And that's a wrap!

10 medals, including 4 gold, and the Canadians have shown they are ready to take on the world. I've been to a lot of major meets in my lifetime and this meet has to be one of the highlights. Everyone swam well. EVERYONE! Even yours truly, who finally went a best time in the 200 back after 8 YEARS! Yes that's right my best time is from 1999. I actually couldn't believe it when I saw the scoreboard. I knew I was having a great race because I was trying to keep up with the American beside me who swam a 2:11 in heats and was with her and the leaders at the 150. I ended up with a 2:12.5 but I know I can go even faster next time. It's such a relief to finally break that 2:13 barrier which I've known for a long time that I could do. Finally the swim gods were working with me! And it's a good sign when you can do it on the last day of the last meet of the year in some pretty tough conditions (I'm talking about the heat!). So I'm excited for next year, the big Olympic year.

Hope those of you that have been following this blog have enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at Team Canada at a major Games. There's lots of challenges you face in these Games settings - transportation, weather, line ups, general language confusion, just to name a few - but that's just the reality of international competitions. We've proved that we can deal with whatever comes our way and we're ready to take on the world at next years Olympics.

Go Canada!

Bronze!

Two more bronze medals tonight put us at 7 so far. Not too shabby! Brian picked up a bronze in the 200 free with a Phelps-style 15m underwater rocket launch on the last 50 to catch the field. And then in the most exciting race of the night (my opinion only) we won a bronze medal in the 4x100 medley relay! And we also broke the Canadian record by over a second. I almost went a best time in my 100 back lead out - just 5/100ths off that time I did in 1999. So if you haven't gone a best time in awhile... try 8 years! I'll get it soon I swear. But I'm very happy with the result and the medal. Annamay told us all right before the race "Let's rock this...." (she may have added another inappropriate word to the end of that, but this is a G-rated blog so I'll leave that to you to fill in the blanks). I guess that will have to be our new relay motto and share that secret with the boys relay tomorrow.

So just one more day - 10 sessions down and 2 to go! I've got the big 200 back tomorrow. I'm feeling great so far so hopefully tomorrow will the best yet.

And I know my captions are way off with the pics below, but I was getting kicked off the internet and now I can't be bothered to change them. Check out all the pics at www.freestylephotography.com

That's my roomie! I taught her everything she knows.

















Look that's me!


Team Canada Superfans

Who won? "This guy!"

Go relay go!

Gold rush!

Canada captured two more gold medals in the past two nights with Brian's win in the 200 IM and Darryl's surprise victory in the 100 fly. After Brian won he sat on the lane rope and did his infamous "this guy" pose, with his thumbs pointing at his shoulders. Silly BJ. Annamay also came through with a strong finish for silver in the women's 200 breast. Looks like the Dolphins are maving some hefty waves here. So far the swimmers have collected all of Team Canada's medals. Perhaps that means there will be another swimmer chosen as flagbearer for the closing ceremonies. We'll have to wait and see for that.

I had my 100 back tonight and swam a season best time of 1:02.40. I'm pretty happy with that, but I know that I can actually go way faster. I've got another shot with the lead out on the medley relay tomorrow night, so hopefully I can put together the race that I know I can do.

Today we actually saw the sun for a bit in the morning! It was nice to whip out those shades that I've been carrying around all weekend. Of course I decided to take my umbrella out of my bag for finals, and we had a 10 minute downpour monsoon-style during warm-up. Definitely appreciating the fact that the pool is outdoors but has a roof covering it.

Other than that we're not up to much more besides swimming, drinking water, sleeping, drinking water, eating and oh yeah, drinking some more water. Gotta stay on top of that humidity.

Two more days of competition to go.... Go Canada!

Sandy's Photos "That Will Rock Your World". He said it, not me.

A sweet ride in a trolley.












Home sweet home! Though I think we live in B6.
















Annamay and I, who just bought lovely paintings. I have no idea how to rotate that pic.











