There's more...

Closing ceremonies hasn't come yet, there's still more people!
After the McDonald's meeting we were supposed to meet with our security guy. (Who I wasn't allowed to talk about on here) We said to meet in front of the fountain, but there was about two miles of fountains which we discovered that night. I remembered him saying that we were getting a bus where we had gotten them before. I learned later that he wast talking about a time with some of the girls and I was not on that excursion. So I rounded up the eight of us that I could find and headed to the bus stop we had always picked up our buses. But, there was no bus. We found some Greek cops and asked for their help and they worked to get us some shuttles. Little Stephanie remembered that we had a number we could call if we were stranded so we called the USOC Call desk and informed them that we were just that. Somehow Becky was the only one that found this "fountain" and our security guy so she got to the Village about two hours before us. We had a fun little "bonfire" type gathering in front of the metal detectors in the entrance to the pool. We reflected on our swim, took our hats out and just generally laughed at our unglamourous post medal winning celebration. But the Greek cops came through and got us safely back to the village. The whole team had to wake up early (we had about three hours of sleep since the knox gelatine in our hair had turned to cement and was impossible to get out) The whole team went to a team breakfast but I had to stay behind to give blood as part of the drug testing. I HATE givind blood, I don't even like watching kethcup come out of a bottle and certainly don't like blood being sucked out of me. ewwww
But after that we got to head out to the NBC studios to be on the Weekend Today show. I also met up with my Aunt to give her a suitcase to take my home, and my medal. I didn't want to have that on my vacation.
After a super nap, we headed to a Sports Illustrated party that we had to perform in. We had no warm up and our showtime was at 12:30 am. We were right after a "laser light lady" from Australia. She's the only person in the world that does her act, wow.
We performed in this salt water tank (we got to wear our caps and goggles) and we barely fit in the pool. Everyone loved it. It was salt water so we floated a lot which made a lot of things easier but made getting under water a lot harder. We were all laughing the whole time, it was one of the weirdest things we've ever done. Everyone loved it and then we all got to shower (one shower for ten of us) and went to enjoy the party. Basically every American athlete was there so it was a total blast seeing everyone and saying goodbye.
The next night was the Closing Ceremonies. They were lots of fun, it's just a big free for all with all of the countries mixed together and everyone is so ecstatic. The Greek people were going bonkers for the people that were singing in the Closing but none of us really had any idea who they were. I wish it had been my Greek rappers. After buses taking us back and mobbing the McDonald's, I was ready for bed. I was convinced by Sara and Kendra to head out to the Plaka (downtown Athens) one last time but after an hour I was ready to hit the sack.
The next morning I checked out of the hotel, said goodbye to who was still there and headed to the airport to meet Lisa to start our vacation. I'm going to miss all my girls but we have already planned a reunion for the 4th of July.
Lisa and I are enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of Mikonos and pinching ourselves to make sure we are really here in paradise! Love to you all!
~Lauren

The sorcerer's apprentice....magic!

