8.8.08

There is nothing better than watching the Olympics. Ok being in the Olympics might take the cake but I gave up that hope years ago so I am resigned to watching from afar. This summer is especially exciting because I know...well am acquainted with a few of the athletes that will compete in the coming weeks. Here are a few to watch.

Kate Ziegler:

I cannot say that Kate is my favorite person in the whole entire world, but in the spirit of the Olympics will cheer for the hometown "hero" anyway. Our paths cross less and less these days but I wish her the best in Beijing. She will swim in both the 400m and 800m Free.

Sam Stitt:

Sam is still the goofy kid that I swam with on the Highlands Whomping Turtles for a season or two during his junior and senior year in high school. Sam will be competing the Men's Quadruple Sculls. Along with Sam, Giuseppe Lanzone will compete in the Men's Four. I do not know Giuseppe, but he is from Annandale, Va.




Stewart Glenister shouldn't make a big splash in the Men's 50 Free representing American Samoa, but I'll be on the lookout for him. He is currently serving our country as a cadet at
West Point. Go Army!

Serbian Summer

I have been learning a bit of Serbian this summer from my Serbian pals at the pool. Jelena and Srdjan have taught me many different phrases in Serbian but to my surprise, I don't have a lot of opportunities to show off my skills.

The Ending of an Era and the Turning of a Page

The Highlands Swim Team regular season is now officially over. I have mixed feelings about this because it was my first year back coaching since the summer of 2005...that seems like forever ago. I enjoy spending time with the kids and seeing them improve as the season goes on, but I can't wait for some free time to relax and work on the online class that I have been trying to finish. You can't really finish unless you start. Next week I am going to finish my book, get my nails done and hopefully not smell of chlorine and old towels. The season has been wonderful though. The Turtles swam fast and came out with a 4-1 season. Stephen's medley relay team broke the NVSL record and I now have a fan club comprised of girls ages 5-12. I could not have asked for a better summer and I will greatly miss my Turtles next year.

Another thing I am looking forward to is Katherine coming home from summer semester at BYU. Only 24 more days to go!

America's Favorite Passtime

vs.

I highly recommend going out to one of the local minor league baseball games. My cousins Tiffany, Emily and I saw the Frederick Keys play the Myrtle Beach Pelicans this weekend and it was very enjoyable and entertaining; I even won Fan of the Game!

Coaches Relay

Last week at the Division 3 Relay Carnival, they had all 6 teams field a coaches relay. I was drafted by our head coach (my older brother) as one of the 4 coaches to swim. It was a 100 medley relay so I only had to swim 1 lap of backstroke and I thank my intermediate swimming class at BYU for keeping me in such great shape. I did though have to squeeze myself into a rather small suit for the race. Although we were the only team not to have eligible NVSL swimmers on our relay, our team took first and I now proudly boast that Highlands Swim and Tennis Club has the best swim coaches both in and out of the water.

My New Blog

My cousin Erika has been trying to convince me to start a blog, and with swim team winding down I have decided to give in and start blogging.