August 17, 2008

The swimming portion of the games is over, and last night was a spectacular ending to the fastest, most balanced, and in many ways the most dramatic Olympic Games ever for our sport.

Two races in the last two days were won by .01 seconds, literally the narrowest of margins. The eighth place time in nearly every event was the fastest ever assembled; the only exceptions were a couple of events that were faster at the 2008 US Olympic Trials! It's time to redefine what fast really is. The bar has been raised and everyone in the swimming world is now being held to a higher standard. I love it.

The women's relay, Christine's last swim, was an epic race between the U.S. and Australia. Eight women swam, and each did something that they had never done before. Each leg of the relay featured the fastest relay swim ever in that stroke, and three of those were by the Americans. The backstroke leg for each team was a national record. Emily Seebohm from Australia swam a full second faster than she had during the individual event, and Natalie Coughlin swam the second fastest time ever in the event. The breaststroke legs were just as impressive. Rebecca Soni swam one of the top 5 relay times ever for a 100 breaststroke, and was beat by 1.4 seconds by Leisel Jones, who posted the fastest relay split ever.

Christine went into the water behind by about .9 seconds, and despite posting the fastest 100 fly split in history (56.14 seconds), only gained about .1 seconds, because Jessicah Schipper posted the 2nd fastest 100 fly split in history, 56.25 seconds. Dara Torres and Libby Trickett had another epic battle, with Dara swimming the fastest ever 100 freestyle on a relay, 52.2 seconds, yet still only gaining .2 seconds on Trickett, who had previously held that same honor. Both teams were well under that previous world record, the U.S. by over two seconds, the Australians by nearly three seconds. The US team beat the American record by four full seconds.

Christine walked away from the meet with two American records, two silver medals, and an experience that has changed her life. Her experience will also help define our program for years to come.

It is fitting that last evening featured another spectacular event, the dedication of the Alan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center. About 300 people in formal attire witnessed a show of choreographed diving, fireworks, and the announcement of an endowed diving scholarship in Coach Dave Parrington's name, courtesy of the Fulmer family.

The greatest surprise of the evening, however, came from Mr. Allan Jones himself. I was standing behind him as he made his speech, and because of the slight delay and echo in the loudspeaker and the fact that I couldn't see his lips, I could not understand most of what he was saying. I smiled and tried to take in the majesty of the moment. Here in our pool was the Pride of the Southland Marching Band and the UT Cheerleaders, who had opened the evening with a rousing rendition of Rocky Top. I looked to the right and saw Coach Ray Bussard, one of the greatest and most innovative college swim coaches of all time. I was standing next to the legendary Coach John Trembley, who has not only achieved similar status in coaching, but who poured years of his life into the dream of creating this facility. To my left was Joan Cronan, one of the most influential athletic directors of all time, who trusted me with the reins of her swimming program when I was a relatively unknown coach. My assistant coach Jennifer Arndt, with whom I have shared so much in three years, was, as usual, by my side. I saw my beloved team in the stands, my family in the wings, and as Mr. Jones' voice faded in my consciousness, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness.

Then Mr. Allan Jones started taking his clothes off. I wasn't quite sure of this until I saw his bare back right in front of me. His pants then dropped to reveal an old school Speedo, not one of the modern jammer style suits, but a "brief." Leaving his tuxedo in a pile on the bulkhead and open-mouthed, wide-eyed family and friends in the stands, he marched up to the 5-meter platform and did a very serviceable jackknife. This man is more of a hero to me than ever before. When you build a pool, you should dive off of the platform at its dedication. It was a great end to a wonderful evening.

Thanks to everyone who has read this journal over the past week. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts and experiences with you. Tennessee women's swimming and diving was beautifully represented at these Olympic Games by Christine Magnuson. Christine has the opportunity and ability to do (more) things in swimming that no one else has ever done. Will she set a world record, lead Team USA to gold? It is certainly easy now to believe that she will. The thing to remember, though, is that if this is true now, it was true one, two, five, ten years ago. Was it easy to believe then? What was she doing three years ago? Figuring out how to get better. Learning the challenges of being a sophomore in college. Getting really excited about placing 18th at U.S. Nationals in the 100 fly. Who would have believed that this would happen? I did. Jen did. Christine did. For this to happen, she needed to believe, she needed to be in an environment that promotes belief as well as accountability, one that strives at all times for excellence while staying open to recognizing mistakes. With the beginning of classes, we're getting back to work this week, and back to the process of reaching, dreaming, learning, and embracing the Olympic Spirit.