WOOWHEEEEE! Hey everybody! (Sorry to leave everyone hanging!) Everything got so crazy after we won our BRONZE MEDAL! But it sounds like most of you got to watch our performance so that's awesome. Thank you NBC!
I know that I will remember that night for the rest of my life. I'm still having dreams about it and I probably will forever.
We were all very excited about our perfomance after the technical program, but we were all very aware that we would have to be really focused and have a very strong swim to secure our place. The Spanish team really bungled their techinical program and still were very close to us in score (synchro politics). So we knew they would be very focused on getting their free program perfect. We headed off to the American College in the moring. There was a palpable tension in the air. We were all trying really hard not to just explode with anticipation. We had our usual morning meeting to discuss our plan for the rest of the day. We had an earlier draw then we had had the day before so we had to do a little bit of adjusting. We had also felt rushed the day before when we got to the pool so we decided to do our hair and very intricate hats before we left for the venue. There was some pretty high emotions that morning in the locker room. We had a little drama and a little scuttle but everyone got to release that tension, vent a little bit, and then we were good as new. We were even able to laugh about the surge of emotions in the locker room and it eased the stress for the rest of practice. We were truly joyous and enjoying each other for the rest of the day. No one got upset with corrections, even though we so badly wanted to be perfect. Anna reminded us that even if we didn't have the most fantastic warm up, in no way did that mean that we couldn't have a great performance. The same thing had happened with their duet and they still had huge success!
So after a good warm up, (our team likes to be overly warmed up for competitions) we headed out for our last meal at the ACG, which was really too bad because the food there was great. We got our hair up and hats on and got a shuttle directly to the venue unlike the maze of buses we had been taking every day prior to that. The second we walked into the pool we all felt like we were on top of the world. Later we were told that the women's water polo coach came in to watch some of our warm up and told our coaches that he had a new respect for our sport. He'd never seen any team work so hard. He could also tell that we were "on" that day and he could tell by the look in our eyes that we would be awesome that night. When we jumped into the pool, I felt that we were like a red white and blue bulldozer. (You kind of have to fight for space in the warm up pool) Even Russia's coach stopped her team to have them watch us warm up. We had a great practice with music as well, we definitely do more than any other country but we like it that way.
Fast forward to "the swim"
I was definitely more confident tonight then I was for the technical the night before. I was much calmer, much more comfortable in my skin where the night before I was ready to jump out of it any second! I felt like all day I had really been able to stay calm and focused and keep the girls in the same mindset.
But something that NEVER happens in world class synchro meets happened that night. Right in the first lap of Russia's routine (the team right before us in order of draw) the music went out and they had to be stopped in the middle of the routine. There was mass chaos behind the scenes while their coach scrambled to find an extra copy of their music and tried to understand what had happened to the cd. The girls came out of the pool completely bewildered, as were we. One of the volunteers came over to us in the ready hall and told us that we were going to go now and Russia would swim after us. So we frantically grabbed our noselclips and began to line up to walk out, working to remain calm. But then the Russian girls changed their minds and wanted to go right away. So after a few music tests, and some rule checking, they started again. We were all a little riled up after that. Sara and I were bouncing around doing some sort of Brazillian rain forest dance, Stephanie was deep breathing enough to blow up a water raft, Anna was stretching on the wall and then Alison, our voice of reason, our foundation, pulled us all into a huddle to try and reign in the troops. The only speech I could think of at the moment was to quote from one of my favorite movies, Grease. "I've got chills, they're multiplying, but we're not losing control, it's the power you're supplying, and it's electrifying!" But seriously, I also reminded the girls that we had spent so many hours together over the past two years preparing for this very moment. Perhaps the moment was a little different then we had visualized, but it was still our moment. It was a moment, the last one, that we all got to share together. We had worked so hard for it and we were sooooo proud of our free program. Let's show everyone what an amazing free program we have. Let's take every part of the routine and show it off, step by step, never getting ahead of ourselves. Just think that every move we make, it's the last one we'll do, so let's make it our best. One deep breath and top secret team cheer later, we were back on track. I set foot on that deck and while I was aware of the crowd, I was completely focused on my teammates and the water I was about to dive into. Chi-Chi, the Olympic referee stopped us on the deck in the middle of our walk on and said to wait until our music was tested. (Once again, something that NEVER happens) I told the girls, "This is awesome! Let's enjoy it!" I gave some quick instructions to adjust our walk on a little bit and when Chi Chi gave me the signal, we started to complete our deck work.
I don't even really remember the swim, it felt like a dream, like I had no control of my limbs and some other force was pushing them into the right places. I remember hearing the crowd going nuts during our first lift where we float Stephanie down the pool and I remember thinking, you ain't seen nothing yet! I also remember thinking, on the last strokes, wait! it can't be over, we just started! Am I already at the end of the routine? And then I choked on water and had no air for the last hybrid so the moment quiclly transitioned from glorious to near-death. But I stayed calm, and then that was it. My Olympic swim was over! We all came up and waved to the crowd and all of us were smiling so big it was hurting my cheeks! I didn't even care what our scores would be (ok, well, maybe a little) but swimming in that pool surrounded by my sisters was one of the most amazing feelings. We got our scores, there were a couple of yucky scores in technical merit but two 9.9 in artistic! I'll take that!
We walked off the deck and attacked our coaches we were so excited. Little Kendra became a sobbing mess, it was adorable. I was barely hanging on to the tears but Anna and I had to give the interview for NBC. As soon as we were out of the mixed media zone, we sprinted to the TV to see Spain's scores. When they flashed up on the score board, Erin turned around and said, "We did it! " Next ensued a lot of crying, hugging, dancing, shrieking and other "Oh my gosh we did it!" kind of actions. I was immediately greeted by a drug tester and informed that I was the one person from our team chosen for drug testing. I didn't really care, I even hugged the drug tester! By the time I got out of drug testing it was about 11:00 pm and I rushed off to try and find my family. Leave it to Americans to meet up at McDonalds! But there were Big Macs and fries for everyone. It was so great meeting my family there. I felt so special and so loved. Every time one of the athletes walked in, there was a group of very drunk Hungarian water polo fans that would do this goofy Hungarian dance for us. It was cute the first ten times but then it started to get old and we were all getting tired so we decided to call it a night. But the looks on my parents faces were something I will always remember. We just sort of looked at each other and thought yeah, we did it too! My daddy had a big goofy grin and tears welling in his eyes the whole time and my mom just kept hugging and kissing me profusely. They have been with me through it all. They were there when I was 12 and I quit for ten minutes because the water was too cold and I didn't want to swim anymore. They were there when I won my first Gold medal in figures when I was 14. They were there when I had the most horrible meet of my life in Moscow when I was 17. My dad spent a fortune on faxes and phone calls then. They were there whenI missed the Olympic team in 2000. They were there when I made the 2004 Olympic team. And they were there to watch my final swim, and the most thrilling of them all. I am so grateful to God that I got to have my parents there with me. And Eric and Leah and Malcolm and Carol and Marilyn and my best friend Lisa. And EVERYONE back home that watched me and has sent me e-mails and phone messages and telepathic good thoughts. I'm so glad that everyone got to share the Olympics with me, it made the whole thing so much more special.
The Olympics is a strange beast for sure. But the sense of peace, goodwill, agony, ecstasy, joy, sorrow and everything the Olympics stands for was so apparent every step of the way. The Olympic creed states that the glory is in the struggle, and that is so true. Every morning I didn't want to wake up, every muscle ache, every tear of frustration was worth it. I loved every step of it and I will take that with me in my next adventure. Life after synchro, is there such a thing? I guess I'll find out!.............

Drumline!

Ok, this has to be brief, I will elaborate more later but tonight was so exhilarating. I was shaking before we walked on the deck. It seemed like the whole crowd was full of Americans, and they were all chanting, "USA! USA!" Or maybe Americans are just noisy enough to sound like they have filled an entire stadium. Either way, it was unreal. I didn't stop shaking until the part in the deckwork where I get to turn around and look at the girls. When i saw their faces, at first I wanted to cry. They were so beautiful and it was all my best friends staring at me. But I pulled it together and led us into our deck stunts (which we nailed by the way). The routine felt like a dream, I barely remember it. When it was almost over I couldn't believe it and I wanted to do more! But the judges seemed to like it, we are holding strong to bronze. We drew fifth tomorrow, right after Russia again. It's going to be great. Keep up the good thoughts, we all felt them tonight!

Life is good!

I think it's official, I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Today was so great, and I haven't even started competing yet which is the really fun part!
We started out with another great practice. We feel absolutely unstoppable! Then I got a special treat, my parents my Uncle Malcolm, my Aunt Carol and my Aunt Marilyn all came to have lunch with me at the College of Greece! I had so much fun catching up with them and hearing about all of the events they had been seeing. I felt so special to have so much family there to come see little old me!
After lunch with them I was shuttled off to the set of the Today Show! I can't believe it! I am so fortunate to be in a career that allows me to meet my idol, Katie Couric. When we arrived we went to straight to the Green Room which certainly could have used a little bit more air conditioning. Then Kendra, Becky and I (the three that were able to be on the show today) got our hair and make up done. We felt very special. Then we were golf carted over to the set, that is right in the middle of the Olympic square. On my way over there I got to see Raj Mathai who is our local NBC Sports guy in San Jose. He just happened to go to high school with my brother and has been doing a lot of coverage of me for the folks back home. I haven't seen him since I was about 8 so that was really fun!
Then we headed over to the Today set. We did our interview with Matt, he really feels like he is a part of the team since he did they synchro challenge with us last week. He was upset that we hadn't called him to be on the team for the competition tomorrow night. The set was surrounded by Kendra and Becky's families and other adoring Today Show fans. They even interviewed little Khadija Zanotto (Kendra's little sister) because it was here birthday and her big sis was on Olympian. She was fabulous, and a big hit on the set. All of the family and fans were screaming during the whole interview and along with my absolute excitement for being on my favorite show with Matt two feet away from me and Katie about ten feet, I completely froze during the interview. My sweet boyfriend told me I was probably fantastic but he has to say that. Hopefully it didn't show. Katie even told me that I have a future in TV, but not until she's done! They were so great and stayed around to take photos with us and everything. I even got a bobble head Katie pin, very cool.
After that, (I'm still glowing) we headed out to the pool to watch our duet at Finals. They made me cry, they were so beautiful and gave so much to the audience, everyone was entranced. They won the bronze, so deserving. Chris and Anna and Alison and their fantastic alternate Sara have worked so incredibly hard this year that it was so fitting to see them rewarded with a medal. I am so proud of them. They couldn't have set us up better for the team tomorrow night. Our swimmer friend from Iraq even came to cheer on the duet. He was a little afraid of the photographers taking photos of him with us so we had to be careful. It was strange to know that he was actually afraid of photos that might reach home. But we love that we have a good friend in Iraq.
One of the fun things keeping us entertained is that Dr. Don, our trainer, has adopted four stray dogs that greet him on his walk back to his apartment from the village. They are named Brillo, Mugs, Delilah and Sorcerer, all with distinct personalities. He enlists our help every night to smuggle scraps from dinner to feed the dogs. We are literally smuggling out banquet sized portions every night, but don't tell the food staff here!
Anyway, I'm off to get some rest to prepare for tomorrow, think good thoughts!
Love,
Lauren

