AA to USA Olympic Trials (Swimming), Omaha, Nebraska w/photos
Jun 28, 2008, 11:14 am
#1
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AA to USA Olympic Trials (Swimming), Omaha, Nebraska w/photos
Very early start this morning to find there was a shooting on 101 in Brisbane, north of SFO, that had closed the southbound direction of the freeway. Add on construction on the west side of the Bay Bridge, with traffic rerouted over surface streets, and decided to take the long route via 680/580 and the San Mateo Bridge to SFO. Smooth sailing all the way for the hour trip to the off airport lot I'm using this trip. I had tried priceline for the night before without any success, so it ends up being just a bit more to park for the week.
There must have been 100 people in line at the AA SFO counter and kiosks, which made me particularly happy that I had checked in on-line at home. Security took about 10 minutes. I was at the gate at 05:20 and we boarded at 5:30.
The 0600 757 service to DFW departed on time. I'm on a 25K award ticket booked 11 months ago, and the plane was packed. Had a window seat in row 13 and slept the whole way down. Traveling with my large travel pack which fits in the overhead just fine.
I have a Hotwire hotel room for $49 a night that I also booked 11 months ago.
Here's a copy of a short message I just sent out to family and friends, and I'll try to update this report during the 8 days of swimming:
I'm at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport waiting for my 1pm connecting flight to Omaha, Nebraska, where I'll be joining the Coughlins to see Natalie compete at U.S. Olympic Trials. This event runs 8 days and will be televised every night in the U.S. I arrive at 3pm and they're about 2 hours behind me on Southwest flights.
Here's what I've set my TIVO up for on the west coast (check the times if you're not in this time zone as some will be different). Natalie has entered five individual events.
Sun, 6/29, 8pm NBC
Mon, 6/30, 5pm, USA Network
Tues, 7/1, 5pm, USA Network (finals 100 backstroke-Natalie holds WORLD RECORD)
Wed, 7/2, 5pm, USA Network (finals 200IM--Natalie holds American record--and 200 free)
Thurs, 7/3, 5pm, USA Network
Fri, 7/4, 8pm, NBC (finals 100 freestyle-Natalie holds American record)
Sat, 7/5, 8pm, NBC
Sun 7/6, 8pm, NBC (finals 50 freestyle)
You need to place first or second to go to Beijing, except for the freestyle events where the first six go due to relay events. As prelims and semifinals are held the day before, it looks like she'll be swimming every day except the first day of this event. I may not be able to take photos because the event web site says cameras will not be allowed.
Natalie's blog on swimroom.com, reporting from Omaha
Natalie's profile on the NBCOlympics.com site
And a nice story in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday
And, finally, tornado warnings and damage to the pool stadium in Omaha (at least I'm getting away from smoke-covered Benicia)
-----------
Heading over to the C terminal for my Omaha flight right now.
-----------
Arrived safely in Omaha. Got the airport shuttle to my hotel, and I'm within walking distance of the pool (mile or two--hoping to avoid a rental car and just use cabs when needed). Bright blue skies outside with a scattering of clouds.
MD80 from DFW to OMA had a 1:20 flight time and departed on time. Had a window seat in row 9. It was pretty obvious this was the swimmer's express as you could see them all carrying their gear, including a large contingent in orange Texas shirts. I was also the only EXP flyer to board when they made the announcement after first class boarding, so plenty of overhead space for my travel pack.
Off to meet the Coughlins who should be landing in about 30 minutes.
There must have been 100 people in line at the AA SFO counter and kiosks, which made me particularly happy that I had checked in on-line at home. Security took about 10 minutes. I was at the gate at 05:20 and we boarded at 5:30.
The 0600 757 service to DFW departed on time. I'm on a 25K award ticket booked 11 months ago, and the plane was packed. Had a window seat in row 13 and slept the whole way down. Traveling with my large travel pack which fits in the overhead just fine.
I have a Hotwire hotel room for $49 a night that I also booked 11 months ago.
