Women 100 back – 17 heats; Rachel Bootsma in Heat 15 (59.69); Missy Franklin in Heat 16 (59.54); Natalie Coughlin in Heat 17 (1:00.71).
Missy…
Natalie…
Men 200 free – 13 heats; Conor Dwyer & Michael Phelps (1:48.31) in Heat 12; Garrett Weber-Gale, Ricky Berens, Ryan Lochte (1:48.12) in Heat 13.
Michael (with Conor in the lane next to him)…
Ryan (his Olympic tattoo and Ricky in the lane next to him in the third picture)…
Ricky…
Women 100 breast – 16 heats; Breeja Larson in Heat 14; Jessica Hardy & Micah Lawrence in Heat 15; Rebecca Soni, Amanda Beard in Heat 16.
Men 100 back – 13 heats; Matt Grevers & Ryan Murphy in Heat 11; Nick Thoman & Ryan Lochte in Heat 13
Women 400 free – 12 heats; Becca Mann & Katie Hoff in Heat 10; Elizabeth Beisel, Allison Schmitt, Katie Ledecky in Heat 11; Chloe Sutton & Kate Ziegler in Heat 12.
AquaZone:
Ian Crocker was one of the first swimmers on the schedule for autographs at the AquaZone, so we headed there as soon as prelims ended to be in line to meet him. He was running late, so Josh Davis (gold medalist in 1996 Olympics in Barcelona and 2000 Olympics in Sydney) talked with us for a while until Ian arrived. Josh had one of his medals there, and Ryan was able to wear it!
Ian Crocker arrived, so then we were able to talk with him for a few minutes and get his autograph on Ryan’s shirt. Ian was a medalist in the butterfly in 2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing (note the Beijing medal on the table). He is best known as the first man to swim the 100 fly under 51 seconds!!!
One of the activities in the AquaZone was the bungee run. After we talked with Ian, Ryan enjoyed seeing how far he could run against the bungee.
One of the amazing opportunities in the AquaZone was the “Michael Phelps Swim Spa Challenge.” Ryan saw it yesterday, and knew he wanted to do it. He changed into his suit (swimmers always have their suits with them, you know), and reported to the starter. When he got in, the coach had him swim freestyle at his own speed for a couple of minutes, just to get used to the feel of the swim spa. Then they turned it up to “Michael Phelps speed.” As we watched swimmers before Ryan do it, most of them were immediately thrown to the back of the pool as the speed was turned up. Ryan made it 14 seconds against Michael’s speed. It was pretty fun to watch. (Notice several other people watching Ryan swim, including some random person taking a video of him!)
My camera has a sport setting, which takes 25 consecutive pictures in just a couple of seconds with the push of the button. I have been SO pleased that I decided on this camera for that option. I have been able to get so many cool pictures, both here at the trials and of Ryan’s events, that I would have missed if I just would have had one click to get it right. The down side is that I have hundreds of pictures to go through. Yesterday I took 1637 pictures! Normally, I only charge my camera a couple of times a month. But I have taken so many pictures (and the sport setting takes extra battery power) that my camera battery DIED toward the end of the day in the AquaZone! I didn’t even have a working camera for the finals! I was SO disappointed! In comparison, I only ended up with 609 pictures from today.
The last swimmer we stood in line to see was Rowdy Gaines! Most people know that Rowdy is a sports commentator for ESPN and NBC. But Rowdy was a member of the 1980 Olympic team (the US boycotted the Olympics that year), and a gold medalist in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Although my camera battery had died, I was able to take a picture with my phone. Thank goodness!
We left the AquaZone and waited in the lobby of the CenturyLink Center until the doors opened for us to go in to the arena. While we were playing a game together on the iPad, we heard some excitement toward the bottom of the escalator. We went over to see who was coming down the escalator, and it was Ryan Lochte! Keep in mind that my camera was dead. I only had my phone. My Ryan bought a Ryan Lochte hat at a meet in May, and had been wearing it constantly in hopes that he would get close enough to Ryan Lochte for him to sign it. HE DID!!! I snapped this quick picture with my phone as Lochte walked by, and then this picture of my OVERJOYED little fan! Now HIS trip is complete!
Here is the photo-free recap of the evening finals and medals.
Finals:
Women 100 fly – 1=Dana Vollmer (56.50); 2=Claire Donahue; 3=Kathleen Hersey; Christine Magnuson in 6th; Natalie Coughlin in 7th.
Men 200 free (semis) – Matt MCLean, Charlie Houchin, Davis Tarwater, Peter Vanderkaay in Heat 1; Ricky Berens, Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps in Heat 2.
Women 100 breast (semis) – Breeja Larson & Annie Chandler in Heat 1; Micah Lawrence Rebecca Soni, Jessica Hardy, Amanda Beard in Heat 2.
Women 100 fly medal – Dana Vollmer
Men’s 100 breast – 1=Brendan Hansen (59.68); 2=Eric Shanteau
Women’s 400 free – 1=Allison Schmitt (4:02.84); 2=Chloe Sutton. 3rd Katie Ledecky (her grandma & cousin sat next to us); Elizabeth Beisel in 5th; Kate Ziegler in 7th.
Men’s 1—back (semis) – Nick Thoman, Ryan Murphy in Heat 1; Matt Grevers in Heat 2.
Men’s 100 breast medal – This was the part I was most sad about missing with my camera. As Brendan Hansen rose up on the podium for his medal, he was down on one knee, head bowed, and both arms above his head doing the “Hook ‘em horns” sign. The crowd went wild!
Women’s 100 back (semis) – Rachel Bootsma in Heat 1; Natalie Coughlin, Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Pelton in Heat 2.
Women’s 400 free medal – Allison Schmitt
As Ryan and I drove the 30 minutes back to Rachael’s house, we talked about what an amazing day it was, and how it far surpassed our expectations. I said, “I can’t imagine that tomorrow could be any better!”
No comments:
Post a Comment