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!