The exhausted expressions on the girls' faces made it obvious that the high-level competition had consumed a tremendous amount of their physical energy reserves.
At this moment, Lisa Shiraishi approached one of her teammates—the girl who had been tasked with defending against her during the previous round.
"Kurizono-san," she called out with the authoritative tone of someone who knew exactly what needed to be addressed.
"You performed very well today and showed significant improvement, but your defensive reactions were still a bit slow," she began, following the classic coaching formula of praise followed by specific areas for development.
"Right now you're facing teammates that you're familiar with. It's going to become much more challenging during actual competition."
She first acknowledged the girl named Kurizono's progress, then carefully identified the specific weaknesses that needed attention.
"I understand, Shiraishi-senpai. I'll work much harder," Kurizono replied while wiping herself down with a towel, offering a deep, respectful bow to her captain.
"And Midorikawa-san," Lisa continued without pausing for rest, moving on to address another team member.
"Your technique for breaking through the defensive line was excellent just now—your movements were very fluid—but you hesitated during the shooting phase, which allowed me to block your attempt."
"Well, I was intimidated by the momentum of Shiraishi-senpai swimming toward me, so..." the girl named Midorikawa admitted with the honest embarrassment of someone caught in a moment of weakness.
The player listened to her captain's feedback with genuine humility, clearly recognizing the value of the instruction she was receiving.
"It's perfectly understandable. Keep pushing yourself, and you'll overcome that hesitation. Your technical skills are already quite outstanding among the team. I'm confident you'll develop into an excellent scorer," Lisa encouraged with the perfect balance of honesty and motivation.
After receiving such positive reinforcement from Lisa Shiraishi, Midorikawa's face lit up with a proud smile that made her exhaustion temporarily forgotten.
"Everyone, listen up!" Lisa called out, wiping water droplets from her face before addressing the entire team.
"The fighting spirit everyone displayed today was absolutely fantastic! Even though our water polo club is still relatively new and we don't have as much practice time as other schools..."
"As long as everyone maintains the momentum you showed today, I believe winning practice matches—or even the county championship—won't just be a fantasy!"
The reality was that the University prioritized academic achievement above athletic pursuits. The teaching workload was intensive, which meant students' class schedules were packed to capacity.
Before every major examination period, all club activities were required to be suspended entirely.
Additionally, large-scale events like school festivals, cultural celebrations, and sports festivals consistently consumed valuable training time.
Compared to powerhouse schools that focused primarily on club activities and aimed for national competitions, the amount of time the Women's Water Polo Club of the University could dedicate to practice was absolutely minuscule.
David versus Goliath situation. Except David has homework.
Furthermore, water polo itself was such a niche sport that securing additional support from school administration was nearly impossible.
Therefore, if they wanted to compete successfully against such well-resourced teams, they could only follow Lisa Shiraishi's philosophy: simultaneous skill improvement combined with maintaining extremely high morale.
"Yeah! Okay, Shiraishi-senpai!"
"We can definitely do it!"
"That's right, let's all work hard together!"
The girls were genuinely energized by Lisa Shiraishi's words, immediately starting to exchange enthusiastic high-fives with each other.
Observing her convincing leadership abilities and her talent for inspiring others despite being such a new captain, I couldn't help but smile with genuine appreciation.
"Alright, alright, now everyone take a break and we'll continue with training afterward," Lisa announced with authoritative hand-clapping, officially declaring the temporary disbandment.
The team members immediately scattered to various resting spots around the pool area and began enjoying what they knew would be a brief respite.
Lisa wrapped a large bath towel around her impressive figure and calmly hydrated herself with mineral water from a plastic bottle.
"You're really exceptional at being a captain, Shiraishi-senpai. I'm genuinely impressed," I commented as I approached her.
I had arrived while the scrimmage was in full swing and hadn't wanted to interrupt such intense focus with my presence.
"Ah, Ginjo-san, I actually noticed you arrive at the poolside, but I was completely absorbed in the training, so..." she began to explain apologetically.
"It's perfectly fine! Watching such high-level competition was genuinely eye-opening for me," I assured her.
"I didn't expect to see this much improvement in just a few days. It seems like every time I'm absent on Sunday, the players develop a completely different look."
I offered high praise for their wonderful performance, because frankly, they'd earned every bit of it.
"Really, Ginjo-san?" Lisa asked, lifting her head so that the water droplets on her face caught and sparkled in the afternoon sunlight.
"Absolutely! Especially Shiraishi-senpai—your performance was truly elite level!" I confirmed while giving her an enthusiastic thumbs-up gesture.
"Well then, Ginjo-san, please get in the water as well. You serve as a morale booster for the other team members," she requested with that characteristically bright smile showing no signs of fatigue despite her recent exertions.
"I'm ready to go, Shiraishi-senpai," I replied confidently.
I had already changed into my swimsuit before arriving at the pool, so all I needed to do now was remove my outer uniform layer
Tweet!
Lisa picked up her whistle and delivered a sharp blast that cut through the afternoon air.
"Everyone, break time is over! Now it's time for swimming drills!"
The girls who had been relaxing on the pool deck immediately leaped into the water simultaneously upon hearing the whistle, as if it triggered some kind of Pavlovian reflex response.
I followed their lead and dove into the pool with an impressive splash that announced my enthusiastic participation.
When in Rome, make a dramatic entrance.
Tweet!
Another short, sharp whistle blast echoed across the water.
The group of swimmers underwater immediately changed direction and sprinted toward the opposite end of the pool with the synchronized precision of a well-oiled machine.
Tweet!
The intervals between whistle commands became progressively shorter, and the players responded by sprinting back and forth according to the increasingly rapid instructions.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was probably only minutes, the last whistle brought this phase of swimming training to its merciful conclusion.
I had completed several laps back and forth and didn't feel particularly taxed, but the situation was dramatically different for the team members who had just endured that intense scrimmage competition.
They were breathing heavily and practically collapsed on the pool deck, looking like they never wanted to move again.
"Huff... huff... Shiraishi-senpai, what's gotten into you today? You seem extra motivated..." one player gasped between labored breaths.
"I can't take any more of this. I feel like I'm going to die," another moaned dramatically.
"Someone please save me... I can't even lift my arms anymore..." came a third voice of pure athletic despair.