The ever-popular bikes.















Group cuddle - Sandy, Annamay and I.















Dolphins team shot at the airport.

O Canada!

This team is on fire! We started off Day two finals with our first gold medal of the Games by butterfly rocket Mackenzie Downing. Audrey Lacroix just missed a medal in a solid 4th place finish. We had a whole bunch of great swims and pbs throughout the night, including my own in the 50 back. That's gotta be the first time I've done two pb's in a backstroke event in one day in at least 10 years. No joke. So needless to say I'm pretty happy with that. To finish off the night the men's 4x100 free relay had the race of their lives to finish second. It was so exciting and intense as they pulled off a come-from-behind silver medal finish. They're take-overs were so good that we were a little nervous in the stands until they announced the results were official. Way to go guys! We've got four more days of competition to go and momentum on our side. Can't wait to see what else we can do.

This morning we had another solid prelims with lots of swimmers advancing to the finals tonight. I've got today off and will use it to rest up and get ready for the 100 back tomorrow. I've got speed on my side right now so hopefully it will translate into good things. I'm not sure if I'll stick around and watch finals live tonight or head back to the village and watch on tv. It's good to get out of the heat but I'm not sure if it will be shown on tv or not, so I'll make the call later on tonight.

Anyways village life is good and we're on a roll in the pool. Anytime you are in a Games situation you know to expect the unexpected and this experience is no different. We've all pretty much adjusted to the heat and settled into our routines so it's pretty smooth sailing. And you know you've got it good when you're biggest worry for the day is that you've just finished your fourth book of the trip and need to find another to read.

Until next time... Go Canada!

And they're off... Day One Recap

The meet started yesterday and we had some solid swims. A fourth place finish by the women's 4x100m relay, a major breakthrough 200 back for Jordan (who takes off 12 seconds in two months??? that guy!), a pb for Tara in the 800 (and for Chanelle, I think?) to name a few. Callum made a faux pas and scratched from the 200 back B final to save up for the 50 back, which he thought was on day two. It's actually on day three. Oops. Now his 50 back will be really really good!

I swam this morning in the heats of the 50 back and went a pb - took off a whole 6/100ths! I'm hoping to go much faster tonight. My 100 pace feels awesome right now, but as for my 50... not so much. It's a good setup for the 100 on day 4. We've got lots of other finals tonight with 2 girls in the 100 fly final, Jen in the 50 back final, and Annamay and Michelle advancing in the 200 IM. We might have more finals but honestly I left the pool before prelims ended and have no idea how everyone did. You're on your own for this one.

Things are going semi-smoothly here. It's just like every other major multi-sport event experience. Everything here is on Thai time. Which means it will get done when it gets done. The buses are a bit tricky to get home from the pool. Apparently waving your arm doesn't mean "please stop" here. And the cafeteria is equipped for only a few thousand athletes, not 10,000, so line ups are common. At least we have the ever-recognizable 7-11 right outside our residence for snacks (healthy ones coach!). Village traffic is pretty funny with all the free bikes available and the international confusion of "which side of the road to I walk/ride on?" It's very amusing. As the famous coach Tom Johnson would say, "Roll with the punches". (And he says a lot of wise quotes - anyone remember "you can be tired when you're dead!") We're rolling here Tommy.

All in all, we're having a great time and everyone is relaxed and enjoying themselves. Sandy was supposed to email me photos he's taken so far but they're currently lost in cyberspace. He assures me there are some real gems. Stay tuned.

Go Canada!

Ohmigod it's Brian Johns! Ahhhhhh!

Scott's birthday dinner and cake. We made him share.

Opening Ceremonies

Today is the opening ceremonies. Also noteworthy is that it's one year today to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Brian will make his debut at his first ever major games opening ceremonies by carrying the flag for team Canada. The only other swimmer attending the event is Ryan Tomicic. I opted out at the last minute because we were supposed to board a bus at 1pm and won't expect to be home until at least 11pm. That's a little too long for an old girl like me. I'll watch it on tv instead and do my laundry. Good luck Brian. Watch your step and wave to the camera.

