Champion divers Chen Yuxi, Wang Zongyuan of China, Rikuto Tamai of Japan and Ingrid Oliveira of Brazil showed up in a training clinic and soon became new idols of the local teenage divers.
In the clinic activity one day before the Diving World Cup starts, champions enjoyed a one-hour training session with 10 local teenage divers by working together from warm-up and dryland training to pool training as coaches.
Chen Yuxi, a two-time world champion in women's 10m platform and herself a fellow 17-year-old teen, said she has never tried coaching before. "It is my first time teaching other young divers and it is good to see all these kids love diving."
16-year-old Rikuto Tamai, the runner-up in men's 10m platform in Budapest World Championships last year, answered a question about overcoming the fear to try new daring and difficult dives: "I used to be scared of trying new dives, but I told myself 'sooner or later you need to overcome the difficulties, so why not to beat the fear from now on. Be brave!"
"I used to be scared of trying new dives, but I told myself 'sooner or later you need to overcome the difficulties, so why not to beat the fear from now on. Be brave!"
Ingrid Oliveira of Brazil could not speak either Chinese or English, but her body language was good enough to communicate with her Chinese students. "I am honoured to be a coach of them. It is a good way to develop our sport more popular," Oliveira said.
"I have never thought about I could dive with the current world champions someday. But all of sudden, my dream comes true. I wish I can be a champion just like them in the near future," said the 12-year-old Li Xinyi from Xi'an sports school.
The triple gold medallist for Budapest Wang Zongyuan believed there might be some potential among the young divers. "Maybe we left seeds of hope today and boost their dreams of being champions in the future," said the 25-year-old.
"What a golden opportunity for the kids today. They could have a chance to get close to the world champion divers and learn something from them. We really appreciate the champion divers and organizers," said the Xi'an local school coach Yan Hui.
"What a golden opportunity for the kids today. They could have a chance to get close to the world champion divers and learn something from them. We really appreciate the champion divers and organizers."
During the pre-meet press conference, Yang Hao, a native of Xi'an, said he expects to perform his best in front of a local audience. "I am thrilled to compete at home soil and I hope to perform my best in front of the home audience." Yang competes in men's 10m platform, synchro and team event.
Jack Laugher talked about the development of British diving in recent years and expected to have a "big competition" against Wang Zongyuan.
"It is an honour to compete in a fantastic diving nation and we're doing some really good steps in the UK with diving," Laugher said. "It's always good fun to keep trying to chase China. I will always try my best to try and defeat my opponents. It's a great honour at the same time to also be able to have the ability to compete against them."
"It is an honour to compete in a fantastic diving nation... It's always good fun to keep trying to chase China."
Andrea Spendolini Sirieix of Britain said it is her second time in China.
"The pool is incredible and the facility is brand new. I am really honoured to be able to dive in such a new pool with my teammates and friends from abroad," Spendolini Sirieix said. "I am excited to get the season underway. "
Timo Barthel said the current German team is a young team after some big names retired after Tokyo Olympic Games. "We had a training camp before our national championships and the World Cup. I hope we can qualify for the Super Final to be held in our hometown Berlin, so I feel a little bit pressure."
Jade Gillet of France said she will compete in women's 3m, synchro and team event, adding: "It is my first time to compete in Xi'an and hopefully I can have good results here."