Riding the wave....

Well our duet has put us on quite a roll. We were still riding that wave when we woke up this morning and trucked off to the American College of Greece. We shared the bus with our Women's Water Polo team. They were so excited to tell us that they had watched our duet on TV last night and because they had been watching our practices they could tell who was good and who wasn't among the other countries. It was really fun to see how good their synchro education had become after just a few weeks of hearing our corrections belted over the microphone. Apparently in the athlete lounge in the village, synchro was the sport everyone wanted to watch, even some wrestlers were getting into it! The support here is so great, and our water polo girls play tonight and we'll be there to cheer them on when we can.
Practice ran smoothly this morning as well. For those of you who are synchro girls you'll feel me on this one.... Chris (our coach) always says, "If you get this right the first time, we'll be done and you can get out." That NEVER happens by the way, that's always the sentence that starts out practice in the morning and then we get out about 4 hours later. Except for today! We were so hot today that we got everything right the first or second time so that we got out ten minutes early for lunch! Wowee! I don't think that has ever happened to me in my entire 16 year synchro career! I think a lot of our improvement is coming from our landdrills. Maybe I get a little "nazi-like" as Kendra called me today in our landdrills but we are going to be so awesome for our tech! I have the best teammates in the entire world, I wish all of you could be a fly on the wall and watch this team work. I guess through my journals you are. We just get better and better the more pressure we feel.
Well, after all this excitement of the morning, I'm off to take a nap before we take the bus to the competition pool. See you after the duets tonight!
(Post duet entry)
Well, our duet was fabulous once again! I swear I'm not biased but they were the most beautiful duet that competed tonight. They were flawless and exciting and captivating. And, like Anna pointed out, their success here shows that you can still have your own style and be competitive. A lot of the countries begin to look all the same.
During duets I got to sneak up and see my parents and my Aunt Marilyn. They are so fun and such great cheerleaders. I really have been lucky with how much I've been able to see my family.
Besides our duet holding strong to third place, I got some more exciting news. Becky, Kendra and I are going to be on the Today Show again tomorrow. (the morning of August 25 for you in the US) I hope I get to meet Katie! Well, I'm off to bed, sleep is becoming a precious commodity.
By the way, the Olympics is sooooo exciting, I can barely stand it!!!!!!

The duet leads the charge!

Whew! I was too tired to write last night. We had a pretty intense day. But tonight was our first day of competition with the duet! They swam their technical program, 24th out of 25 duets. The whole time we watched the other duets I just kept waiting for any duet to knock my socks off. Then came our duet and they did just that. They were higher than anyone there, they were the most elegant and the most beautiful, they were consistently strong in every single one of their elements (unlike some of the other top countries that completely bombed some elements). And, without any American judge on the panel, they are now well ahead of Spain and France holding tightly to third place! This is so exciting for all of us. We all just bounced our way back into the village, sprinted to McDonald's for a quick dinner (it's 11:00pm!) and raced off to tell our families about the news. This sets us up so well for team, we're so thrilled with our wonderful Duet-y! It's very interesting to see other countries crack under the pressure while we just seem to get better and better.
This morning started off with our trainer playing a mix cd that I made for the team. During Bill Withers' "Lean on Me" our head coach, asst. coach, manager and trainer all stood up and started singing along and leaning on each other. It was pretty adorable. And it kicked off a great day. We had so much intensity, it was so exhilarating! The duet and our coaches needed to rest so the remainder of the team rested and then landdrilled on our own. When we got in to practice a little bit during the duet warm up our coach was very impressed with the improvements we had made during our self run land drills. We were excited because now she can really focus on the duet and know that the team will still be working hard!
The competition tonight was very interesting. It's nice to see that the level of athletes internationally has really improved. It's very exciting for our sport. But most of all it feels so good to be competing finally! I can count the days on one hand! Thanks to everyone back home for all of your phone calls and e-mails and well wishes. It's working! Keep it up!
Love,
Lauren
(I need to sleep!)

Tammy and I in the Village picking up our laundry (picture from Yahoo Sports)

Two unidentified United States Olympians stop briefly outside their housing quarters to send encouragement to some teammates at the Olympic Village Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 in Athens. Once the Olympic games are over, the buildings will be turned into apartment homes. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Another relaxing day off