Thanks again,

Matt Kredich

August 16, 2008

Here comes the relay!

Well, the final night of swimming is here, and we have some incredibly dramatic races shaping the evening's program. We'll start with the women's 50 meter freestyle, including two Americans, but featuring Dara Torres, probably the only athlete in these games whose age has become a prefix for her name ("41 year-old"). Dara is a beautiful swimmer, a great story, and is visibly energized by the lens of a camera focusing directly upon her. The next race is the men's 1,500, which TV does not typically show but my hope is that with a good commentator people who normally do not watch swimming will appreciate the strategy and excitement of this race. The qualifying field is light years faster than any ever assembled, and leading the way is another seemingly ageless wonder, Australian Grant Hackett, the winner of this event in 2000 and 2004. Another win would cement his status as the greatest distance swimmer in history.

All of this is merely a prelude to the main event, a cocktail hour for the grand feast of the women's 4 x 100 medley relay. (That may not be what the network thinks right now, but they'll come around.) The Aussies won this event in 2004, and many have conceded this event to them. In any case, it will take a world record (owned by the Australians) to win.

Christine's preparation for this event is evidence enough for me that she's going to swim fast. Not her performance in preparation, but her choices. A little explanation is in order. The decision to have her not swim the preliminary heat of the relay came from the coaching staff, who I respect very much. If this were not the Olympic Games, they probably would have given more weight to my suggestion that Christine would benefit by getting another swim. She learns a lot from each swim, and gets faster every time.

However, it is the Olympic Games, and people want to come away from this meet with medals. Since all swimmers involved in the relay receive a medal, and traditionally the "B" squad (second fastest in each stroke) from the USA has swum the preliminaries, there is pressure to share the wealth. They made this decision knowing the risk, that our second best may not be fast enough, but that group swam well and we're seeded third, which is perfect. The Australians will be one lane to our left on the start. Coming back, in the second 50 where Christine is the best in the world they will be on her right side. Christine breathes to the right. She will see her prey. It's perfect.

The decision she made yesterday was to do something really hard in practice, a full 75 as fast as she could go. Even though I suggested something shorter to work on speed, she realized that the best preparation for her would be to feel some pain, not only to kind of prime the engine, but to remind her of what it feels like. This decision is impressive because is the end of the meet, she had the swim of a lifetime (so far) and earned a silver medal, her life has changed completely because of her new success, and the relay could just be icing on the cupcake. I gave her an easier assignment because I'm not sure how much mental energy she has, and I wanted her to conserve it for that swim. To her, though, she's gone back into meet mode. She did extra fly work, she put herself in a little pain, and she's doing everything she can to make this next swim the best she's ever had. She's going to be great.

Here's the last note I sent to her, not sure if she'll read it, but she doesn't need to.

When you head over to the pool this morning, smile and enjoy yourself, as usual. You've lived parts of this day many times in the way you practice, in the attitude you've made a part of your personality, and even in the way you recognize every day as something to be treasured because it is completely different, something that has never and will never again exist. The Chinese would be very proud of you for your understanding the value of practice, the glory of the present, and your ability to create the future.

When you're in the race I hope you think about nothing and feel everything - that is when you're at your best. Trust yourself that speed comes from rhythm, relaxation, and power.

You may have several people to race, you may have one, it doesn't really matter. Lose yourself in the race and you'll race what you need to.

OK, have so much fun. Give me a call if you want to talk through anything, otherwise I'll talk to you soon enough.

Matt Kredich

August 13, 2008

I decided to fly back to the U.S. today. My ticket was for the 15th, but I have no guarantee of tickets and now the Christine is our top 100 flyer, she won't swim again until the finals of the 4 x 100 medley relay, which is Aug. 17 in China (Saturday night here). I miss my family and it'll be good to be at home. If Christine were struggling, I think I could be helpful. She's automatic right now and I'm confident that the other coaches there can give her help if she needs it.

After tonight's results, this women's team needs a boost. We were supposed to be the favorite in the 800 free relay, and we got bronze. There were some pretty high expectations for our women, and while they've been good, there are others who have been great. We have more opportunities, but the last one, and the most memorable one, will be the 4 x 100 medley relay.

The USA women's 4 x 100 medley relay came into this meet as a medal hopeful, but not a serious threat to the Aussies for the gold. Although Natalie Coughlin has an edge over the Australian backstroker, we were slower in every other leg. In fact, they had two freestylers and two butterflyers that were faster than our best, and their breaststroker is head and shoulders above the rest of the world. After our best 100 breaststroker tested positive for drugs, the picture became even bleaker. After some interesting developments in the meet, including Christine's emergence in the fly, that picture is changing.

