July 28, 2012
How can I sum up the last 24 hours? Last night I watched a fireworks display that almost made me cry. A display so powerful that my ribcage felt the the thunderous vibrations created in the sky. Those are sensations only an event as fantastic as the Olympic Opening Ceremonies can produce.
And only four hours earlier I had planned on watching them from my host's house on BBC. I happen to be staying with the most generous (or most "lovely" to use a favorite word of the Brits) of families who scrounged up a couple extra tickets at the last minute. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
The Opening Ceremonies proved to be nearly a 12-hour exploit. We took the tube (London's subway system) to the venue at 4:30 p.m. to ensure we would get through the throngs of fans ready to kick off the Games. People from all nations attending the ceremonies exuded excitement and cheer. I felt like skipping through the entry gates. The security process was thorough, the volunteers were as genuine and friendly as people come, and the venue was/is breathtaking.
The Olympic Stadium is massive but appears to have no bad seats. The circumference of the place is so great that there's plenty of width for seats. No need for the depth that appears to exist in the Aquatics Centre. From photos I've seen, the seats there seem sky high. I'm going to watch my fiance, Matt Grevers, compete in the 100 back and 400 free relay tomorrow, so I'll let you know what the nose bleeds are like.
During the ceremonies, I sat directly behind Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis. Louganis competed in three Olympics and earned a silver and four golds. I asked him if he was able to attend the Opening Ceremonies of any Games, and he said he was lucky enough to go to the 1976 Opening Ceremonies in Montreal but not the ones in '84 or '88. I did not take the Opening Ceremonies to be a grueling event for the athletes, but it can sometimes amount to six hours of standing. As a competitive swimmer myself, I know six hours on your feet can affect your performance.
And it is interesting how such a proud moment I grew up dreaming of can be snipped from the schedule without a second thought. The majority of the American swimmers did not march out last night because they are not looking at the Opening Ceremonies as the big show. Their big show is in the water.
After highlighting some of Great Britain's greatest inventions and inventors, including the creator of the world wide web (doesn't need much else on his resume), the London Games' Opening Ceremonies concluded with a dandelion-shaped group of torches folding up into one powerful flame that will watch over the Games.
As people filtered out of the stadium, Paul McCartney asked everyone to sing along to "Hey Jude". I never thought I would stand up and leave while McCartney was performing, but anything to avoid Olympic chaos. I walked out of the tunnel singing "nahh, nahhh, nahhhh, na-na-na-na" and still hit pedestrian gridlock. We drove up to the house at 3:45 a.m. As Mary Poppins would say, the day was practically perfect in every way.
Stay tuned for more news on London and the Games later this week. Have a LOVELY day and GO USA!
