For Oguri Cap, eating was naturally something to be treated as a top priority—especially when it was good food.
As for whether it would be just the two of them going together, she actually didn't care all that much.
"If it's only taking me, it feels a bit embarrassing somehow… although I do sometimes want to go eat something delicious by myself."
She scratched her head shyly, looking apologetically at Kitahara, then glancing at Maruzensky behind him, who was wearing an amused expression.
"But if it's about eating, it should still wait until after training is over."
"Just like you said, Kitahara, Super Creek and the others have already swum quite far out. I need to hurry up and swim over there too."
Seeing Oguri Cap firm up her resolve after her earlier hesitation, Kitahara didn't waste any more time.
The swimming training had naturally been planned long ago.
If it were training with a kickboard, there would have been many different options, but once separated from the kickboard, Oguri Cap could basically be considered a complete beginner.
And for beginners, the most suitable swimming style was practically an obvious answer.
"Then let's go with the 'doggy paddle' posture."
After saying this directly, Kitahara explained, "This is the easiest for you right now, and the previous swimming lessons already covered the relevant basics."
"Once Oguri Cap gets into the water, I'll trouble you to guide her, Maruzensky." After giving instructions to Oguri Cap, he then turned to Maruzensky for help.
"OK. That's what I agreed to assist with in the first place."
Maruzensky replied briskly. The swimsuit she was wearing really did look stylish, giving off a strong vacation-at-the-beach vibe.
But swimsuits were, of course, meant for swimming. Since she had agreed to do parallel running training with Oguri Cap and the others for a while, she naturally also accepted all the training involved along the way.
With an experienced senpai guiding the swimming training, Oguri Cap was still a little nervous both before and after entering the water.
However, under Maruzensky's demonstration and Kitahara's reminders, she quickly moved away from the shore and began to try paddling toward deeper water.
The "doggy paddle" swimming style wasn't exactly elegant. As the name suggested, the swimmer's limbs hung in the water like a dog's, constantly paddling back and forth.
But it really was extremely simple, and very suitable for beginners.
Using this stroke, even someone who had just started swimming—or had just let go of reliance on swim rings or kickboards—could quickly learn how to rely on their own body to maintain buoyancy and balance in the water.
Because the movements were easy, doggy paddle didn't demand much in terms of technique or coordination, and that was exactly what Oguri Cap didn't need right now.
What she needed to master was breathing control and familiarity with the water—being able to move freely in the water without auxiliary tools through basic training.
Once she adapted to these basic movements and to water conditions such as currents and waves, it would be very convenient to further learn other, more efficient swimming styles.
At this stage, doggy paddle combined later with techniques like freestyle or butterfly would be more than sufficient to improve endurance, breathing control, rhythm, and so on during the training camp.
Unlike Oguri Cap, who was just beginning to rely solely on her own swimming ability, Maruzensky was extremely adept in the water.
Judging from how she swam like a fish around Oguri Cap—who was splashing about in a flurry of awkward movements—Maruzensky must have undergone plenty of specialized swimming training or recreational swimming, whether during her active years or after retirement.
Not only could she swim freely on her own, but she could also help Oguri Cap sense the water flow and find her body's rhythm.
"Don't rush, Oguri Cap. First, keep yourself floating on the surface. I'll come a bit closer."
After Oguri Cap splashed up a lot of water but barely moved forward, Maruzensky swam a little closer to her.
During this process, Maruzensky paid close attention to the details.
She approached Oguri Cap from the front, ensuring that Oguri Cap could see her, and didn't get too close—keeping roughly an arm's length of distance.
When learning to swim, it was easy to panic. If someone approached or made contact from outside one's field of vision, it could easily cause fear.
And even when staying within the other person's line of sight to reassure them, getting too close was still not a good idea.
Otherwise, if panic set in, the person might grab onto you at random, disrupting your balance as well.
So at about an arm's length away, Maruzensky waved one hand at Oguri Cap and extended the other, signaling her to grab hold.
