Wang Rui

2023 Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering

won the gold medal in the women's first division 100-meter backstroke at the 2023 National Swimming Championships for College Students with a time of 1 minute 16.29 seconds.

Unfaded love for swimming from beginning to end

Since kindergarten, Wang Rui has been closely related to swimming. Starting from primary school, she persisted in training for at least two hours a day, which strengthened her physique and honed her willpower. This persistent effort allowed her to become a national first-class athlete in her first year of junior high school. After entering the senior high school, Wang Rui still insisted on setting aside time every day for swimming, but the heavy academic pressure forced her to put aside her swimming career in the second year of high school. Her passion for swimming kept burning brightly. After entering university, Wang Rui naturally joined the Zhejiang University swimming team with outstanding skills. Despite facing various difficulties such as time conflicts and insufficient training time before competitions, Wang Rui's love for swimming pools and waterways never fades. Almost every night after finishing a day of intense study, she immersed herself in the swimming pool and actively trained.

In the 2023 National Swimming Championships for College Students held in mid-December, Wang Rui represented Zhejiang University to participate in the competition. At the beginning of the competition, she saw many athletes with high levels, but she did not make significant breakthroughs in her spare training time. In addition, she participated in a backstroke event that she was not good at, which made her very nervous.

During the final, Wang Rui felt a bit tired in the later stage. But the indomitable spirit of hard struggle in her heart supported her to persevere in the icy waterway, ultimately winning the championship with a performance one second faster than her best performance in the preliminary round.

Dream of Being accepted to ZJU fulfilled with a shining heart

Swimming has been Wang Rui's perseverance from childhood to adulthood, and Zhejiang University is also her unchanging pursuit. The seeds of Zhejiang University were planted early in the heart of Wang Rui when she was a little child. The parents of her who are ZJU alumni, the enlightenment coach who had close ties to the Zhejiang University swimming team, and the other ZJU alumni around her constantly showed Wang Rui the charm of Zhejiang University.

▲ Wang Rui's childhood photos of training in the swimming pool

When Wang Rui was a child, she and her father often went to the cafeteria at the Huajiachi Campus, Zhejiang University to have meals after training, and they would also take walks on the campus avenue and play on the lawn together. The most memorable moment for her was when she and her father admired the bronze statue of President Co-ching Chu on the lawn. Her father's narration of university life and his pride in being a ZJU alumnus have made her curious and hopeful about Zhejiang University from a young age. After entering high school, Zhejiang University became a landmark and star on her journey forward.

This seed quietly took root, sprouted, and finally bloomed into a brilliant flower after she stepped into ZJUI.

Keep going, aim high and look far

Entering her desired university is not the end of Wang Rui's struggle, but the prelude to her colorful and busy life at ZJUI. Beliefs and goals are not meant to be spoken, sung, or embellished. They are only convincing when seen in action. The girl who is accompanied by swimming will carry forward her firm will and indomitable spirit.

Just entering the Qiushi Garden, facing the whole English teaching of ZJUI professional courses, language has become her first challenge. In the first few months, from pre-class preparation to actively communicating with faculty members about course assignments and difficult problems, she memorized professional vocabulary every day and gradually grew through accumulation. After breaking through the language bottleneck, she quickly felt the unique charm of interdisciplinary curriculum design. The programming modules in the CS101 Introduction to Computing: Engineering & Science and ECE110 Introduction to Electronics deepened her understanding of the computer field and laid the foundation for her future exploration in the fields of mechanical automation. She said, "Studying only a single mechanical discipline has very limited opportunities in the future." And the opportunity to collaborate with students from different disciplines not only enhances her communication and collaboration skills, but also provides her with the experience of conducting experiments and research. It also gives her the possibility to combine her interests with the discipline.

Although she is only a freshman, she can be seen everywhere in the colorful campus activities: join the student union, create various promotional articles, and boost the publicity work of the Campus, join the Chinese dance club, and participate in the filming of ZJUI promotional videos and large-scale events such as club carnivals where she establishes friendships with many classmates. Also, she made progress together with her international roommates and helped each other. She is like a drop of water, converging with countless ZJUI students into a surging river, constantly moving forward.

Let's give a thumbs-up to ZJUI's excellent freshman Wang Rui!