Keepin' Up With Carly: Part IV
August 17, 2004 | Women's Swimming & Diving
This is the fourth weekly journal entry Olympic swimmer Carly Piper (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) is sharing with Badger fans on her experiences training for and competing in the 2004 Summer Olympics, which began last week. The senior-to-be will compete in the 800-meter freestyle relay on Wednesday, Aug. 18.
I woke up Monday morning and realized where I was the night before ... Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic Games!! It was amazing but also a long night. Only five swimmers went because of the length of the Ceremonies, and a lot of them were swimming the first couple days of the meet and needed to rest.
The night started at 5:45 p.m. when we loaded the buses. I'm sure for those of you who got a glimpse of our outfits on TV, you know what we were wearing. But for those who missed it, the ladies wore a blue skirt, red shirt, blue short-sleeved jacket and a blue hat.
We arrived at the stadium holding area about an hour later and waited as all the countries were loaded in, waiting for the Ceremonies to start. Around 11 p.m., we started to form a long line as Team USA. We paraded out onto the field, and I can not even explain the feeling! Everyone was cheering, the athletes were cheering and waving and of course snapping pictures. The support that was there was great! We walked around the track and finished in the middle of the field and waited there for all of the other countries to parade out and meet us. Then the presentation of the Olympic flag and speeches followed.
One of the most exciting parts was watching the final leg of the torch relay and the lighting of the Olympic flame. Fireworks followed and I was in complete awe. The ceremonies were long but beautiful.
Around 12:30 a.m., we all began to file out of the stadium, and I saw a familiar face. Seeing as there were so many people there I did not expect to see anyone that I knew, but I turned to my right and saw former UW basketball player Kirk Penney, who is playing for New Zealand. It is amazing to be in the midst of so many people from so many different countries and see those who are or who once represented UW. It makes me even more proud to be a Badger as well as represent the USA!!!
