. If only this shining moment and those children’s brave figures could be seared into her own eyes, and their own chests, forever.

Oh, even so…Kayoko thought as she waited for the second round to begin.

It took 1.4 seconds from flight to entry.

What a short, unsatisfying thing.

Those dazzling children had nine dives left, and she could only see them for 12.6 seconds each!

_______________________________________________________________

Rankings as of the First Round

① Yamada Atsuhiko (49.77 points)

② Okitsu Shibuki (49.02 points)

③ Sakai Tomoki (48.6 points)

④ Asama Takashi (46.17 points)

⑤ Kaburagi Shinji (46.17 points)

⑥ Ogawa Shinobu (43.2 points)