The way it looks now, the matchups will be:
Backstroke -- Natalie Couglin (USA) vs Emily Seebohm (AUS). Emily has been a little off, and Natalie won the gold. She will have about a one second lead, maybe more.
Breaststroke -- Rebecca Soni (USA) vs Leisel Jones (AUS). Soni was clutch in the 100 breast, winning silver and swimming a time that will keep us in the hunt. She was 1.5 seconds behind Jones, so at the end of the breaststroke Christine will probably be about a half-second behind.
Butterfly and Freestyle -- Here's where it gets interesting. Libby Trickett (AUS) is the fastest flyer AND freestyler in the world. She and Dara Torres (USA) both swam the fastest two relay splits EVER in the 4 x 100 free relay earlier in the week, with Libby going about .2 faster. The Aussies have another freestyler that was that fast 4 months ago, but she's really struggling and can't be on that relay. That means that Jessica Schipper (AUS), the bronze medalist in the 100 fly, will swim against Christine, and Dara will swim against Trickett.

What is great about being a relative unknown is that people don't know that Christine is MONEY on relays -- she takes her swimming to another level. I believe that no matter who they put her up against, she'll give the USA a lead. Living rooms across Tennessee, Illinois, and of course the rest of the USA will be treated to yet another incredible race.

That's it for now. I have to go brush the taste of pony-flavored eel out of my mouth again.

Thanks again!

Matt Kredich

Tuesday, August 12

The day after a silver medal is pretty sweet, too.

It started out with a video chat with my wife and kids, whom I miss greatly, and I soon learned that I had a ticket to finals through USA Swimming, which was a huge score because swimming tickets are scarce everywhere, and this turned out one of the most memorable sessions I've seen.

I arrived at the pool early and got to talk with Christine. She said she received 140 emails last night and another 50 this morning. I told her to get used to celebrity, and to make sure my emails get read immediately. I guess one of the coaches thought I might be concerned about her appearance on the "Today Show" taking a lot out of her or taking her focus away. The thought actually never crossed my mind, and it was clear even yesterday that her next swim, the third leg (butterfly) of the 4 x 100 medley relay on August 17 (Saturday evening in the U.S.), is already in her crosshairs.

This finals/semifinals session today was one of the most impressive I've ever seen. The U.S. team was, as Jen Arndt kept reminding me via e-mail, on a mission, and Michael Phelps has taken that concept to a completely unprecedented level. I saw a few races this morning where an athlete surged ahead of the field briefly, and then appeared to have the thought, "Uh oh, should I be out ahead this far? Maybe I'm going too fast" and BAM it's over.

Just what Christine didn't do, they did. They let a little bit of doubt grab hold of them and in one instant they flip the energy switch from "GO!" to "protect!" and their race is over. Michael never considered that he is anything other than in complete control. Pure determination, absent of all hesitation. Pure belief, absent of all doubt, and nearly flawless execution, the result of practicing that way. By the 25-meter mark in the 200 free he was nearly a second ahead of everyone else and he never looked back. He broke his own world record by a full second and beat everyone else by two seconds. It was the most dominant 200 freestyle in the past seven Olympic Games.

After that it seemed that Michael had opened the door to show everyone what's inside the secret room: - determination, belief, execution. In the women's 100 backstroke, Natalie Coughlin, who had spend the past 23 hours in the unusual position of not being a favorite in the 100 back, took her race out and never let anyone back in. In the men's 100 back, Aaron Piersol destroyed the field, and fellow American Matt Grevers was second. They never once let up. If I could only bottle that stuff, I'd own Beijing.

Turns out I already do. I decided that I'd venture out alone today, and I certainly had some adventures. I went to the "Pearl Market," world famous for selling, well, pearls, but also anything else that is made in China, which turns out to be just about everything. On the way, though I stopped at a beautiful Tibetan Buddhist compound, comprised of about 14 different temples and many statues of Buddha.

Buddhism is the primary religion of China, and while several of us were curious tourists, most people came to worship. People honor the Buddha by burning three incense sticks in an urn outside the temple, then walking inside to kneel, pray, and bow three times to that Buddha. The highlight was seeing a Buddha that was 60-feet tall, whose base went 60 feet below the ground, all carved out of one contiguous piece of sandalwood. Breathtaking.