Our coach has really been quite generous with the days off. I guess we have been here for over two weeks but we still feel very lucky to have a day off in order to enjoy ourselves a little bit while at the Games.
I woke up about 9:30 to get ready for a TV interview. It was for the NBC affiliate in Sacramento, where I was born, and they even let me give a "shout out" to my Grammy. Then I had a nice leisurely lunch with some of my swimmer friends like Nathalie Coughlin and Larsen Jensen both who had Finals tonight. I hope they do awesome, I'll be watching them on TV.
After lunch I headed off to get a massage in the International Zone. On the bottom floor there were pool tables, and air hockey tables and video games and a little cafe. And upstairs is the massage salon. I just had to walk up and say I wanted a massage and I got one! 45 minutes later I felt completely relaxed. I wish it was that easy back home. I might go again tonight before I go to bed.
Then we all headed out to the velodrome to watch our cycling friends in their team track race. All the tickets were sold out because the Greeks were competing in the event. So, Sara and I, being very stealth and inventive, managed to "accidentally" sneak into the venue. I still don't know how we did it, we didn't even really mean to. But it worked out perfectly and right as we walked in our team was racing. It's really a crazy sport to watch, they're basically flying around on bicycles on a wooden track, horizontal to the ground at about 60 km an hour. Not something I plan on trying anytime soon. They finished 11th, they didn't make the Finals but they were the youngest team there so they did really well.
I have to insert here an observation about European women. A lot of people ask me how they can dress in Europe so they won't look like Americans. Personally, I would just stick to looking like Americans. European women match EVERYTHING in their outfit. The woman next to us today at the velodrome was head to toe in neon orange. Neon orange pants, orange shirt, orange sandals, little orange belt, orange jewlery and neon orange hair clip. It was a lot of neon orange but I suppose she could go jogging at night and be very safe in an outfit like that.
Anyway, then we headed back to the village for dinner and e-mails. We're going to listen to my Greek hip-hop cds and play some UNO. I feel completely refreshed and ready to start our week of competing. Here we go!

A Brand New Day

The duet had the day off today so the other seven of us headed off to the competition pool. It was a little strange to be training without our duet but the team still needed to be at the competition pool to get used to it. As we were warming up in the indoor pool, our Women's Water Polo team came by on their way to play in a game against Russia. We gave them a big old "Go USA!" Our coach looked at them and said, they're going to win today, I can tell just by looking at them. So we wished them well and headed out to our pool. While we were waiting for our music time our coach started reminding us of the last time we were here. (We had our Pre-Olympic qualifier at this Olympic pool back in April) We were the last team to swim on the day of the Finals. While we were waiting for our turn to go, one of the volunteers working in the ready room came over to us. She said that she had been sitting back and observing every country that had entered the ready room before they went to compete. She said that our USA team was the only team that had come in and had been happy! Every other team had entered the ready room very solemn and subdued. We walked in happy and energetic. She continued by saying, "You are the American spirit, you are what everyone in the world likes about Americans." Wow! That comment really knocked our socks off. We were so exicted by that, every single one of us remembers when she told that to us. Our coach said that she had never been so proud of us. That woman recognized something about us that our coach has always loved about our team and what she believes will bring our team to reach it's highest potential. So once again, we were pumped up, but this time a little more aware of the control we still had to have over that energy. Once again we had 40 minutes of music time that we used first to practice the deckwork we had been fumbling on yesterday. We repeated it four or five times and nailed it each time. We then continued practicing the technical program and stopping periodically to point out where we would look during the routine. Some spots in the routine would be focused on the judges, and some spots we would look out into the audience. The pool was starting to feel a little more like home. Our coach was very pleased with our practice. As soon as our music time was finished we raced to the TV to see who had one the Water Polo match. (There's a tv right on the pool deck so you can watch other sports on a live feed.) They were playing "Born in the USA" and flashed the score on the TV Russia-4 USA-8! They creamed them! We sprinted up to the water polo pool to greet the team and say congratulations. I think they liked the synchro welcome. We joked that they started it all by beating the Russians, and we'd finish it on the 27th by beating them as well. They were so pumped up that when they slapped us on the backs to say thanks they almost injured some of us. Those girls are the farthest thing from pansies! I even saw one of the Russian girls walking to the locker room with a bag of ice on her face, brutal.
Then we headed over to the American College of Greece for some real specific one on one training. While we were practicing there I got a surprise visit from my mom and dad! Turns out, the home that they are staying in during the Olympics is about 10 blocks from the pool the college! They didn't stay long because they sensed that we were very intensely focused. But we had a great practice and we all got to fix a lot of personal corrections which helps to build confidence. I called my mom at their house when I was done with practice to see if she wanted to catch dinner and I would just take the 9pm bus back to the village. Dad had gone to pick up my aunt and uncle at the airport so mom and I enjoyed a nice dinner followed by a chocolate souffle again. (I am absolutely obsessed with chocolate souffles!) My aunt and uncle raced up the hill to catch me and give me a quick hug before I took the bus back to the village. It was so fun seeing them and having a nice dinner with my mom and hearing about all of mom and dad's adventures in the Greek Isles.
The bus was fairly empty except for three members of the fencing team. I enjoyed talking with them about their sport and educating them a little about synchronized swimming. I arrived at the Village about 9:30 and headed over the the Music Store in the village. I collect Music cds from every country I go to. When I was in there the night before I met some Greek Americans (one of them knew a guy from my high school!) who helped me find some Greek hip hop. I had put it on hold to buy tonight. The store owner was very intrigued by my interest in Greek hip hop so he found me another Greek hip hop group that was pretty cool. He played them in the store for me and we got everyone in the store to dance, it was really funny! So now I have two awesome Greek hip hop cds if anyone wants to borrow one!
I walked back to my apartment after that. It was the first time I had walked in the village alone since I arrived two weeks ago. I had been with a teammate anytime I walked anywhere. It was really nice to be alone for a little while. The weather was beautiful and I met lots of nice people on the walk back that normally I would have been so engaged in conversation I might not have stopped to say hi. Trading pins is definitely the main ice breaker in the village. It gives everyone a reason to start talking to each other without just coming up to someone and starting to jabber away at them. I met an adorable little man from China who's only English vocabulary included hello, pin, thank you and pretty. That was enough though, the transaction was successful.
The walk back was so peaceful and really the only time I've had for a little quiet personal reflection. During my quiet personal reflection I was almost run over by a bus on the internal loop because all of the drivers are crazy and don't ever slow down for pedestrians. But fortunately I snapped out of my daze just in time to hop back on the curb before being flattened like a pancake.
So here I am, writing my e-mail and looking forward to a day off tomorrow. It's been hard to write because so many people have been coming in and want to talk with me about their Olympis so far. It's really fun to hear some of the things people have had to go through here. It's been concluded among us athletes that this has been a fairly strange Olympics so far, full of surprises. I'm sure we have a few surprises to offer on the 26th and 27th as well. Well, I'm off to bed, I plan to sleep in and it's going to feel so good!

The competition pool, cont.

