Northwestern University Athletics
Hello From the Olympic Village!
8/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Aug. 9, 2004
ATHENS, Greece - Greetings from Greece! How is everything? I arrived at the Olympic Village yesterday and it is amazing. To begin with, it is huge! I would have never imagined that it would be so big! There is everything here as well. I can go anywhere and order whatever I want. For example, there is a McDonalds and other various restaurants that I can walk into them and not have any money at all to have anything I want. I'm telling you, I can live here for eternity and be the happiest guy alive.
Anyway, so far the training has been magnificent. I just came back from altitude training up at the Bulgarian Olympic Training Center and I feel great and ready. The training up at Belmeken was really hard due to the lack of oxygen, but I survived. Every day we worked really hard with the National Team and we're really pumped and ready to compete in less than a week!
The food in Bulgaria was great. Since it is my favorite, I ate a ton, but kept my weight status in control. Here, on the other hand, it will be hard, since there is ice cream, pies, pizzas, tacos, desserts, and any kind of food imaginable -- and the hardest part is that it's unlimited! I'm in trouble!
So we're going to the Olympic pool today for the first time and I'll write you afterwards to let you know how that experience was. Speaking of experiences, when we left our national airport in Sofia yesterday, the media was crazy. I couldn't see clearly from the flashing lights for a couple of minutes after we got on the plane because they were taking so many pictures. That was funny. But the airplane ride with the Olympic team gave me a lot of spirit and pumped me up. The ride from Sofia was a little under two hours and getting to know some of our other Olympic athletes was really cool. It reminded me of when we were at our Olympic Training Center; I got to meet athletes, not only from other countries, but our Olympic athletes from various sports. That was probably the coolest part -- seeing how hard they work to try and be the best they can be at their sport. That experience, seeing how they work through each day, gave me so much power and authority over my own capabilities to achieve what the Olympic Spirit gives all of us.
It's just so amazing to be surrounded by the best athletes in the world. To be here, and to have this opportunity of a lifetime is really awesome. I'm just really thankful to God for giving me a talent and opportunity to be surrounded by the Spirit of the Games.
All right, coaches, everything is great, and I'll write you about the pool and facilities after I get a look at them.