Here's a copy of a short message I just sent out to family and friends, and I'll try to update this report during the 8 days of swimming:
I'm at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport waiting for my 1pm connecting flight to Omaha, Nebraska, where I'll be joining the Coughlins to see Natalie compete at U.S. Olympic Trials. This event runs 8 days and will be televised every night in the U.S. I arrive at 3pm and they're about 2 hours behind me on Southwest flights.
Here's what I've set my TIVO up for on the west coast (check the times if you're not in this time zone as some will be different). Natalie has entered five individual events.
Sun, 6/29, 8pm NBC
Mon, 6/30, 5pm, USA Network
Tues, 7/1, 5pm, USA Network (finals 100 backstroke-Natalie holds WORLD RECORD)
Wed, 7/2, 5pm, USA Network (finals 200IM--Natalie holds American record--and 200 free)
Thurs, 7/3, 5pm, USA Network
Fri, 7/4, 8pm, NBC (finals 100 freestyle-Natalie holds American record)
Sat, 7/5, 8pm, NBC
Sun 7/6, 8pm, NBC (finals 50 freestyle)
You need to place first or second to go to Beijing, except for the freestyle events where the first six go due to relay events. As prelims and semifinals are held the day before, it looks like she'll be swimming every day except the first day of this event. I may not be able to take photos because the event web site says cameras will not be allowed.
Natalie's blog on swimroom.com, reporting from Omaha
Natalie's profile on the NBCOlympics.com site
And a nice story in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday
And, finally, tornado warnings and damage to the pool stadium in Omaha (at least I'm getting away from smoke-covered Benicia)
-----------
Heading over to the C terminal for my Omaha flight right now.
-----------
Arrived safely in Omaha. Got the airport shuttle to my hotel, and I'm within walking distance of the pool (mile or two--hoping to avoid a rental car and just use cabs when needed). Bright blue skies outside with a scattering of clouds.
MD80 from DFW to OMA had a 1:20 flight time and departed on time. Had a window seat in row 9. It was pretty obvious this was the swimmer's express as you could see them all carrying their gear, including a large contingent in orange Texas shirts. I was also the only EXP flyer to board when they made the announcement after first class boarding, so plenty of overhead space for my travel pack.
Off to meet the Coughlins who should be landing in about 30 minutes.
Last edited by tom911; Jun 30, 2008 at 7:51 am Reason: cleaned up links
Jun 28, 2008, 9:03 pm
#2
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a couple of photos taken the day before Trials begin
Exterior shot of Qwest Center in late afternoon
Natalie on one of the arena doors
Interior shot of pool
Damage to Qwest Center from yesterday's storm:
Natalie on one of the arena doors
Interior shot of pool
Damage to Qwest Center from yesterday's storm:
Jun 29, 2008, 7:30 am
#3
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Day 1 of Olympic Trials
This morning (Sunday) the New York Times is reporting a backup plan was in place to move this entire event to Indianapolis, site of the 2000 Olympic Trials (I was there, too), if the damage to the Qwest Center would not allow the event to go forward. Fortunately, the damage was not that severe.
If they had moved locations. you start wondering about the logistics of getting tens of thousands of people from here to there, let alone hotels, rental cars and airline tickets. Very likely I would have just changed my flight and just flown home instead, so glad we're still here in Omaha.
Last night we had dinner in the Market Place area, about 3-4 blocks from the pool, at Twisted Fork. I had chicken fried steak while others in our group had trout, salmon, and fried chicken. Everyone enjoyed their meals and prices were quite reasonable ($10-13). It started pouring rain as we walked back to the Coughlin's hotel, and we all arrived soaking wet. An umbrella wouldn't have helped as there were strong winds.
Yesterday's New York Times had a great story on Natalie.
Coughlin Overcomes Fear in Individual Medley. Natalie won't be swimming until Monday morning.
We'll all be at the pool at 11 to cheer the Cal swimmers on.
If they had moved locations. you start wondering about the logistics of getting tens of thousands of people from here to there, let alone hotels, rental cars and airline tickets. Very likely I would have just changed my flight and just flown home instead, so glad we're still here in Omaha.