Well, unfortunately my blogger was being a little bugger last night so I thought it wasn't posting. Apparently it worked, and so did the other 14 or so reminders I sent out through other people about the Today Show. Needless to say, I was pretty excited about being on my favorite show! But sorry about the bombardment of reminders!
So, what I really wanted to write about yesterday was about us returning to the venue. We've spent a lot of time at the American College of Greece training, but we decided we needed to head back over to the venue to begin getting a feeling for the pool there. We arrived early and did a very thorough warm up. Our coach thought it would be good training for us to do a full performance, right out of the bag. The way it works is that each country gets 40 minutes of music time in the competition pool per day and they can do with it they want. The time is usually broken up between the duet technical and free programs and the team technical and free program. So we started our 40 minutes with a "performance" of our technical program, just like we will do on the 26th, our first day of competition. I gave a little talk to the girls before we began our walk onto the deck. As I started talking to them about the crowd that would be there when we swam and the fans back home that would be watching and the other countries that would be anticipating our swim, I sensed a jitter starting to creep into the team. We were getting over-amped and I could really sense it. We hit the deck and started our deckwork where we lift two of the girls into a cheerleading type lift on the deck. But because we were so over-amped, one of the girls pitched forward and fell into the water early, before the music started. The wind sort of got knocked out of our sails. We were wasting precious music time and had to get back on the deck and start over, everyone feeling a little non plussed. The music came on again and we started to swim. Our swim through was frantic, I tried to yell out during the swim for everyone to "Calm down!" but our energy was just bouncing off each other instead of being one force. The stands felt overwhelming and the water felt so different from the water at the American College. We all knew that the performance wasn't what our coach wanted and the feeling was verified as we swam over to her after the swim. We knew we were going to have to make it up somehow, and in the next 30 minutes! We swam our techincal program section by section working to improve on the performance. We succeeded but we were still feeling a little overwhelmed. The techical duet swam next, allowing the team to regroup a little bit and prepare for our free program. As soon as the duet finished, they sprinted to the deck to start the free program warm up with us. (this is very exhausting, our duet is super tough!) We were going to swim our free program section by section and we knew it had to be good. Right before we hit our deck pose the Spanish coaches walked in, obviously there to observe our practice. A little shudder went through us, the music started and we were off! Every pattern, every lift started to flow. One thing to the next, our confidence building. At the end of the first section, we stopped, looked to our coach and got an encouraging look before starting the next section. We all knew we were flying through the routine it and it felt great! We continued to the end of the routine, and absolutely nailed our last lift with a flourish. When we hit the surface at the end of the routine there was clapping and cheering from the volunteers and other athletes who had stopped to watch our warm up. That felt good. And there was obvious unrest from the Spanish contingency in the bleachers, that felt even better. So, we had saved ourselves in the free program, and we knew we had some talking to do about the technical. As we waited for the bus, I did a quick interview with our media girl. She asked me how I thought things were going and how our chances were for a medal. Nice timing I thought. But I was instantly reminded of one of my favorite quotes. "Always reach for the moon, because even if you miss you'll still be among the stars." Obviously everyone comes to the Olympics to win, but if you let that thought consume you, you can lose sight of what this whole experience is all about. That sort of thing has been happening a lot all around us at these Games. That night I had a great talk with my coach (therefore it was too late to write in my blog!) We decided that we weren't going to be weighed down anymore by fear or pressure or any other yucky stuff. We were going to have fun! That's what this team is all about. We love what we do and we have fun when we're doing it right. So one handshake of agreement and a hug later, Chris and I were set. We both saw each other the next morning, smiling and lauging, even at 7 am and we knew it would be a good day.........

Back to the competition pool!

Ok, it's late so I'll have to write more later....
But really quickly, the Today Show is going to air tomorrow! (August 20) I think it's on from 7 am to 10am on NBC. Hope you can check it out!

The Today Show invades the pool!

Today was another cold morning, very strange. But it was VERY exciting because the Today Show came to visit us! My idol, Katie Couric was not in attendance but I don't think she was jazzed about throwing on a suit and hopping in the water with us. But, Matt Lauer and Al Roker were! We started off the segment with a little interview with Matt. He had done some research and saw that in my Olympic bio it states that I wanted to be the next host of the Today Show. I was sooo embarrassed but I guess it was my debut co hosting the show with him. He joked that on Katie's bio, she wants to be an Olympic synchronized swimmer! How uncanny! hee hee
We tossed them in the pool and taught them ballet legs and jumps (Al had to wear a floaty around his waist so he wouldn't drown) and we even put them on some lifts. Al is not the daintiest of men so he almost smashed Becky's spleen when standing on her but Matt was surprisingly agile. They had a lot of fun, they gave us some cool Today Show pins. And they were really excited to do some live footage of us on our day of competition and we'll get to go in studio with Katie! So I think I'll get to meet her! They weren't sure when the show would air. The last I heard was the 23rd or the 26th and possibly something both days. I'll try and keep everyone posted.
It was exciting too because we heard that the USA Basketball team was interviewed by the papers and they were asked what sports they wanted to watch while they were at the Games. And they said Synchronized Swimming! I think we're getting some fans!
Tonight was fun too because our coach decided to take us to a team dinner. It was the first time we were "out in the streets" Well, actually a block from the American College of Greece. But we had a great meal with lots of American type food. My favorites were the assorted cheese platter and the assorted sausages platter. And then my ultimate favorite, the chocolate souffle. (For those of you that know me well, Timmy, Lisa, you know how much that meant to me. I didn't share it!)
And we get to take an 8 o'clock bus instead of the 7 o'clock tomorrow morning and we will be at the competition pool. It's going to be another great day.
The computers are acting up so it's been difficult to write this. While the computers have been down I've enjoyed talking with all of the other athletes that are in the computer room waiting for the computers to work again. It's so amazing to be surrounded by people that have all made similar sacrifices and been through similar pains. It makes me feel less alone and less crazy! Some of the athletes have just won gold medals and are absolutely ecstatic. And others have just lost but are still so happy to be here. The energy here is so fun.
But enough excitement for me tonight, I'm off to bed. I love hearing that people are enjoying my writing. It's great therapy for me to write every night. Love to you all from Athens!

Turning a corner...