At that point I was feeling hungry and adventuresome, so I walked into a small restaurant that had English translations of dishes on the extensive menu. I decided to try something that sounded really kind of gross, just so I could say I did. My choices boiled down to:

Gluttonous US Hoof.
Saliva Chicken.
Soaks the pepper pony ricefield eel.
The time intestines are prosperous.
Thousand layer ear.
Black fungus chicken.

Quite a lineup, wouldn't you say? I chose No. 3, thinking I like eel, I like rice, and I like pepper. I guess I just didn't see that word "pony" in there, and I think now of John Calipari's mantra: - "a speck of poop can spoil a bowl of ice cream." I'm not sure what the poop was in this dish, but I'll blame the pony. Fortunately I also ordered some simple pea pods and cashews, which came first and tasted very good. The pepper pony eel stuff was placed in front of me, and my skin suddenly felt hot, my stomach knotted, as if this might not be as much fun as I thought. When a couple of Chinese people passed by my table and looked at my food with a "what the heck is that?" expression on their faces, those feelings strengthened. There were four-inch segments of what I think were very small eels, strips of some vegetables, cloves of garlic, many cherry peppers, all swimming in a brown sauce. The odor was what I imagine that of a magic potion, complete with eye of newt, to be.

Food has the ability to take you to another time and place. As I took one taste of eel I was immediately transported to a rice field where I am being attacked by small eels as my pony rolls around in some thick brown water.

The crunch (vertebrae) that came next was entirely unexpected, and all of my being poured into the effort not to retch. Must've been a bad bite, I thought. I took a drink of my cold beer, stared at the dish, and decided to taste the vegetables next. They were OK, but the taste of pony was becoming more firmly attached to my taste buds, cheeks, nostrils and esophagus. One more try with the eel. It was not as bad, but just as crunchy and just as pungent.

People kept looking up from their delicious looking meals at me, wondering why this man appeared to be in a chess match against his food. After one more look, I put down my napkin, 80 yuan for all the food (about $12), and walked out into the hot stone street. Then, my mouth felt like I had licked a pony's hoof, and as I sit writing this 36 hours, six meals, and 24 pieces of gum later, I still cannot get that taste from my mouth. I hope my wife kisses me when I get home without retching.

I then went to the pearl market, where I made many, many friends. The pearl market is a four-floor mall that consists almost entirely of small booths staffed by 19-30 year old women who all have something for me, their friend.

Silk, electronics, pearls, watches, shoes and all types of clothing. The prices marked are reasonable, but, as I said, this place loves me. They all had a special price, just for me! If I didn't want to buy something, and tried to walk away, I could name my own price! I usually named a price that was about 25 percent of my special price, and sometimes they gave it to me, especially when I took my time and made them laugh, other times not, but I learned that everything is a negotiation. One guy even tried to negotiate my shoe size! I was almost convinced that I WAS a size 14 (instead of 15) but I realized that this culture used to think feet-binding was OK, and maybe I was experiencing a cultural difference in comfort. I declined. I did drop Christine's name a couple of times and was given gifts and treated as an absolute celebrity.

Matt

Monday, August 11

SILVER MEDAL!

Christine Magnuson is amazing. Absolutely amazing. There were so many cool things about her swim in the 100 fly Olympic Finals but I'll try to be succinct.

Remember I said she needed to get to the other end in 20 strokes?

She was so freaking strong and efficient that she made it in 19! But 19 didn't quite get her to the wall and she DIDN'T take another stroke this time so she lost momentum coming into that turn. That was 49 meters of the best fly I've ever seen, but one mistake can ruin all of that. But it doesn't have to, and that is the beauty of this race.

Christine knew she had made a mistake, which at this level is usually the end of a race, because one seed of doubt explodes in the mind and sucks the energy right out of you. The Aussies touched the wall first and second, and one of them, Jessicah Schipper, is a gold medal contender in the 200 fly. She is known for having monster second 50's in the 100 fly (no one catches her), and she touched ahead of Christine. Well, instead of worrying, Christine stayed poised and disciplined and got really tough. While the Aussie coaches were watching the race on the video screen in the warm-down pool and began chanting 1-2! 1-2!, Christine was methodically tracking them down. She passed Schipper with 15 meters to go and was gaining fast on Trickett, but as they say in football, she ran out of real estate. Trickett swam the second fastest 100 fly ever (Christine owns the seventh and eighth fastest times in history and is now the third fastest performer ever) and Christine Magnuson is now an Olympic Silver Medalist.