Last night we had dinner in the Market Place area, about 3-4 blocks from the pool, at Twisted Fork. I had chicken fried steak while others in our group had trout, salmon, and fried chicken. Everyone enjoyed their meals and prices were quite reasonable ($10-13). It started pouring rain as we walked back to the Coughlin's hotel, and we all arrived soaking wet. An umbrella wouldn't have helped as there were strong winds.
Yesterday's New York Times had a great story on Natalie.
Coughlin Overcomes Fear in Individual Medley. Natalie won't be swimming until Monday morning.
We'll all be at the pool at 11 to cheer the Cal swimmers on.
Jun 30, 2008, 6:48 am
#4
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Day 2 at Olympic Trials
This morning we head over to Qwest Center to watch Natalie compete in the preliminary swim for 100 backstroke. She holds the world record in this event. The top 16 swimmers go onto semi-finals tonight, and then the top 8 from tonight come back for finals on Tuesday night. We're all hoping to see Natalie have successful swims that bring her to finals on Tuesday night.
Sunday afternoon we visited the Omaha Zoo, about 5 miles from the pool. They had penguins, orangutans, and sun bears (one of my favorites), as well as an aquarium and Desert Dome. I've uploaded the photos from our visit in the 2008 Omaha Zoo folder on my web page linked below, and I'll post a couple at the end of this post.
Hit a Sonic Burger on the way back into town for late lunch, and then we were off to the pool to see Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff set world records in their events (over 12,000 people at the pool--a record for any U.S. swimming event). I saw Bob Costas from NBC across the pool interviewing Michael Phelps after his swim. Only photo I've added from Sunday night is the medal and award carriers which I'll post below. Other photos that I took on Saturday are in my gallery linked below.
Was surprised to find free wi-fi at the pool, so may take advantage of that in the slow periods around prelims (some events can have a dozen or more heats until Natalie gets to swim). Was also surprised to see spectators walking around with shirts that said "Coughlin 05" on the back. They're getting these at the Speedo store at the pool (05 was her number at Cal).
Natalie has asked me to remind everyone they can view her blog. She did add some new material yesterday, and you can get updates by registering on the site. I notice there is a color photo of her wearing the Olympic outfit for Beijing in red, white and blue at the bottom of the front page, so be among the first to see what U.S. swimmers will be wearing in Beijing.
award and medal carriers at the Qwest Center
at the Omaha Zoo
at the Omaha Zoo
at the Omaha Zoo
Sunday afternoon we visited the Omaha Zoo, about 5 miles from the pool. They had penguins, orangutans, and sun bears (one of my favorites), as well as an aquarium and Desert Dome. I've uploaded the photos from our visit in the 2008 Omaha Zoo folder on my web page linked below, and I'll post a couple at the end of this post.
Hit a Sonic Burger on the way back into town for late lunch, and then we were off to the pool to see Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff set world records in their events (over 12,000 people at the pool--a record for any U.S. swimming event). I saw Bob Costas from NBC across the pool interviewing Michael Phelps after his swim. Only photo I've added from Sunday night is the medal and award carriers which I'll post below. Other photos that I took on Saturday are in my gallery linked below.
Was surprised to find free wi-fi at the pool, so may take advantage of that in the slow periods around prelims (some events can have a dozen or more heats until Natalie gets to swim). Was also surprised to see spectators walking around with shirts that said "Coughlin 05" on the back. They're getting these at the Speedo store at the pool (05 was her number at Cal).
Natalie has asked me to remind everyone they can view her blog. She did add some new material yesterday, and you can get updates by registering on the site. I notice there is a color photo of her wearing the Olympic outfit for Beijing in red, white and blue at the bottom of the front page, so be among the first to see what U.S. swimmers will be wearing in Beijing.
award and medal carriers at the Qwest Center
at the Omaha Zoo
at the Omaha Zoo
at the Omaha Zoo
Last edited by tom911; Jun 30, 2008 at 7:22 am
Jun 30, 2008, 11:18 am
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Natalie Coughlin loses her world record in 100 back....for 2 minutes
Hello from the pool at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Using the free wi-fi in the stands here.
