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swimming to Beijing

6/13/2019

4 Comments

 
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Beth’s last swim practice at Harvard’s Blodgett pool ended with hugs and tears with her college coaches. I dropped her off at Logan airport on August 19th for a flight to Colorado Springs and the Olympic Training Center, where the rest of the Beijing swim delegation gathered. 

She acquired a big duffel bag full of team gear and started her “Swimming to Beijing” blog. (bethkolbe.blogspot.com)

A training camp at a military base in Okinawa, Japan, allowed Team USA swimmers to recover from jet lag and avoid the air pollution in Beijing before competition started. Beth soaked up the sunshine one day on a pristine beach by the South China Sea. The team staff shared updates and great photos through an email newsletter. Beth could take pictures with her basic phone, but I hoped the disposable cameras I bought would take better photos. The cameras stayed buried and untouched in her bag. 

On September 2nd, the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Team relocated to Beijing’s Athlete Village among lush gardens, part of the mammoth Olympics complex. 

About 44,000 helpful volunteers kept everything running smoothly for over 4,200 Paralympics athletes from 148 countries. Beth shared a room with a young veteran, the first woman to lose a limb in the Iraq War. Their housing unit consisted of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one common room. A sign on the door identified the unit as the nail salon for Team USA and the best for prosthetics. 

Prosthetic feet also sported nails in the prerequisite red, white, and blue. 

Team USA swimmers would compete in the latest body and leg suits that added a little buoyancy; the same new suits contributed to the unusually high number of World Records at the Olympics just weeks before. Beth wore the Fastskin LZR Racer and the Blueseventy, severely tight leg suits. Coaches helped swimmers squeeze into them. The team tested the suits during a practice in Beijing’s Water Cube. 

“I’m excited to race in The Cube,” Beth said. “I feel faster than I ever have before.”
4 Comments
Jason Rhode link
6/14/2019 09:39:26 am

How bittersweet, the end of an ear, but how exciting to be in the Games and get try new swim gear!

Reply
Cindy Kolbe link
6/15/2019 04:12:03 pm

Those suits were banned after the Olympics/Paralympics in 2008. I think the issue was the high cost of the suits, the advantage of wearing them, and how some athletes/countries couldn't afford them.

Reply
Amy Henry link
6/14/2019 10:48:00 am

"...but I hoped the disposable cameras I bought would take better photos. The cameras stayed buried and untouched in her bag."

Good thought, Cindy, but I'm afraid cellphones just make it way too easy--I still haul my Nikon on vacation, but like Beth's disposable cameras, it winds up sitting in the room while my Smartphone slips weightlessly into my purse.

The bit about Beth sharing a room with the first woman veteran to lose a limb in the Iraq War is yet another example of how many wonderful and varied people Beth's determination to live a full and active life has introduced her to.

Reply
Cindy Kolbe link
6/15/2019 04:16:54 pm

Amy, it was amazing how much our world broadened with Beth's travels, and not just geographically. The world has so much more to offer!

Reply



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