Today was definitely a turning point for us, and much needed. Despite the arctic temperature of the pool, we were on fire! (I never would have guessed that it would be cold here but yesterday it was downright cold! And it was so windy! There were chairs and umbrellas flying across the deck into the pool and pine needles blanketing the surface of the water. We needed mashettis to try and do our ballet legs!)
Our coach, the one and only Christine Carver, started off the morning by reminding us of what a great nation we are representing. We are not a nation stilted by fear, we are not a nation that lies down and takes abuse, we are not a nation subject to gossip and rumor. We represent a nation of heroes and innovators and great thinkers that have led the United States to be the greatest nation in the world. In this arena of the world, the United States is in the lead, so why not in our arena of synchronized swimming? It may seem small but it is very relevant to us where we are right now in our lives. She went on to say that we must refuse to be afraid of our competition or have our spirits weakened by "anti-American sentiment" and politics. We must be proud and bold and lay everything on the line. And it started today. We also got to watch some video of our competition which just fueled us even more. No matter what the outcome of this Olympics is, every single one of us knows that we layed it all out today and we will continue to do so all the way through competition day. Our free program finally felt like a complete package. We finally all felt that burn you get in your tummy when you know everyone in pattern with you is right with you and pushing as hard as they know how. The spark was there, as we imagined an audience and our competitors watching us perform. We all felt the same thing at the end of the routine, and while it was not flawless, it was the right approach. After lunch, our duet was challenged to perform their technical routine and was truly was almost flawless. It was so inspiring that I couldn't help breaking out into song and adjusting the words from "God Bless America" to "God Bless our Duet-y" (of course I had some more great lyrics in perfect pentameter but I don't want to share them until I can get the lyrics copyrighted) Our duet will be leading the charge on the 23rd and setting the stage for the team to follow.
We finished up with our technical team that is coming together so well. It's really an accomplishement for us since technical teams have usually been our weaker event, but not this time!
On the bus ride home our team leader informed me that I would have the opportunity to do an interview for Australian radio. I was so excited because my boyfriend (the most patient and wonderful man alive) is from Perth, Australia. So, on the bus I was reviewing all of my Australian knowledge like how to pronounce "Aussie" (like Auzzie) and what Vegemite is, and the correct usage for the word "bonzer". But, come to find out it was a Canadian reporter from Toronto. So, I did the interview but I've set our media guy on a mission to get me an Aussie interview.
I have to go do a quick landdrill with the team, no rest for the weary! We are all looking forward to another great day. A great day that will be highlighted by a visit from Matt Lauer and Al Roker from the Today Show. Unfortunately my idol Katie Couric won't be there but we get to toss and Matt and Al in the pool so that should be lots of fun!
Be sure to check out our awesome women's water polo team and our dominant women's softball team. They are doing some serious damage and getting us all psyched up for our upcoming competition!
And thanks for all of the comments, they absolutely make my day. I'm so excited people are enjoying my experience here. And hello to Los Altos Rotary, I'll be visiting you when I get back and hopefully with a medal to show you!

Back in the Saddle again...

Whew, I was a little beat yesterday so I was unable to be clever and witty so I decided to try again the next day. I think the highlight today was sitting in the Athlete Services computer room and checking my e-mail and discovering simultaneously with my teammate Tammy Crow, that both of our journals were now a link on our Santa Clara Aquamaids website. Tammy and I love doing things together so how fitting that our journals be together on our hometown family website. Thanks Aquamaids, we love you!
Practice is intense, but that's how we like it. My sports psychologist reminded me last night that one of the most important contributions I bring to this team is my humor. We definitely needed it today. I'm not allowed to disclose the details to my practical joke (because it is soooo fabulous!) but no one is safe! I first nailed our coaches in the mornng and later nailed a few of my teammates and and some of the girls from the Women's Water Polo Team (they beat Hungary this morning and got interviewd by Matt Lauer tonight, they are the coolest girls!) Laughter is always the best medicine, especially with this group. The pressure and the strain from the Olympics can be overwhelming at times but a good laugh is perfect for easing tension and bringing things back into perspective. But the important thing for all of us to keep in mind is that we don't want to have any regrets. We can rest all we want when the Games are over but never again will this team be together preparing for an Olympic Games. Never again will we have the opportunity to achieve this kind of perfection. And finally, I'd like to leave everyone with one of our favorite quotes, "That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger." This team is strong! And we are anxiously preparing for the swim of our lives (one of Tammy's favorite quotes!) that we will be sharing together in the next few days. I can't believe it! Woo hoo! (Also said by Tammy)

A message for my parents

This was an e-mail that my Uncle sent to my dad. I thought it was so well said. Seeing my parents today at the Olympics was so special for me. They have been through all of the hard times with me, always by my side and always supporting me. No one who is in this Olympic Games could be where they are right now without support like I get from my parents. I know there are a lot of young synchro parents reading these journals I write and I thought it might be nice for you to hear a perspective on a journey like this. And mom and dad, I love you!


Cres, watching the Opening Ceremonies last night, I was thinking, what a righteous payoff for a great Dad. Felt so proud of you. All those thousands of trips to Santa Clara in tough traffic. All the smokey nights in the Bingo Parlor raising money for other parent's kids to compete in Europe, or someplace. Lauren's the star of the show, but last night I was thinking about you. The hundreds of times you had to interrupt what seemed so important at the moment to deliver this little twelve year old to practice, who probably didn't feel like going that day anyway. We've all admired you for years. What a story. Small waif with oversized eyes and smile and no end of sticktoitiveness, with parents willing to back her to the end no matter what, arrives at the Olympics and now having grown into the eyes and smile, marches onto this world stage wearing red, white and blue--a tall, bronze, American goddess oozing confidence and grace obtained somewhere along this long long road you've all traveled together. And none of it would have happened without you and Paula. I know you guys just did what parents are supposed to do, and others of us have done similar duty--but millions of others wouldn't have had what it took. They would have looked at each other on the hundredth practice day, facing a crammed Bayshore Freeway and said, "Let's try soccer, it's so much closer." So, in a way, last night was a celebration of Olympic calibre parents and you guys got the gold.

A Day Off!

