N830MH

I agree as well. He did excellent trip report and I'm glad that he have a great trip to OMA to watch Olympics trials. Surely, I hope the team who will win the game.

tom911

Challenging day at the pool on Tuesday. Natalie started off in prelims of 100 backstroke and placed 5th, fast enough to get her into semifinals later Tuesday night (top 16 swimmers). We came back Tuesday night and first watched her compete in finals of 100 butterfly, the opening event and a new one for her in Olympic Trials, where she placed 7th (her Cal team mate, Dana Vollmer, set an American record in this event, placing first and swimming the fastest time of the year in the world).

Natalie came back an hour later and competed in semifinals of 100 backstroke and placed 7th among 16 swimmers, good enough to take her to finals on Wednesday night. This is the event she holds the Olympic Gold Medals from both Athens and Beijing, and there are some very fast, new competitors on the scene. We're all hoping she does well Wednesday night.

Entering the pool for 100 backstroke semifinal heat:



Waterfall at end of the pool (awards stand is also down at this end):



Lunch was back at Upstream Brewery. I had the chicken fried chicken. Although we weren't there until 2pm, the restaurant filled up after our arrival and the kitchen could not keep up with the orders. We waited a good hour from the time we sat down until our food arrived. We visited and enjoyed some wine after swimming in the evening, and I grabbed a hot dog at the casino near by hotel before turning in.



We did meet the male U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist from the 100 backstroke at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Adolph Kiefer, on Tuesday afternoon. He's 94 years old now and will award the medals for the women's 100 backstroke on Wednesday night.

Back to the pool Wednesday night for finals in 100 backstroke. Good luck, Natalie!

Pool lobby:


New photos start here:
http://tom911.smugmug.com/Swimming/2...3790&k=sdgf66m

qbrain

Hey Tom,

Thanks for writing this trip report. My wife and I are both still competitive swimmers (at the old people level) so it was a thrill to come across this on FT of all places.

I am a big Natalie fan and I hope she does well tonight. It looks like it might take going under the American Record to make the team this year.

tom911

Hello late this Wednesday night approaching 0030. Just 5 hours ago Natalie swam in the finals of the 100 backstroke and although in the lead for the first ¾ of the race, she was not able to maintain that lead towards the very end and two swimmers passed her and got to the wall first. The first place finisher was Missy Franklin, 17, of Colorado, who set a new American record in the event, and will be attending her first Olympics in London this summer. She's been having a very good year. The second place finisher was an 18 year old.

Natalie congratulating Missy Franklin, on left, for placing first and setting a new American record:





I slept in this morning and started my day with the buffet luncheon at the Ameristar Casino ($11.99—well worth it with a decent salad bar and tri-tip as my main courses), and later met up with the Coughlins in the afternoon at their downtown Omaha hotel. They went to lunch at M's Pub and I came along and just had a beer (Blue Paddle Pilsner). I hung around downtown in the 102F/37C weather to take some photos and pop into a candy store which had Swedish fish, just about my favorite candy these days, but the walkabout didn't last long in the heat. Ended up at the Coughlins hotel at 1730 and we all walked over to the pool for finals at 1815.





Dinner after swimming was at Stokes restaurant in the marketplace. Everyone had Mexican plates except me. I had a salad wedge with blue cheese and a large bowl of corn chowder soup. Made it over there via shuttle and got through the front doors before the swimming crowds could walk over (there were 12,000 fans last night).

Thursday is a day off for Natalie. We're planning a morning visit to the zoo and hoping we don't melt if this heat keeps up. Natalie does have one more event later this week.

New photos start here:
http://tom911.smugmug.com/Swimming/2...4450&k=6BBk6HQ

N830MH

Wow! I'm so happy to hear for her. She going to Olympics London. She will very extremely happy. She have 1 more event before she heading to London. Looking forward to it.

tom911

Only the first and second place finishers in 100 backstroke go to the Olympics.

tom911

That's exactly what happened with first place tonight, and the second place finisher was under a minute. Natalie, IIRC, was the first swimmer in the world to break the one minute barrier a number of years back, and had that world record for a few years. She just could not get under a minute tonight. I need to get to bed or I'd go research the dates and post them.

tom911

Let me also add that if Ricky Beren's aunt is reading (can't recall her FT name right now), I did get some photos of him as he placed third tonight in a freestyle event with Phelps and Lochte . He qualifies to go to London as part of a relay team where extra swimmers are needed. I'll post the photos if you'll let me know you're here.

Paella747

Love reading your report again! ^ My two swimmers still talk about our afternoon out in Shanghai last summer! That fantastic Jin Mao hotel view and the pretty-okay Thai food!

Bummed about Nat's 100back..... I was excited to see her defend. But I think she'll have a great 100 free!

Have a safe trip, and make your way to Seoul sometime soon! Perhaps you'll be in BCN next summer? Up for some paella?

Paella747

True that. I believe it was 2002. Ft. Lauderdale? I have the race somewhere on video. It was an outdoor pool and if I recall correctly they had to close the pool for awhile. After her race, Nat made a comment about hoping she didn't get hit by lightning during the race. She had the world record for a looooong time after that. Class act. ^

tom911

Wouldn't mind a trip to Spain for some, though might be a challenge to find that dish here in Omaha Just read a number of news stories and the one that impressed me the most referred to "the passing of the torch" to America's new superstar in swimming. There's a lot riding on Missy Franklin's shoulders. The second place finisher, Rachel Bootsma, has committed to college at Cal, where Natalie still trains (and wears the Cal cap), this fall.

tom911

Coming up on 1a.m. Late Friday night. Just back at my hotel after a Speedo reception at the TD Ameritrade Stadium, the venue where the College World Series was held last weekend. Great view down over home plate from our suite.



First, Natalie has made it to the 100 freestyle finals which will be broadcast on NBC in primetime on Saturday night. Of the 8 swimmers in finals, the top six will go to London because of additional swimmers needed in the 4X100 freestyle relay event. The top two swimmers also compete in the individual 100 freestyle event in London. We're all hoping Natalie makes the team on Saturday night!

She placed 9th in preliminaries on Friday morning which was good enough to come back for semifinals on Friday night (top 16), and in the semifinal event tonight she placed #7 (top 8 go to finals).

Natalie entering the pool for her semifinal heat (second from bottom):


Thursday we visited the Omaha Zoo but only lasted about 2 hours in the heat. Some of their exhibits are air conditioned which made it tolerable for that long. Those photos probably won't be added to my web site until I'm home-- just no time to get to them and sort through them right now. Lunch was at M's Pub. I had a reuben sandwich.

Thursday night dinner was at Upstream Brewery. I had a salad and macaroni and cheese.

Friday lunch was at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa, about 2 miles from where I'm staying. We got the shuttle there from the Coughlins hotel and went to the lunch buffet. All you can eat shrimp and pecan pie was my perfect meal. It had cooled a little bit that I just walked back to my hotel from there to work off the calories.

tom911

Forgot to add, new photos start here:
http://tom911.smugmug.com/Swimming/2...5995&k=SFpTj2s

N830MH

Right, only 1st & 2nd place.

wrp96

Fingers crossed for Natalie.