In a diving center in Jinan, capital of east Shandong province, children aged 5 and 6 are doing their routine board-work on a trampoline, all of which are the basic movements in diving.

While their peers are only about to enter primary school, they have already started pursuing a dream -- to one day compete in the Olympics.

Six-year-old Zhang Xinyue has been practicing diving for almost three years. She hopes that one day she will represent China in the Olympic Games.

"I've seen Guo Jingjing on TV. She did so well, and it inspired me to want to be a world champion someday, just like her," she said.

Qualifying for the Olympics is a huge challenge. For diving, most children start practicing as early as 3 years old, and they go through a variety of early trainings, such as breaststroke and how to hold their breath.

Zhang Xinyue, Zhang Leyan, Cao Shuier and several other children are the new athletes this year. They have showed great potential in swimming as kindergarten students, and because of their outstanding physical condition, they were selected to join the diving training team.

The training is long-term, tedious and extremely high-pressure. The children's initial curiosity and enthusiasm was quickly supplanted by pain endured from the strict professional training. Despite being about 10 years old, they have callused hands and their eyes and ears reveal the damage suffered from the frequent impact of diving practice.

"Sometimes my nose and ears hurt when I have to hold my breath," said Leyan, "my eyes get irritated under water."

Eye damage is the most common health problem in diving. Olympic champions such as Guo Jingjing, Hu Jia, and Xiao Hailiang all have suffered from eye problems, mainly poor eyesight. Guo even had an operation on her retina in late 2001.

Although the intense training can be physically and mentally grueling, the children seldom complain.

The children attend literacy classes in the morning and exercise in the afternoon. After warming up, they start diving. Although repetitive and boring, it's the first step toward their monumental dreams. To reduce the training's monotony, coaches sometimes play music.

"They have to jump more than one hundred times every day," said Zhou Yilin, who has been coaching in the center since 2010. He was the winner of three gold medals at the FINA Diving World Cup and was invited to join the center under the encouragement policy of local government.

According to Zhou, maintaining a disciplined training regiment is the key to success. In order to achieve perfect diving, which creates little or no splash, a 10 meter-platform diver climbs the stairs to the platform the equivalent of over 190 kilometers every year -- that is almost 20 times the height of Mount Qomolangma (otherwise known as Mount Everest).

During the past two years, his students have won two gold medals and one silver in the top matches in China. Zhou says those positive results have been a great encouragement for both the children and their parents.

The center currently has more than 60 students, all aged from 5 to 16. In addition to the tough training, teenage divers face another challenge -- weight control.

Fourteen-year-old Xing Yiying has a host of national and international awards to her name. She is also one of the top seeded divers on the team. Yet keeping fit has been another major task for her.

Xing just had lunch during our visit. She had eggs with tomato and broccoli, and some tofu, without any staple food. "I have to control weight, or I will not be able to flip," she said.

The girl admits that she always feels hungry, even after she has just eaten. However, in order to keep fit and improve her performance, she has to maintain a strict diet. To fend off hunger, she drinks water constantly.

As the children grow older, coaches not only need to focus on their physical movements but more importantly, they must pay attention to their mental state.

"I must improve myself as well, especially to gain more psychological knowledge about teenagers," said Zhou. "I should know what they're thinking and what they're interested in."

Each of the young divers has spent their precious childhoods diving, doing the same workout day after day. But only the top performers will see their dreams realized by qualifying for the national team, Zhou says it is his job to tap their potential.

"My ultimate goal is to help them participate in the games from the lowest level to the highest, step by step, and then make their world-champion dreams come true," he said.

As for the young players, the dream of the Olympics is more alluring. In front of the camera, they smile innocently.

"We have to win the championship, everyone wants to be number one, so we have to deal with the hardships."

Edited by Chen Zhilin

Source: English.news.cn