You want to know about my day? Thanks for asking! I skipped prelims last night because I was SO exhausted, and I think I was asleep by 9. I was wide awake by 3:30. I'm not sure if I felt the way you're supposed to feel when a swimmer you coach is about to race for a gold medal in the Olympic Games. I was excited, but not really nervous, and just felt like I needed to get to the pool to enjoy every bit of the day. I decided to "take a cab" to the pool, which, interestingly enough, uses the same Chinese characters as "play dodge ball with lawn darts" but is said with slightly different inflection. The hazards, however, are about the same in magnitude.

Traffic lights and signs are merely suggestions here, and games of chicken are constantly shaping the traffic patterns. There is a clear pecking order on the roads in Beijing: cars and buses rule, bikes are invisible, and pedestrians are targets. Not in a traditional way, but like in horseshoes ¬ the goal is to see how close you can get without actually touching them.

Forget what you may have heard about respecting elders here too. Yesterday I saw, I swear, a hunched over, little old lady pulling a very small child in a wagon trying to cross the street and she was getting buzzed by cars, buses, taxis. I don't think she made any progress at all. Well this morning my hazard was a bit different. My driver, who had a very friendly demeanor, stopped at a light and glanced down at my knee with a big smile. I thought he was impressed with my scars, but he then reached down and took a big pinch of leg hair, looked at me and laughed. He showed me how he had no hair on his arm, and he then laughed. He then grabbed his pants right about mid thigh and made it clear that he was ready to pull them in one direction or another. If down, I had my hand on the door handle and was ready for a quick exit. Thankfully he rolled them up and showed only sparse hair on his leg, and we shared a laugh about that. I then patted his bald head, and we laughed some more. After an awkward silence, he delivered me to the Cube.

I saw Christine there and we had a chance to talk. She said "it hasn't hit me yet." I told her that it doesn't need to hit her. I said I keep having this image in my mind of my son Ben's favorite application, Photo Booth. It's a Mac program that uses the camera in the computer to take photos, and where you can change the background and add cool effects, but the person in front of the camera stays exactly the same. The same Christine was going to swim the same event she's done at dozens of meets, and was about to do the same things that she's practice over and over in her time at Tennessee, just with different scenery. Every coach on the U.S. staff (there are four men's coaches and four women's coaches) has told me how impressed they are with her poise and confidence, and she displayed those traits again tonight.

I got to hang around her this afternoon while her agent arranged for some rubbing elbows with the stars. I met Bob Beamon, one of the few athletes to have their name turned into an adjective. I got to meet Bob Wyland, the guy who paints Olympic murals and whale murals on buildings. Christine went on the Today show and met Brokaw, Lauer, Roker and the gang. I hear she was great, and of course I'm not surprised.

I have to say I'm really proud when someone says, "WOW, you coach Christine Magnuson?" and that's happened several times today. But I really want to tell them this: "Yeah, and I also coach Ashley Quinn, and Michele King, and this amazing young woman Sarah McCall and there are 20 others I'm dying to tell you about. And let me tell you about these incredible people I coached at Richmond and Brown, Stanford and Harvard, and even before that. Yes, I sure DO coach Christine, and so do Jen Arndt and Kristen Kinder and about a half dozen other brilliant people in various ways, and yes I DO coach at Tennessee, and we're all over these Olympics -- Trotter, Parker, Lawson, Catchings, Wilkinson, Molina, Pappas, Alesi, Persson, Bree, Tarantino, Famiglietti, Smith -- and we'll be back next time with even more people who will inspire you and make you cheer."

And I want to tell them, "What you see Christine do here: race with poise, confidence and joy, embrace challenges, look for the absolute best in herself and others, is what we do, what we practice every day. What these Olympics stand for is what drives us every moment. We live this stuff."

And they'd say, "Wow, so that's how you get to the Olympics?" And I'd answer, "Maybe, but probably not. But living that way is guaranteed to teach you how to be better and to inspire you to be better, and that's what we all get out of the Olympics. You just don't have to wait another four years." But I haven't told them that yet. I'm still polishing that speech.

I'll have more later. Thanks for tuning in. Go USA and congratulations to Christine and to everyone who has helped her to dream crazy dreams and to touch pure excellence.

I hope you're as inspired as I am.

Matt

Sunday, August 10

Woo Hoooo!! New American Record!

What a great swim! In the bright lights of international television, in the semifinals of the Olympic Games, with TWO George Bushes in attendance, Christine Magnuson put together one of the best races I've ever seen.

