Things Are Going Swimmingly

Monday July 29, 2024

Olympic Trivia

• The first Olympic games were held in 776 BC and took 6 months to complete

• The original sports were wrestling, boxing, long-jump, javelin, discus, and chariot racing.

• Each of the Olympic Medals this year include a piece of the original iron from the Eiffel Tower.

Getting Around in Paris

We have been very impressed by how easy it has been to find our way to the venues (and back) in Paris. The City and the Olympic Organizers have done a fabulous job getting things streamlined and then communicating with the fans. To start with, there is a great app that tells you the best route from where you are to the event site you want to attend. It includes time estimates, crowd estimates, and any delays that could effect your travel. Metro routes, train schedules, and walking times are all listed in order and usually provide several options.

A huge number of volunteers are everywhere, to answer questions and direct us to the sites. And they even helped us with the metro tickets!

At the metro stations there are a variety of helpful pink signs that stand out and provide directions to the venues to help you stay on the right route. Starting from the left these signs are from outside the station, on the wall of the station, and inside the metro car.

Today's Event

Swimming - Heats

Location: Paris La Défense Arena (top left quadrant of the events map in yesterday's blog).

From this location you can see all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe, as this newer Arc was designed to align with the original.

The swimming heats started with an amazing light show in the pool, accompanied by music. The show was uplifting and put the crowd in a great mood for the competitions. (Can you see the swimmer in the last picture?)

Highlights of the Event - The crowd, as usual, was electrifying and celebratory. It is no wonder that records are broken at every Olympics! I can only imagine how motivated I might be if tens of thousands of people were cheering me on to victory.

We saw three different Swimming events today: Women's 400m Individual Medley, Women's 100m Backstroke, and Men's 800m Freestyle. Since it's early in the Olympic schedule, the events today were qualifying heats. Each event is unique and we were able to see some of the World Record (WR) and Olympic Record (OR) holders compete today. And, as with any athletic event, there were surprises and no brainers. But, the most surprising outcome was that two of the athletes who held either the World Record or Olympic Record did not move beyond the heats. That was so sad. There is so much pressure to perform at the Olympics. At the same time, it is the experience of a lifetime! Did you hear about the athlete from Australia who chose to amputate a finger (instead of elective surgery and missing the Olympics) so he could play on his Olympic Field Hockey Team????

Women's 400m Medley - two heats with a total of 16 swimmers. The 8 fastest times went on to the finals. Finals were held this evening (we watched it on TV) where WR McIntosh from Canada did not break her WR, but she won Gold. Two USA swimmers - Grimes and Weyant won Silver and Bronze respectively.

Left to right: Weyant (USA), McIntosh (Canada), Grimes (USA)

Grimes (USA) during the breaststroke of the 400m Individual Medley.

Women's 100m Backstroke - 36 swimmers in 5 heats. The 16 swimmers with the fastest times qualify for the semifinals. Both the WR Smith (USA) and OR McKeown (Australia) competed and both did well in the heats and later in the day in the semifinals. As of this blog (the finals are July 30), Smith and Berkoff (USA) and McKeown have the fastest heat and semifinal times and will square off in the finals. GO TEAM USA! We want a new World and Olympic Record!

Left to right are Smith (USA) and McKeown (Australia)

Men's 800m Freestyle - First, this is a long race where swimmers have to complete 16 laps. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it. Anyway, there were 4 heats with 31 total swimmers. The 8 fastest times will move on to the finals tomorrow. Both the WR holder Zhang (China) and the OR holder Romanchuk (Ukraine) competed in the heats. Neither athlete qualified unfortunately. The good news is that one USA swimmer - Finke will compete in the finals in lane 2. His heat time was a mere 2 seconds off the OR. We'll be cheering for you Finke! Make sure you watch it!

Left to right - Finke (USA) and Zhang (China)

Tomorrow we have tickets for Rugby Sevens, all the rave in France, Italy, Georgia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, British Isles, and many South Pacfic islands (but not Guam). We know very little about the game, but we have been watching some of the Olympic matches and determined to figure it out! Plus, our good friend Nicolle, who moved to France nine years ago just loves the game!

Ready to learn...