Translation:The decisive contest

He and she, both were professional swimmers. "We are two athletes..." — he liked to repeat. She just smiled in response, sometimes adding: "No, only you: I'm a random person in sports."

Everyone in the city (they lived in the district center) knew that upcoming competitions will become decisive. The future of the sports club depends on the victory, and not only… "To swim a hundred meters in a pool filled with feces faster than neighbors — that's our main task," — said the mayor of the city. "Practice makes perfect!" — The Minister of Youth Affairs, Sports and Tourism echoed him. "The harder the training, the easier the mission!" — added the coach to what was said by the higher management.



They knew about it, but they treated the upcoming event differently. She attended all the training sessions and achieved tolerable results over time. He did not prepare at all, preferring to live in his own way and not listening to advice. "Water is yesterday," — the mentor liked to repeat — any student can easily overcome a hundred meters in clean water, but in shit... only the best can do it!"

"Why don't you go to training?" — "Feces are not my element; I am a swimmer, not a honey dipper" — "But you will drown in competitions, don't you understand that?" — she added. He only made faces in response, pretending to be a monkey.

The decisive day has come. No one could voluntarily refuse to participate in the swim, it was tantamount to betrayal, high treason. He stepped fatefully to the edge of swimming pool filled with liquid feces and, pushing off, jumped down…

Air bubbles, breaking through the "odorous" liquid, came to the surface. Rescuers rushed after him. The paramedics performed artificial respiration, but it was too late: the contents of the pool entered the lungs.

"You had the opportunity..." — she said, throwing a handful of dry excrement on the lid of a red-upholstered box.