The great part is: she knows she can swim faster and she gets another chance to do just that. No matter what happens tomorrow I know she'll have a blast racing and helping her team start the night off in a way that makes all of us proud. Way to go Christine!

For those of you who wonder just what it is that a swim coach might talk about with a swimmer, here's a little insight into her swim this morning (evening your time) and the one you'll see tonight (morning our time).

Christine has been practicing really well, and has gotten to the point where she can swim a fast 50 meters, taking only 20 strokes. A general rule in swimming is the fewer strokes you take, the better (to a point), because if you can go the same time with fewer strokes, you're being more efficient, and who knows, you may need that stroke later. In both of her races here, she's taken 21 strokes, which is not necessarily a bad thing, because she set an American Record and all, but it's something to be aware of. The interesting thing is that she can get to the 25 in seven strokes in warm-up, but its taking eight in the race, so the difference is in the first 25. In the semifinals she really took 20.5 for the first 50, but because butterfly has a wave motion to it, that last half stroke made her come DOWN on the wall. A really fast turn comes off of a stroke that is coming UP on the wall.

So we talked about the 2 possibilities for that turn tomorrow: 1) if she has to take a short stroke into the wall, she can be quicker getting around on the turn, and that just takes a little bit of mental preparation, and 2) if she only takes 20 strokes on the first 50 she'll hit the wall perfectly and have a lot of energy coming back and I don't think anyone can beat her. So watch tonight and see if she lands at the halfway point (there's a red mark there) in seven strokes or eight strokes. Either one could be great - but you'll feel in the know either way.

We're getting a huge thunderstorm here as I type, which should help clear up the air. Today was hot, a little rainy, and very sticky. As we slogged through the thick hot mist to the Water Cube this morning, one coach described it as the same feeling you get when you step out of a long hot shower and the bathroom door is still closed. Only this bathroom door is still closed. And I'm not sure how appropriate the shower analogy is because let's just say that the rain brought out the "wet dog" phenomenon in a lot of people today. It was an international intermingling of odors. In fact if you look at the picture from my seats today you can see a mist hovering near the top of the building. I think that mist contains an unprecedented mixture of scents from people all over the planet, another kind of Olympics maybe. The mass of black suited people you see in the picture is the Bush entourage.

The vibe inside the Cube is really unique. Seventy-five percent of all tickets were kept by the Chinese for their own people. No host country has ever kept so many tickets for themselves, and because of this there are some fascinating elements of Chinese culture that pervade the atmosphere inside the cube.

First of all, there is the music. Think of early 80's Christian Rock mixed with 90's boy band. Or when Greg Brady became Johnny Bravo. It's catchy, sugary and all of the Chinese seem to know the words, sing along politely and clap a little off the beat, as if in church. Then there are the mascots, whose ancestors appear to include Ewoks and Teletubbies. They kind of bounce around to the music, a little off balance and a little off beat, but much to the delight of the crowd, who seem to be clapping in time with the bouncing, ignoring the music altogether.

There are some really cool things about the way they distributed the tickets. The majority of Chinese tickets were distributed randomly, essentially by lottery, so there are people here from all over China. I have seen small, shriveled, crooked old men and women in Mao suits shuffling alongside their cosmopolitan sons and daughters with huge smiles on their faces as they are led into the Cube.

They are from small villages, large cities, literally everywhere in China. One college student from Shanghai described her "winning" the chance to buy tickets to me as the best thing that has ever happened to her. She was in awe of the fact that I was leaning over the rail talking to Christine Magnuson!

The Olympics has made everyone in China a sports fan, and when a Chinese swimmer is in the water, they cheer in their own unique way. They have one cheer, "Chi - na - boom-i-yay!" that sounds like the cheer that the crowds in Zaire chanted for Muhammad Ali in his fight against George Foreman. Another one when a Chinese swimmer moves into the lead - as they have several times at this meet - the fans let out a collective "ohhhh!" - The kind you might exclaim when you realize something of great importance and excitement. The strange part is that they do not stand up, wave their arms or do much of anything demonstrative. Contrast this with the conga line of 50 or so Belgian fans that danced up and down the stadium stairs and through the lobby after their women won the 4 x 100 free relay, or the 25 Aussies who huddle around their stack of 150 empty beer cups and do the Auzzie, Auzzie, Auzzie, oi, oi oi! cheer after each session. The Chinese simply clap to the beat of a bouncing Ewok. They are incredibly gracious and polite in cheering for every swimmer, and very appreciative of the chance that they have to host the world. I'm more and more impressed with them every day.

