August 17 Janet Culp

Today marked our last practice before synchro competition starts tomorrow with duets. After 3 days of duets, there is just one day off until team competition begins. I can't believe that all the waiting is almost over!

Practice went pretty well today, although our music time at the cube was not until 4:00 so we had a long day. We started again at BNU but today we got to eat lunch there in their amazing cafeteria. It was a highlight of the day! Another highlight was the warm-up CD that we listened to this morning. Kim, one of our captains, often makes CDs to listen to while we warm up every morning. But this one is extra special because it is our Olympic mix with such songs as Neil Diamond's "Coming to America" and Kim's original "Hero" compilation. It's a great way to start the day! We also had our last practice with Sean our circus school teacher, and it was sad to say goodbye for the last time. It was a foreshadow of things to come...there will be a lot of goodbyes before too long!

The final highlight of the day was watching the men's 400 m relay capture gold and watching Michael Phelps win his record 8th gold medal of the Olympics. What an incredible athlete! I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to watch such a historical event, and to be a member of the US team with him on it! His story is among the many memories I will take home with me after the games are over and I'm back to living a regular life!
Janet