Mostly swimming

Watching all of the Olympics from the weekend, so lots of swimming and gymnastics. Surprisingly there hasn't been much else besides the bike race, but I suppose there is plenty more to come.

One thing I'm a little bummed about is that I don't feel like I'm getting to know the athletes as well as I have in years past. I love all the video packages, but so far they have all been about the athletes I already know - Aaron Piersol, Natalie Coughlin, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and of course Michael Phelps. Not that I mind getting reacquainted with people I loved in Athens and even Sydney, but I just wish there was time for more.

I'm sad for Brendan Hanson. Also that crazy good Chinese gymnast from the parallel bars that made my heart jump and then she fell and despite clearly being one of the best there won't get to compete for a medal. Sucks! But how rad are Dara Torres and Oksana Chusovitina? Both have had babies and yet are still in shape to compete at this level. And Oksana is competing against girls almost half her age, in her 5th Olympics as a gymnast, that is just crazy. I haven't seen her medal attempt on the vault yet, just her qualifying round, but wow.

I love the gymnastics of course, although I wish the girls were all older, if not in their 30s at least in their twenties. Those Chinese girls look about 12. Somehow for me it just means more when an athlete is old enough to really appreciate things. I was a mess at 16, well, relatively speaking. No way I could have handled that kind of pressure.

Speaking of that, had my life been, you know, totally different, I would have liked to have been a competitive swimmer. I'm not psychologically suited to the stress of gymnastics (nor would I want to sacrifice my 6'1" height), and diving is similarly not my style. But I love the water, and I could see that being super fun and rewarding. Plus I'd love to be able to eat 10,000 calories a day. Can you even imagine? Man oh man, you know once he stops swimming Michael Phelps is going to be fat. There is no way you can go from eating that much back to a normal person diet. Ian Thorpe was in the audience (I heart him!) and while he was always a bit more on the thick side, he was looking positively chunky in his retirement.

Oh, Katie Hoff, you almost had it! I can't feel too sorry for someone who just won a silver medal, but dang that was close and you were looking so much better than we were led to believe you could do. You are awesome. Jason Lezack, holy crap, I can't believe how you won that relay. Those French boys are so sad right now. I can't believe how they crushed the world record, by four seconds - the Swiss team in 5th place and even they beat the previous world record. How can you be disappointed with that? But I bet Lezack just earned himself the most memorable moment of the Olympics. (But I'd sure be glad to be wrong about that!)