I'm also impressed at what I can only describe as a deliberate attempt by the Chinese to not make money on these Olympics. For example, there are only about ten different souvenirs available, and only at official stands inside Olympic Park. Ten! There are no souvenirs for sale outside the park, not even knock-off souvenirs! Then there are the concession stands that are basically giving food away. Cokes sell for about $1, water for about $1.50, beer for $2. I don't know what kind of popcorn they're selling, but I can only assume it's a popcorn knock-off. You be the judge, but - how can they sell it here for $1.50 when the folks at UT events need to sell that same box for $5 just to stay afloat? I'm very suspicious.

There are no ticket scalpers to be found and - rumor has it that those who have tried are, let us say, no longer among the free. So aside from the official food and souvenir stands, there are no other vendors inside or outside the park. I'm kind of longing for a little capitalism.

That's the semifinal report from Beijing - I'll write again tomorrow to wrap things up. Go Christine, GO USA!!!

Matt

Saturday, August 9

Hello again!

I have realized in the past two days that security in Beijing is has been taken to an incredibly high level, and this has limited my ability to explore. Not only was I thwarted from going to the opening ceremonies and just hanging out last night, but the entire city was shut down - including the airport - from about 4 p.m. yesterday until this morning.

Aside from fences and blockades all around there are guards, not sure if they are military or not, about every 100 yards. They stand up on these funny little boxes, only about 10 inches high and stare straight ahead in kind of a Buckingham Palace fashion. I make sure to wave and smile at all of them, and most actually smile back. By the way, my assessment from yesterday of some of the Beijing natives as being humorless was way off base. I said my goal was to make 10 people laugh by the time I left the country. Well, I underestimated my own talent. These people love me. I had made over a dozen people laugh by 9 a.m. today. Too easy. My first encounter was with two young women in a corner grocery, and after 5 minutes of drawing funny pictures, playing charades, and calling unknown people on the phone, we finally completed the transaction of me buying 4 AA batteries. As we all exchanged high-fives (I had to teach them this) we shared a hearty laugh and my hand-held GPS unit was functioning! I stuffed my map, wallet, and batteries into my backpack and was on my way.

I was so happy with myself that I guess I forgot to zip up my backpack. I then walked across the street and two young Chinese men passed me and one said with some urgency "your zipper open!" I immediately looked down at the front of my pants, and once I realized that they were talking about the backpack I joined their laughter.

I then walked a mile or so to the entrance to the Olympic Green, which contains the Water Cube, and found a crowd of people waiting to get past security. The young woman I asked for help was, like most people, much shorter than me, and when she craned her neck to look up at me, I did a half squat down to her level and the waiting crowd found this hilarious. At least 12 people laughed.Behold the power of slapstick - some things are funny in any language. I should test this theory with some pies and banana peels.

Tonight was my first venture into the Water Cube and it is an awesome sight from any angle. It is big, bright, clean, has great acoustics and great sightlines. I don't have a credential to get on the pool deck but Christine marched right past the security guy and walked up the bleachers to say hi and talk about her swim. She warmed up well and was obviously confident. Not much for a coach to say in that case.

Christine's race was really solid - she won her heat and swam her second fastest time ever. She has identified a couple of things she'll change in the morning (tonight in the U.S.) and I think we'll see faster times in both the semifinals and finals. For right now she's in a great spot - she'll be in the middle of the pool in semifinals. It was a really good night for the American swimmers - everyone advanced to finals or semifinals and there are some phenomenal races shaping up. Andrew Bree, UT alum from Northern Ireland, also had a great swim in the 100 breast but did not advance.
I'll write more about the venue, etc. tomorrow - I have a few hours to sleep before we head back to the Cube for semifinals. Hope everyone in the U.S. will be cheering for the Red, White, and Blue (with a little orange mixed in!) tonight!

Matt

Friday, August 8, 2008

Hello from Beijing!

I'm here for the 2008 Olympic Games, I'm thrilled to have the chance to witness the swimming competition, and of course most specifically to be with Christine Magnuson as she prepares for and swims in this meet. I'm also very excited to share my journey with anyone who reads this. Venture on at your own risk.

