Day 1 of the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials - Swimming are in the books and all we can say is DAYUMMMMMM!
Night 1 was off the chain!! We could hardly believe it!
The 400 IM, men’s and women’s, featured 2 World Records! It was soooo loud up in the Qwest Center; like you wouldn’t believe!
Phelps out touched the Lochtenator, but both hit under the old WR mark. We’re not sure if that means we owe Ryan another case of Heineken or not. Like he needs anymore from us. We owe him like a milli! We wonder if he brought his grillz. We also wonder if he’s ever going to remember to wear them during a domestic awards ceremony. Not that that mattered tonight because only the top finisher was paraded around the pool.
Speaking of parades, we LOVE that water affect behind the podium. It’s tight!
The strictness of this meet means we’re not going to be roaming freely around like we’re accustomed to. Yea, we know you’re bummed for us too. Thanks!
So, we’ll try to bring you what we can from our little home in the media seating.
We got to say hello to Debs after prelims. For those of you not in know, Debs = Mrs. Phelps. I can’t speak for all of the Swim Aids, but I hadn’t gotten to speak to her since last summer and she was just as wonderful as ever! As if you didn’t know, but she is beyond elated that both Bob and Mike are returning to Baltimore. She also does not like being as close to the pool as she was today. Hopefully she can remedy that and be more comfortable during the sessions! She was a ball of nerves before the 400IM final!
Fast forward to after finals. We stuck around for some press conferences from the top place finishers.
Mike and Bob were first, followed by Larjo, and then Katie and Paul.
The Mike & Bob Show was pretty typical. Bob brought the lolz when he talked about his hair falling out due to the stress of coaching Mike. He (Bob) looked very sunburned, btw.
Larjo’s presser gets a standing O from us. That young man is beyond articulate. Every answer he gave was well delivered and smooth. No uh’s or um’s; we’re talking to you Lochte!! He’s thrilled with his 400 Free when and thinks it sets him up well for the 1500 later in the week. He kept referencing the mile and no mention of the 200 free, so not sure if he’s going to contest it still.
While we were fully expecting a PVK win, we simply can’t imagine him having to do that victory walk. That would have been the most awkward and uncomfortable thing for him. If you know him, you feel me on this. No one wants to lose, but the goal is making the team and PVK did that. He is no longer a “relay swimmer” and we couldn’t be more proud!
And how cool is it that all the boys are competing together here? We’re big VK family supporters, so we’re happy for them. And because we know they’ll see this, yes, we got pictures today. Check your email, facebook, or talk to your mom. We’ll hook y’all up. Just don’t be haters. You’ll regret it later on
Katie & Paul were great and theirpress conference. They both walked in and waved at us. The rest of the room was probably wondering why we got the shout-out, but they aint got it like us. Katie and Paul are our peoples and have been since 2005 yo. Paul’s calm alter-ego made an appearance at their presser. In direct contrast to the Paul we’re used to seeing bouncing all over the deck.
We got to catch up with both of them after the presser, so we were able to properly congratulate Katie on her World Record. She really wasn’t expecting one, but we were. We were running our mouths all day about how we just KNEW Katie was going to do the damn thing. We shared this with her and she appreciated our swagger on her behalf. We’re gonna order her some, so she can strut too.
Oh, and Paul, come sit with us for real! We’ll save you a seat!
We’ll have more stories as the week continues. We have to kidnap Felicia Lee and Megan Romano, plus we have to catch up with other swim moms and swimmers as lord only knows when we’ll see them again after this week!
And thus I close the longest Swim Aids post ever? Actually it may not be the longest. It just feels that way because I did it all on my Sidekick again. Yes, all of this. I’m hardcore.
If you want to keep up with the action from the Qwest Center, visit Swim Stars Live. I update after every event is completed!