Unbelievable! We got a day off! It certainly helped us enjoy our Opening Ceremonies more because we knew we didn't have to practice the next day. I slept in until 11:00 am, and I could've slept longer but my roommate Sara Lowe reminded me that we had a lot we needed to get done on our day off. We woke up and watched a little bit of table tennis and badminton on our Olympic Village live tv feed in our room. Then we set off to do laundry. We get a laundry bag that the village staff washes for us which fits about two pairs of underwear and a sock so I think it might take a while for us to get all of our laundry done. We had a leisurely lunch in the cafeteria and then got ready to go watch Men's Gymnastics. Before I go on, I know that before I mentioned the caf was one of my favorite places but lately there had been a "disturbance in the force", as they say. They seem to have a track of songs that play constantly at every meal. It's full of fabulous (I'm being facetious) titles like, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna, and the Beach Boys' "Kokomo" and of course you all remember my favorite, "Get on your feet" by Gloria Estefan. All of these songs are well and good until they have been played 923,492,296 times a day! Listen here Gloria!, I am not going to get on my feet no matter how many times you say it, I'm trying to eat! I think my next goal here is to give the dining services some new cds to play since I'm here for two more weeks!
So anyway, once I recovered from spontaneously combusting from listening to Gloria, we got on a bus to go watch Men's Gymnastics. I also made the venue a rendevous point to be able to see my parents who I haven't seen in over two weeks! Through the fabulous technology of binoculars, my parents were able to spot me across the arena and wave me down! I had so much fun catching up with them. They have lots of wild stories from visiting with friends and family they have visited all throughout Germany and England. My mom also showed me the water spritzer I bought them to help cool them off. They hadn't used it yet so I volunteered to be the guinea pig. In hindsight I realize I should have let Dad be the guinea pig because when Mom opened the valve I got absolutely drenched from the uncontrollable spray of water. I was "cooled off" for the next half an hour.
Well, the USA Men's Gymnastics team won, no doubt thanks to our fabulous support. Blaine Wilson did slam on his back during his uneven bar routine but I hope that wasn't our fault! And we headed back to the village for dinner, e-mails and bed! Today was just what we needed to gear us up and ready for an intense week of training.

Opening Ceremonies Day and Night

Whew, Friday the 13th, a little scary. Oh yeah, and the day of Opening Ceremonies. hee hee
We had another early morning. But breakfast was more exciting with an influx of new athletes that had arrived for Opening Ceremonies. We got to see our good friends, the Olympic duet from the Netherlands and our other friends from the Czech Olympic team both being coached by former synchro gold medalists from the 1996 US Olympic team. The Netherland athletes get to ride these cool orange bikes around the village so we asked the girls if we can ride around on one of theirs sometime. But our coach said not until after we compete. bummer!
The other exciting person at breakfast was Yao Ming, the giant Chinese basketball player that also plays in the NBA. We all very subtly smacked each other, pointed, and yelled out, "Look! It's Yao!" I'm sure he's pretty sick of that! (At the Opening, I got some great footage of Yao towering over everyone when he came to shake hands with the NBA players, I come up to his waist!)
We had a great practice in the morning, all of us were sort of running on empty but riding high with the anticipation of Opening Ceremonies. We had a short press conference after practice with our fabulous hometown newspapers from Riverside and San Jose. And then it was back to the village to get ready for the ceremonies! I ate enough food for lunch and dinner in one meal at the caf because I knew we wouldn't be able to eat much later on. Then we had a quick land session before getting ready for the opening. There was a lot of debate on how to wear our hair with our ceremony hats, and how to lace the shoes, etc. But it was all worked out and we were ready and headed to the buses looking a little like girl scouts in our official ceremony uniform. The buses were loaded by 5:30 and we were off. We got to be on the bus with some of the NBA players (including Tim Duncan, who thinks I'm funny! I agree of course!)) Every country was corralled into the gymnastics stadium to waited for their country to be called. Our "dinner snack" consisted of two green bananas, a banana powerbar and water. I think I've had my banana quota for the week. While waiting we mingled with some runners from Zambia, the one female athlete from Iraq, the flag bearer for Germany and lots of other International athletes. I was also informed that as a team captain, I could walk at the front of the delegation, behind the flag bearer and then more likely be on TV. But I really wanted to walk with my teammates, my sisters. The scoreboard flashed 30 min and 10 min warnings for each country.
And then the real fun began......
I don't think it hit me where I was until our delegation stated heading down the ramp into the stadium. Slowly I began catching glimpses of the mass of people in the stands, and the lights from the rafters flashing and the music blaring and the roar of the crowd. All of the American athletes were feeling the excitement at the same time and we began chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" and the basketball players adding "What?! What?!" And then in a burst, we hit the track. What a rush, almost indescribable! I've heard so many stories about being a part of the Opening Ceremonies but there's nothing like experiencing it. I was clutching my teammates hands and just saying, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. We would look into the stands and see people waving American flags at us frantically and I was moved to tears each time I saw them. My arm was so tired from waving, there were so many wonderful cheering people I wanted to wave to! I kept looking back at my coach Chris as well. This was her third Opening Ceremonies and she was still having the time of her life, along with our assistant coach Linda, crying her eyes out. And our fabulous team manager, Nancy "The Nancenator" Hines was practically skipping, bad knee and all! The joy and the emotion and the spirit in the air was almost palpable. There were no boos or jeers, just elation and excitement and support. Everyone screaming, "Good Luck!" and "We're so proud of you!". Everyone of the athletes were hugging each other, and some crying and others slapping high fives. Everyone was holding up their video cameras trying to capture it all, but nothing will ever be like being there. My parents were in the audience somewhere, I could swear I heard my dad, but I'm not sure. They had their binoculars and were able to spot me as we walked in. Probably the most exciting thing was that we all felt like one giant American team. Before that evening, all of the sports did their own thing. They stay in their own apartments, they eat together with their own team, they train together. But the Opening Ceremonies gave us a chance to all be together. It was amazing that everyone was jazzed about being there. You could be the most famous athlete there, used to attention, or an unrecognized athlete, no one was safe from the thrill of walking on that track representing your country. Once we were in the middle of the stadium, I had fun joking around with the other teams around us, and standing next to Lisa Leslie from the WNBA, and asking Dawn Staley, the flag bearer about her experience. I also spent time with Rulon Gardner, the wrestler who shared some of his amazing stories with me. I got to see my friends Kimiko Soldati and all of the divers. We were all together, and so proud to be a part of the United States Olympic Team.
They had filled the floor of the stadium with water bearers which we were all grateful to see since it was a bit warm! While waiting for the rest of the countries we all found some ground space in order to rest our feet. We were right below the tree that came up from the ground where the head of this Olympics gave her speech. We could hear her voice and then hear the delay of the echo. We were right next to the line where the man with the torch ran through to go light the Olympic flame. And we were all thrilled by the lighting of the torch that was so stunning from the middle of the stadium.
After the highs of the ceremonies, there was the very unceremonius exit. We came to the ceremonies on designated buses but it was a free for all to get on a bus back to the village. I was one of the last because there was no way I was going to wrestle a 6 foot plus volleyball player from Bulgaria for a seat on the bus. We all ran straight for the caf and dove into pizza and chinese takeout type boxes. And cookies of course...... I hit my room about 2 am, exhausted and happy. We were all full of smiles and tears, and very quietly acknowledging what a thrill we had just had. I will never forget my Opening Ceremonies experience. And the last thing I have to say is.........It's good to be an American!