A couple of notes about the trip over: I love every minute of being 6-5 tall, except those minutes when I'm on a plane. I had been dreading the 13 hour ride from Newark to Beijing, but I can only take the following sequence as an omen of great fortune. When I checked in at the airport kiosk, there was a plump, juicy exit-row aisle seat staring me in the face from the monitor! I was so excited that my hand was shaking as I honed in on the touch screen to lock in 13 hours of luxury. When I got to my seat, I realized my partner for the next 13 hours would be a swimmer that I coached at Brown University. Nikki was on the Canadian Olympic Team in 1992 and 1996, and helped shape my ideal of what an Olympic swimmer should be - strong, confident, joyous, and incredibly competitive. She now writes for Swimnews.com and does legal work for refugees. She is also one of the leaders of a movement that I probably shouldn't mention in an e-mail coming from China (lest this email or Nikki be censored) but suffice to say she is fortunate her visa was not revoked as it was for other famous members of this movement. Wink, wink. By the way, she's safe in the media hotel.

A lot of people have asked if you fly east or west to get to Beijing. The answer is neither. Or both. You go right over the top of the world. We had running updates on outdoor air temperature (-68 degrees F), flight path, altitude, etc. I'm not sure how well I planned for the -68 degree weather. Being the seasoned international traveler, Nikki wore compression socks and brought a sweatshirt. It took me an hour in the hot smog to thaw my toes and regain feeling in my cheeks.

I just arrived and am setting up camp in a dorm room, where all the signs make it very clear that there will be no smoking on the bed! There will be plenty of smoking outside, however, where it seems as if everyone in the city lit up a cigarette and exhaled all at once. And then started their cars, lawnmowers and factories all at once. They'd better start that rainmaking and wind-making pretty soon - opening ceremonies are in 5 hours.

The USOC has taken over (in a friendly way) a place called Beijing Normal University (which may have a counterpart that I must find - Beijing Off-Center University?) and this is where I'm staying. The food is western and safe, the accommodations are sparse, and the workers, like my taxi driver, customs checker, and the dozen teenagers posing as security guards that I've encountered, are somewhat humorless. It is my stated goal to make 10 Chinese people laugh on this trip. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Just checked in with Christine - she sounds great. I'll see her at the pool in the morning - everything seems to have shut down after noon today for the 8:08 start to the opening ceremonies. I'm going to make my way over there and see if anyone wants to give a poor American an opening ceremonies ticket. I'm not sure I'm up for paying the $13,000 price that the scalpers are currently getting.

I'll send an update tomorrow after Christine's preliminary swim. She's swimming really fast in practice and is in a great state of mind. Watch for her to do something special, and enjoy all of the great stories that make up this incredible event. Ciao. Or Chow.

Matt Kredich, Head Women's Swimming Coach

Hey Lady Vols and Lady Vol fans!

Well, for those of you who don't know who I am, here's a little summary. I've swam for the Lady Vols for the past 4 years, just finishing up my eligibility this past season. When I came into the program, I was just looking to make an impact on the team and SEC level. Four years later, I have numerous SEC titles, an NCAA championship in the 100 fly, and am a member of the U.S. Olympic team. I will be competing in the 100 fly and possibly the medley relay here in Beijing.

After the Olympic trials, the team met in Palo Alto, California for three weeks of training. We got to know each other and our coaches while still enjoying the states. After three weeks, we traveled to Singapore to adjust to the time zone and really become a team. Singapore was very beautiful and offered us a very similar climate to that in Beijing. We've received first class service the whole way ... it's been incredible.

The team has really gotten to know each other since trials. It is a little strange to be joking around with the swim stars I've grown up watching, like Michael Phelps, Brendan Hanson, Dara Torres, and Natalie Coughlin, but it has been so much fun. There are so many different personalities that all have one goal, to swim fast and take some names at this Olympics. What more could you ask for in your teammates?

This week, we arrived in the Olympic Village. The housing is like being back in the freshman dorms of South Carrick and much better than we all expected. The cafeteria is open 24 hours, with everything from McDonalds to sushi to fried rice. The cube is exactly how it looks in pictures ... huge and really cool. The stands go up forever and there is a lot of deck space. We walk most of time but there are busses to take us to and from the pool. There are also numerous buildings and a university 20 minutes away that offer services to only USA athletes.

My parents and sister arrive in Beijing very soon. They are so excited to come and I will be very happy to see them. I'm hoping to get them guest passes into the Village but that might have to wait until after my race on Saturday. Matt (Kredich) arrives on Friday and I'll be glad to have his final words of encouragement and advice. Until then, I'm preparing for my races and resting up.

I miss everyone in Knoxville and love all of the emails and shout-outs I've been getting from my team and the community. Thank you so much for all the support.

Christine Magnuson