US Olympic Trials: Orchestrating the Perfect Show
2008-07-05
Nikki Dryden
Canadians in the mix, helping to create an exciting meet, outside the pool
Omaha-It doesn't hurt that the product is the best in the world, but putting on an event of this caliber, which satisfies hard core swim fans and the general public would be a daunting task for anyone. But after taking a dip in the competition pool, eating at the athlete's dining hall, and taking a spin through the Aquazone, I can say with certainly, this meet is awesome.

While there is no doubt this is an American show, a handful of Canadians are doing their part. Heading it all up is Harold Cliff, former CEO of Swimming Canada, turned swim-meet organizer. After a successful turn running the 2007 Worlds in Melbourne, Cliff came back closer to home to lead his first US Trials. Another Canadian, Chris Hindmarch-Watson has been lending his voice to the Trials as pool announcer and let's just say he is doing us proud! Then there is the posse of Canadians working the timing system at Omega. A timerless meet, the swimmers are being measured by the electronic system and as back-up, overhead cameras capturing the action in 1/100th of a second intervals. And of course, Canada's own SwimNews is here to cover the action from the deck.

While I'm not a fan of temporary pools for a variety of reasons (no legacy, less intimate etc.), with 8 World and at least a dozen American records already broken the pool is certainly fast. And I'm not going to lie, swimming under a jumbotron and staring up at all those seats was pretty exciting. Mary T. Meagher said it best when she commented that she would be a bit tense were the crowds this big when she was swimming. "I'm a bit nervous now and I'm fully clothed," she joked to the finals crowd on Day 4. Coming in consistently at over 13,000 at night and 9,000 in the morning the crowd has made the meet all the more exciting.

Feeding 1200 swimmers is not an easy task, and trying to do it at 9pm at night in a town of 390,000 is near impossible. So a team dining hall was created with a menu set by USA Swimming nutritionists. Over 500 swimmers a night took advantage of the plan, and by all accounts the food was great. After a dinner of grilled trout and spaghetti, the waffles I had were a lovely dessert.

USA Swimming also has slowly been developing several programs to promote swimming, especially among minority children. From the USA Swimming Foundation's Make a Splash program to the dozens of sponsors who've set up shop in the Aquazone supporting autograph sessions of Olympic legends, I have certainly never seen a domestic competition like it. With 2 finals sessions to go, my first US Olympic Trials has lived up to the hype.