Just back from dinner in old Montreal (salmon and pesto spaghetti...very good..and Canadian beer).
Natalie looked good the entire swim, and then the last few meters Kirsty Coventry, who swims for Zimbabwe, picked up a burst of energy and passed her. The German swimmer who came in second was the same swimmer that placed second in Athens against Natalie, so all these folks swim against each other at different events. At least she made it to the awards stand again (bronze, second this week, as she has one from a relay event where the U.S. placed third on Sunday), and she had a big smile on her face when she walked by us after the medal ceremony.
Nice quote from her on the U.S. Swimming site:
“I just got third, and I am very happy about it,” Coughlin said. “I think it was a great heat.
“I took a long break after the Olympics, and I broke my foot, so mentally, it has been tough. Fortunately, these things don’t happen a lot. My training is going well, and I am just really happy. You want to win, but you can’t win all the time.”
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Afterwards, it actually rained lightly. When Michael Phelps was awarded the last gold medal of the night, the U.S. anthem was played in some light rain. By the time we made it to old town for dinner, it was pouring.
Her next event should be prelims and semi-finals for 100 free on Thursday, with finals to follow, hopefully, on Friday night.
Today we've had cloud cover,which is holding the temperatures down a little compared to yesterday. Spent a couple hours in the air-conditioned underground shopping area downtown, as well as walking about street level. When we passed The Bay department store on the street, we saw a manequin in the window in a Speedo fastskin suit (the full body suit the racers wear). Strange to look at the cap and see "Coughlin" on the side
Natalie probably does not know she is a featured manequin in the window. Guess the Speedo folks have been doing some marketing with The Bay.
Yes, I am at the Quality hotel. The lobby has been empty the times I have been through there, but location is excellent, and the swimmers are staying in a hotel around the corner (with high police presence). I walked down to the Metro earlier behind Aaron Peirsol, who won a gold medal tonight for the U.S.