Village life has been pretty tame as we get ready for the swimming to start tomorrow. Each night we've made an appearance at the makeshift "disco" aka dancing spot in the middle of the Village to get our groove on (just activating the legs coach!). Emily Cordonier (Volleyball, UBC and bar star dancing machine) started a dance-off with a Thai transvestite. I'd say it ended in a tie. And then this whole group of transvestites did the dance routine to an entire Pussycat Dolls song on stage (dedicated to you Hawzey!). Good times obviously.

Last night we also lit a hot-air-balloon-lamp and sent it off into the night. First you light this ring on the bottom ("Look it's a ring of fire! I hope that's not a sign of things to come..." - said by yours truly. If you don't get it, don't ask) and once it's in flames the whole balloon floats up and awy. Ours almost lit a tree on fire (oops) but made a miraculous recovery and floated away. Not sure where they ended up. Hopefully they didn't burn down anything...

Anyways the team is looking great and we're ready to get this show on the road. The action starts tomorrow but I don't race until Day 2. Go Canada!


Now for the good stuff. Mentionable quotes so far:

"You could walk, but it's shorter if you run." - Joe Bartoch

"I'm a whole lot of man." - Sandy Lockhart

"Did anyone try the brownies this morning?" - Caitlyn Merdith
"Uh actually they were meat." - Me.

"I'm a man. Did you feel it?" - some African to our team manager, Josey.

"Do you girls want to get with him?" - Josey, after Brian was announced as flag bearer
"No Josey. We just want a picture." - Me again.


I'm clearly kicking butt on the quote board to date. More to come I'm sure.

Dinner at the American Club in Singapore ->





Michelle, Annamay and I looking hot, as usual










Pool at the Singapore Sports School








Girl's team shot - unfortunate posing captured

One night in Bangkok....

Hello swimfans!
Welcome to my adventures with Team Canada at the 2007 Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand. I've been off to a slow blogging start as there was a lack of internet at our staging camp in Singapore and I can't exactly read Thai yet, so it's taken awhile for me to figure out how to change the language on this computer. So I'll recap quickly here.

Just spent a week at the Singapore Sports School getting ready for the meet. The facilities were amazing - two outdoor 10-lane 50m pools - and the food was awesome. There was a little issue with the pillows. Some found them to be rather large and hard as a rock (I brought my own so I didn't care). Lots went out and bought their own. Callum Ng bought three and then left them in the trunk of the taxi. Oops. Luckily enough he went back to the mall to get more and what do you know, the taxi was there too! But we'll keep making fun of him for it, 'cause it's still funny.

Now we're finally in Bangkok and it's quite the culture shock. It's also ridiculously hot. And the humidity. Not fun. It's at times like these that I'm glad I'm a swimmer and not an outdoor sport. The Athlete's Village is pretty nice and the rooms are alright. I'm rooming with Pan Am Games star Annamay Pierse (who taught me how to find the English on this website - that's what roomies are for!). There are bikes everywhere and it's a free-for-all system. Most are missing peddles and handle bars, and brakes are definitely a luxary. But they're fun. I've already got one cut from the peddles so we'll see what my legs look like in a week.

And in good news... BRIAN JOHNS IS NAMED CANADA'S FLAGBEARER! We're all very excited for him, even though I'm not sure if I'll go to the opening ceremonies. It's gonna be an 8-hour sweatfest event, so I'm still thinking about it (I'm having flashbacks to Korea 2003 and being soaked for hours). I gave him some tips this morning (don't: fall, walk too fast, walk too slow, cry or drop the flag) since I carried it in 2003. I'm sure he'll enjoy it.

Anyways that's all for today. I'll try to keep you updated on all the action and gossip as it unfolds.