Exciting morning at the pool at prelims as we watched Haley McGregory of Texas steal Natalie's world record in 100 backstroke in the 15th heat with a time of 59.15. There were cheers and celebration in the stands to congratulate her on her achievement.
It was short lived. About 2 minutes after she set the new world record, Natalie swam in the 16th and final heat and took it back in a new :-:WORLD RECORD:-: time of 59.03. Even more celebrating in the stands when she won.
Back for semi-finals tonight, and then finals on Tuesday night in this event. This will be Natalie's first opportunity to gain an Olympic Team slot for Beijing. The top two finalists go to Beijing.
at the blocks for start of 100 backstroke prelms
Natalie hits the wall....new WORLD RECORD (the splash in lane 4 is her)
official WORLD RECORD
:-:
Exciting morning at the pool at prelims as we watched Haley McGregory of Texas steal Natalie's world record in 100 backstroke in the 15th heat with a time of 59.15. There were cheers and celebration in the stands to congratulate her on her achievement.
It was short lived. About 2 minutes after she set the new world record, Natalie swam in the 16th and final heat and took it back in a new :-:WORLD RECORD:-: time of 59.03. Even more celebrating in the stands when she won.
Back for semi-finals tonight, and then finals on Tuesday night in this event. This will be Natalie's first opportunity to gain an Olympic Team slot for Beijing. The top two finalists go to Beijing.
at the blocks for start of 100 backstroke prelms
Natalie hits the wall....new WORLD RECORD (the splash in lane 4 is her)
official WORLD RECORD
:-:
Jun 30, 2008, 6:57 pm
#6
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Exciting times for a report, Tom. 
I'll have a look at the links when I can.
Locally, Michael Phelps made the news for his 8x Gold dream, so we caught a glimpse of the meet. Enjoy the event.
[PS. There is a newborn sun bear cub at Melbourne Zoo, next time you're down under.]
I'll have a look at the links when I can.
Locally, Michael Phelps made the news for his 8x Gold dream, so we caught a glimpse of the meet. Enjoy the event.
[PS. There is a newborn sun bear cub at Melbourne Zoo, next time you're down under.
]
Jun 30, 2008, 11:30 pm
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Have a feeling there will be a lot more before the week is over. We're onto finals in 100 backstroke on Tuesday night. Natalie won her heat, and came in second among the top 16. All she needed to do was come out in top 8 overall, a feat she easily accomplished.
We had the buffet lunch over at Harrah's River Boat casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa this afternoon ($9.99), right across the river, and then after finals tonight (Monday) Speedo hosted an event at the Upstream Brewery that I was at until 11:30. Just back at my hotel now.
Natalie is scheduled to swim prelims in two events on Tuesday morning (200IM and 200 free).
I'll just add one photo showing her in the pool for semi-finals 100 backstroke tonight. I've added 4 others to my gallery linked below. Pretty happy with the photos being that I'm taking them from the opposite end of the pool near the awards stand.
Note to Rudi: can't find any Swiss chocolates, so she has some local dark chocolates to fuel her next run at a world record.
We're onto finals in 100 backstroke on Tuesday night. Natalie won her heat, and came in second among the top 16. All she needed to do was come out in top 8 overall, a feat she easily accomplished.We had the buffet lunch over at Harrah's River Boat casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa this afternoon ($9.99), right across the river, and then after finals tonight (Monday) Speedo hosted an event at the Upstream Brewery that I was at until 11:30. Just back at my hotel now.
Natalie is scheduled to swim prelims in two events on Tuesday morning (200IM and 200 free).
I'll just add one photo showing her in the pool for semi-finals 100 backstroke tonight. I've added 4 others to my gallery linked below. Pretty happy with the photos being that I'm taking them from the opposite end of the pool near the awards stand.
Note to Rudi: can't find any Swiss chocolates, so she has some local dark chocolates to fuel her next run at a world record.
Jun 30, 2008, 11:34 pm
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Your own Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) said this about the world record this morning. I know there are Australian media on the accredited list here.
World and Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin came out on top of a tit-for-tat world record exchange with Hayley McGregory at the US Olympic swimming trials.