Look! The very next day!

Ok, I'm doing much better now! It's the next day! Ok, so as I was swimming today I thought of some more fun stuff I wanted to share with everyone.
So one of my favorite places in the village, is the cafeteria, I know that really isn't hard to believe. There's all of this free food, 24 hours a day! They have an asian cuisine section and a greek cuisine section and pizza and pasta section ( I spend a lot of time there). And the coolest is a McDonald's where you just walk up and order what you want and they give it to you, for free! Why can't the Taco Bell across the street from my pool at home be like that?
The only thing that the cafeteria needs to work on is their music selection. Being the music guru that I am, I would have gladly compiled some cds for them to play. Because honestly, if i hear Gloria Estefan's "Get on your feet" one more time, I may spontaneously combust.
But back to practice.... Someone high up in the USOC was very smart and decided to by a University out here for all of the American athletes to train at. Not exactly pocket change I'm sure. It's a beautiful University in the mountains and all of their athletic facilities have been completely revamped. Our pool is gorgeous and you can see the whole city of Athens right from the water, it's almost like we're swimming on top of the world. The pool is run by our very own Jimi Flowers, the pool manager at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, so we are very well taken care of there. There is a beautiful view of the smog nestled on the mountains from our pool too. It's very similar to Los Angeles. But we haven't noticed pollution at all other than seeing it.
Tomorrow is the Opening Ceremonies and we are getting very excited about it. We have agreed to only take a few video cameras and share the footage later so that we don't look like dorks video taping each other throughout the whole ceremony.
Practice is going great, we had a very pivotal day today with a lot of improvement that was duly noted by the Japanese team warming up at the other end of the pool. Watch out world, here we come!
Thanks for reading my blog, made possible by my buddy Becky, thank god one of us is computer savvy!
Love you!
~Lauren
PS See you after Opening Ceremonies!
PPS For any aquamaids reading this, tammy and I are trying to not put the same things in our blogs so that you don't get Olympicked out, so sorry if there is crossover! hee hee

I'm a little behind!

First of all, I can't believe I'm at the Olympics! I've waited "a few" years for this and the fact that it is finally here is pretty amazing. I also have to thank my dear friend and former duet partner Rebecca "Becky" Martin for setting this up for me. She was very adamant about it and of course felt that everyone would love to hear about the Olympic experience, Lauren stlye.
Here's a quick recap, since I am a little behind.
August 5
We left for the Olympics today with a fabulous brunch and party in our honor thrown by our head coach, Chris Carver. Michele, our assistant coach topped off the morning by ordering a very randy Austin Powers to wish us good luck, it was hilarious. I'm sure it's shocking but he managed to get me to come forward and perform a little dance with him and our fabulous Synchro Dad Ken Azebu who perhaps is not as outgoing as myself. I think he really showed me up though! Complete with a Hummer limo, we were on our way to the airport.
August 6
Whew, survived the plane ride, a few of us got to be in the preferred seating area on the plane which had so much legroom that my teammate, Becky Jasontek, decided to sleep on the floor,(I only stepped on her head twice, oops!)
We arrived at the village, after the bus made about 4 U-turns (safety precaution?) and went through a very thorough screening of our luggage. After being in our Olympic Village apartment for about um, 30 seconds, we grabbed our suits and headed to the pool.
We had the pool all to ourselves so we decided to mark our territory by pouring water from our home pool, into the competition pool. We are now masters of our domain.
August 7-9 ( I don't want to keep you here all day)
We have since pounded the water daily and had some good practices, and some ugly ones. We have dined next to the Chinese basketball team and the Venezuelan gymnastics team. (We fit in somewhere in the middle I suppose) We have mastered the bus sysytem in the village to save our legs and our extension. We attended the Flag Raising ceremony. I even did an interview with Der Spiegel (a german magazine) Unfortunately, the majority of the vocabulary that I remembered included words like good, bad, nice, happy. I don't think the reporter was terribly impressed with me so perhaps there will be no debut for me in Spiegel magazine. We also found the Iraqi swimmer that I met at the World Championships in Barcelona. He introduced us to his teammates from Judo, Tae Kwon Do, and wrestling. There were a few uncomfortable references to bombs and missles but I tried very hard to ignore them and just smile. I guess it worked because we all took pictures together and even ended up in the Olympic Village newspaper!
We also have our very own Secret Service Security Agent named Terry. However we have dubbed him "Superman" since he is going to be responsible for the 10 of us for the next three weeks. That's quite a job! He even comes complete with dark sunglasses and a very official earpiece. And he says, "Copy that" a lot which I think is way cool! I since then have decided to end every sentence with "Copy that" as well but I think if I keep that up I will be pummeled soon.
August 10
Today was Stephanie, our youngest member's 19th birthday! The night before we put up a big poster with lots of pictures of Puppys (that's her nickmame) and wiener dogs (because she really wants one) Shasta (Becky Jasontek) even found a poem called "Ode to the Wiener Dog" We also strung streamers from her door, but I guess she got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and discovered them early. We had an incredibly intense practice (you get picked on more when it's your b-day too). Last year on her birthday we were leaving for Pan Ams the next day, and on our swim through, we dropped her on the cement during our deckwork. Oops! Fortunately there were no injuries this year, just party hats and cookies and a mention in the USA Daily (the USA delegation newspaper) All in all, a very good day.
August 11
Tonight was very special for me. As team captain I have a lot of responsibilities but one of the coolest ones yet was to be on the committee to nominate the flag bearer for the United States in the Opening Ceremonies. It was an hour and a half meeting where 14 nominees were introduced and spoken about. What an amazing group of people there are in these Games. The nominees were from rowing, diving, Modern Pentathalon, Beach Volleyball, Swimming, Athletics, Judo, Shooting, Wquestrain, Women's Basketball, Wrestling, Sailing,Fencing, and I got to nominate our very own Becky Jasontek. There were people that were a part of their 10th Olympic Games (an athlete and a coach), a man with testicular cancer poised to still win gold at this Olympics, military nominees, 2 and three time Olympic Gold Medalists and several others. I do know the winner, but I am not allowed to tell anyone because it will be announced exclusively on the Today Show tomorrow. But it was really neat to be a part of it.
Well, I really need to get to sleep, I just had to set this up before the Games were over! Lots of love to you all, what amazing friends and family I have. Think good thoughts!
Love,
Lauren