"When you first try swimming, just using brute force won't work. You need to feel the water flow and the buoyancy of the water."
Holding one of Oguri Cap's hands and then the other, Maruzensky kept part of her upper body floating above the surface, her body gently rising and falling with the waves.
"Like I'm doing now—slowly swing your legs under the water, and you can spread your arms a bit."
"The density of water is 1, and our density is roughly about the same."
"So if you just want to float on the surface, you actually don't need to do anything. The calmer you are, the better."
As she said this, Maruzensky gestured with her eyes for Oguri Cap to look beneath the water's surface.
The coastal environment here was excellent, and the shallow seawater was crystal clear.
Bright sunlight penetrated the light-blue surface, clearly illuminating Maruzensky's fair, slender legs beneath the water.
"I remember Kitahara talking about this before, but…"
Oguri Cap looked underwater for a moment, then pursed her lips and smiled awkwardly. "Once I get into the water, I panic a bit, and I only know how to swing my arms hard and kick the ground…"
"No—kick the water."
"And then all the knowledge I'd heard and the techniques I'd practiced seem to just vanish at once."
"Ugh… it would be great if I had a kickboard. If I had one, I definitely wouldn't be troubling you like this."
Maruzensky couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
"You think this is running on the track or something? Kicking the ground…"
After laughing a couple of times, she thought for a moment and nodded. "But if you really think about it, swimming and running aren't actually that different."
"They're both forms of exercise. What you need to pay attention to when running is pretty much the same as what you need to pay attention to when swimming."
"When running…"
Murmuring softly, and using Maruzensky's hands as support, Oguri Cap tried moving her arms and gently swinging her legs underwater.
"But it still feels so different. In the water, it always feels like I can't apply any strength."
"Even though I'm really strong, and I was using a lot of force just now—something just feels off…"
"Like I said, you need to calm down first and float first. Don't rush."
Speaking like a trainer, Maruzensky patiently explained, "To start moving forward, you have to gradually feel the water's buoyancy and your body's rhythm."
"You're holding onto my hands now. Using the balance I'm giving you, you can try it."
"Try adjusting the frequency and range of your leg kicks. Find the rhythm and strength that suit you best. Also pay attention to maintaining balance and letting all parts of your body work together—don't rely too much on your legs alone."
"Once your legs start to feel right, then try your arms."
"When you paddle, your arms should extend forward as much as possible, then sweep outward and pull back inward."
"While keeping your arms straight, try to make the paddling and recovery movements smooth. That reduces resistance and increases speed."
"Put that way, you should understand it, right? Isn't it just like running?"
"In both cases, you're slowly finding the right rhythm and strength—it's just that one is on land, and the other is in water."
"Oh, I think I get it now."
Oguri Cap showed a look of sudden realization, then smiled. "This is actually the same as swimming with a kickboard. Back then, everyone told me the same thing during practice."
"Looks like I really was too panicked."
"And everything you said, Kitahara already explained to me carefully."
"I was just too flustered earlier, so I didn't think of it."
"As soon as you mentioned it, I remembered—Kitahara has told me all of this."
"But…"
After expressing her gratitude for a while, she suddenly shifted her gaze away with a puzzled look. "Why doesn't he teach me like you're doing right now…?"
Maruzensky froze for a moment, then followed Oguri Cap's gaze.
On the other side, Kitahara had already ridden a jet ski into the water, but he didn't come too close, keeping some distance while staying parallel.
That trainer over there was also very patient. As if he knew swimming techniques were being shared here, he kept watching this side with a gentle expression.
"Maybe because I'm here, so he wants to slack off a bit?"
Maruzensky, who was used to sneaking in a bit of slacking during work, quickly made a joke.
However, right after she said that, Oguri Cap shook her head seriously in rebuttal.
"No, that's not it."
"…Huh?" Maruzensky was stunned.