Minutes after McGregory clocked 59.15 seconds to seize Coughlin's 100 metre backstroke world record in the penultimate heat of the event, Coughlin ripped off a time of 59.03 in the final heat to regain the world mark.
"I was planning on going a lot easier this morning," admitted Coughlin, 25. "But it gave me motivation to go a little faster than I was planning.
Minutes after McGregory clocked 59.15 seconds to seize Coughlin's 100 metre backstroke world record in the penultimate heat of the event, Coughlin ripped off a time of 59.03 in the final heat to regain the world mark.
"I was planning on going a lot easier this morning," admitted Coughlin, 25. "But it gave me motivation to go a little faster than I was planning.
Jul 1, 2008, 7:50 am
#10
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From my friend and Raider fan mjm:
Raiders Salute Natalie Coughlin
Also, Yahoo has a number of photos from different sources in their news photos section this week of Natalie.
Raiders Salute Natalie Coughlin
Also, Yahoo has a number of photos from different sources in their news photos section this week of Natalie.
Jul 1, 2008, 6:35 pm
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Just watched the final heat (thank goodness for the T1 link at work )
Tom - please congratulate Natalie on her win!!! WOW! Another world record broken - her own! What a swimmer/athlete!
Obviously you're on your way to Beijing now! ^
)Tom - please congratulate Natalie on her win!!! WOW! Another world record broken - her own! What a swimmer/athlete!
Obviously you're on your way to Beijing now! ^
Jul 1, 2008, 6:37 pm
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Awesome! Natalie has a crowd of thousands on FT cheering for her. She is our FT Olympian, thanks to you, Tom.
hmmm, I wonder if we could get a picture of her in a FlyerTalk cap. The Raider Nation needs to share.
hmmm, I wonder if we could get a picture of her in a FlyerTalk cap. The Raider Nation needs to share.
Jul 1, 2008, 6:38 pm
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Well.... ldsant.... I watched it live on tv....
Tom, congratulations for you and Natalie.... my partner was asking why I was so intent on watching this race and I told him about my meeting you in Napa Valley several years ago!
Do not stary flying to Beijing yet... she has more races to win!
Tom, congratulations for you and Natalie.... my partner was asking why I was so intent on watching this race and I told him about my meeting you in Napa Valley several years ago!
Do not stary flying to Beijing yet... she has more races to win!
Jul 1, 2008, 10:35 pm
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Thanks to Tom I watched it on the telly too (I wasn't live, but Tom had posted what time USA Network was airing it & I stayed away from the news so I could be surprised/bite my nails). Quite exciting, and I called him right after (they were at dinner). I had also called my neighbors & got them to turn it on, so Manhattan Beach had a Natalie bonding experience!
Ok, here's a question (well, 2, well 3). How the heck do both sexes actually get into those unisuits? And why do some races do the guys do unis & the others halfies? And I get the umpires at both ends of the lanes, but why do 2 of the umps walk quickly along w/ the swimmers along the side?
BTW - an FTer won a sweeps to Beijing Olympics that I posted in the contests/sweeps forum, so maybe he/spouse can meet up w/ Tom over there!
Cheers.
Ok, here's a question (well, 2, well 3). How the heck do both sexes actually get into those unisuits? And why do some races do the guys do unis & the others halfies? And I get the umpires at both ends of the lanes, but why do 2 of the umps walk quickly along w/ the swimmers along the side?
BTW - an FTer won a sweeps to Beijing Olympics that I posted in the contests/sweeps forum, so maybe he/spouse can meet up w/ Tom over there!
Cheers.
Jul 1, 2008, 11:27 pm
#15
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Natalie says it takes about 20-30 minutes to get that suit on. The judges are looking for things like stroke technique to make sure the swimmers actually use the correct strokes in their event, and make proper turns (one was disqualified yesterday because only one of theirs hands touched a wall on a turn).
Thank you for the kind comments. I'm uploading photos right now and preparing my post and will be back shortly.
Thank you for the kind comments. I'm uploading photos right now and preparing my post and will be back shortly.