"I mean, Kitahara wouldn't do that."
Repeating herself firmly, Oguri Cap suddenly smiled. "Because Kitahara isn't that kind of trainer."
"Ever since I met him, I've known that he's a very hardworking and responsible trainer."
"…Since when you met him?" Maruzensky couldn't help but look toward Kitahara again.
"Yes, since the time in Kasamatsu."
Nodding firmly, Oguri Cap showed a nostalgic expression. "Back then, it was just me and Kōki training with Kitahara all the time. We didn't know Super Creek or Tama yet."
"Oh right—starting from that time, Light often wasn't really training so much as researching something."
"Later, after she confirmed she'd passed the Central trainee exam, she started focusing more on all kinds of training, walking her own path, and because of that, she was able to help us a lot."
"But I just kept training nonstop back then."
"And because I trained too much, I even got scolded by Kitahara."
"Huh? Really? Kitahara… actually scolded you?" Maruzensky was surprised.
"Yes, he scolded me."
Oguri Cap nodded. There was no dissatisfaction on her face—only gratitude. "One time I remember clearly was when I was doing barbell squats."
"At the time, Kitahara came over to look for me. He probably wanted to ask about something else first, but as soon as he saw my training, he frowned."
"And then the training theory… how should I put it…"
Once theory got involved, Oguri Cap's explanation became a bit muddled. But as an outstanding racehorse girl, Maruzensky still understood.
Kitahara usually arranged barbell squats for Oguri Cap—a multi-purpose exercise for training muscle groups.
Through the barbell's weight and repeated vertical squatting movements, various thigh muscles could be trained to different degrees, while also exercising some arm and glute muscles.
According to Oguri Cap, Kitahara believed that compared to "free-weight squats," this kind of training should ideally be paired with a Smith machine to fix the barbell—in other words, replacing it with "Smith machine squats."
That way, during training, she could boldly shift her center of gravity backward without worrying about losing balance, while also minimizing negative stress on the muscles.
However, back then in Kasamatsu, the academy's equipment wasn't very complete. Hashima County didn't have a large population either, and there were no fully equipped gyms.
So Kitahara could only arrange free-weight squats at the time, and only after coming to Ōi did he arrange better training methods.
But whether in Kasamatsu or for a long time afterward, the maximum load Kitahara set for Oguri Cap was always 500 kg.
Half a ton was already at the limit of human weightlifting, but for exceptionally gifted racehorse girls, it was merely a standard training load.
Commonly used tire-dragging training in the industry often involved multi-ton mining truck tires, each one as large as a small truck.
But no matter how strong the body was, flesh still had its limits.
Moreover, Kitahara had calculated that given Oguri Cap's physique, squatting around half a ton was the most suitable load for improving strength. Without special reasons, there was no need to increase it.
Yet the barbell Oguri Cap was lifting when she got scolded had exactly ten weight plates on each side, neatly stacked, with "100 kg" clearly printed on them.
She was lifting a one-ton barbell.
"…'Oguri Cap, why did you add so much weight?'"
Though the theory was fuzzy, Oguri Cap remembered her trainer's words clearly. She murmured:
"I remember him walking up to me with a frown and sternly telling me that half a ton was already enough for daily training."
"Then he said I was already somewhat physically fatigued from competitions and needed to rest properly, and he asked me what was going on."
"At that time, I guess I still had a lot of my own ideas."
"Or maybe I was just too focused on training?"
"Anyway, at first I didn't notice Kitahara at all. I was just muttering the squat count to myself, and only after finishing 1,000 squats with a one-ton load did I notice him."
"And then he scolded me really harshly."
"That must have been him being angry, because in my memory, he never really gets angry."
"At least, I've never seen him lose his temper over anything."
"It feels like the only time he gets really fierce is when I train too recklessly on my own."
"But I'm not like that anymore now, so… why doesn't he come over and teach me like you're doing right now during swimming training?"
(End of Chapter)