Closing Ceremonies and Games wrap-up!

I am back in Boston and easily getting over the jet-lag! Now that the Games have ended, we can post any info and pictures. The U.S. Paralympic Swim Team had personal best times in over 90% of our swims and we won the official medal tally (the Gold medal count)! I hope you enjoy the final pictures below!



A display of one of the many gorgeous flower displays in the village.




The is the adorable mascot for the Paralympic Games. Yes, it is a pink cow. Before every finals, 3 of these blow up cows jumped around on deck...and occasionally fell down...and couldn't get back up. After Closing Ceremonies, at least 100 of these cows stormed the floor of the stadium where the wheelchairs were sitting. We had no idea what their purpose was, but they kept running into us and running away. They would also begin to deflate so volunteers would run up to them and herd them off the track to get blown back up...my teammates and I were literally crying we were laughing so hard.


Me warming up in the end lane before prelims of my 50 freestyle.







Parading out for finals! I love the final warm-up outfits.









Waving on the big screen!











The packed 91,000 National Stadium during the Ceremonies and some of the performances.



















A special Thank You to all of you who were interested in my blog!

Now I am back in Boston beginning my search for a 1-year job (please email me if you have any suggestions!) before starting Stanford Law in the fall of '09.

Thank you again for following the 2008 Paralympic Games!

Adventures in the city

Our Lazers have been stowed away and exchanged for street clothes as Team USA took to the streets of Beijing. On the first day, I met up with my mom, my friends Brittany and Garth, and my coach Peggy to take a taxi into Southern Beijing. After a much needed stop at Starbucks, we ventured into a side street where the street vendors were selling scorpions and seahorses (among unidentified meat on a stick) to eat! (see first picture) Despite our intentions to try scorpion, our stomachs changed our minds after seeing them displayed.

Next we were off to the incredible Silk Market where there are 7 floors of packed booths and aggressive sellers accosting you to buy their polo shirts, fake designer dresses and handbags, pearls, jade, make-up, silk and just about any Chinese trinket you can imagine. Once we got the hang of bargaining and the conversion rate, we discovered how inexpensive you could buy everything. So, like good tourists, we stocked up on items and left with almost too many bags to carry.

We took a short break from shopping in the real Chinatown, to have an authentic (and delicious!) Chinese lunch where I even got the hang of chopsticks despite my quad hands. Then it was off to some Beijing neighborhood alleys where we got caught in the rain and had some trouble catching a taxi back to the village.


On day 2 of exploration, we were committed to see more of the culture and less of the shopping. Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven which is an enormous park with scattered temples that were used for worship. We were fascinated by the incredible number of Chinese people who were dancing, kicking a hackey-sack, dancing with a badminton, singing, playing instruments or just walking together. A few times we even had Chinese people come up and start asking me questions (with Brittany translating!) about my favorite Chinese food, how I was injured and how I raced. The temples were gorgeous and since they were on hills (see Garth pushing up a very non-ADA-approved ramp), they gave a view of much of the surrounding city. I could have spent all day exploring there, but we left for lunch at a Peking duck restraunt where I was peer pressured into eating duck brain (tastes like chicken but I almost gagged from the texture). Then it was time for a taxi back to the village to prepare for Closing Ceremonies!

50 backstroke!

I have swum my last event in the Water Cube!  On the final day of competition, I swam my 50 backstroke race with a time in pre-lims that got me back to finals seeded 8th.  At finals, I beat my morning swim and almost broke my old American record in that event with a time of 1:17.97.  It was an incredible honor to represent the U.S. in the finals for the second time.  

Even though the Paralympic Swim program has been going on for 9 days, I think many of us are still in shock that we are finished.  After training for so long, these meets seem to just fly by!  But, I had an incredible time and I am proud of my swims.  Thank you to Becca Agoglia, Steph Morawski and the entire Harvard Women's Swimming and Diving team and alumni for giving me the best training I could imagined.  

Although my work in Beijing is done, we do not leave until the 19th, so the swim team has a few days to go into the city before Closing Ceremonies.  Stay tuned for the conclusion and final photos of the trip!

50 Freestyle...part 2!

I just returned from my first Paralympic Games finals experience! In the last event of the night, I swam a 1:10.55, a best time and a new American Record, which places me 5th in the world. I had some incredible competition from Mexico, Great Britain, Singapore, and, of course, China. I felt prepared going in from all my amazing training at Harvard behind me and I was able to enjoy the moment as my heat was paraded out onto the deck and behind the blocks. What a great race!

Team USA had another fantastic night with old records smashed and multiple medals won. Now, I get a day off before racing my backstroke on the last day. Goodnight (or good morning back home)!

50 Freestyle...part 1!

I have finally raced in the Cube! Going into pre-lims, I was seeded 7th of the 14 S3 swimmers. But after swimming a time of 1:11 something, I am ranked 6th going into finals tonight!! I am happy with the time but I know I can go faster tonight. I needed one swim in the Cube to get all the race jitters out and I am ready to go all out tonight!

After my warm down, I ran upstairs to meet my cheering section. I wheeled into the spectator area to see my mom and 2 friends Brittany and Garth who were wearing "BE" and "TH" t-shirts. After the expected hugs, I was mobbed by Chinese fans who all wanted pictures with an American swimmer. Eventually, I did make it out of the venue and back to the Village where I have been resting up for tonight! More updates to come...

Day 6 of Swimming

One more day until I race my 50 freestyle!! It has been hard waiting so long to compete, but it has been so exciting cheering on my teammates who had earlier events. Pre-lims start at 9am every day, so I will likely race my 50 around 10:30am on Saturday (that's 10:30pm on Friday night for all of you living in the Eastern Time Zone). Then, if my time is in the top 8, I will swim again at finals that night around 6 or 7pm Beijing time.

My backstroke will be on the same pre-lim/finals schedule, but I race that event on Monday the 15th. Team USA has been doing so well in the water, but unfortunately I can't tell you about all the awesome races since I am not an accredited journalist and I don't want to risk the wrath of the International Paralympic Committee, so check out the Universal Sports website for all the updates! I also promise to post all the pictures 3 days after Closing Ceremonies that I am not allowed to post during the Games.

Thank you to all of you who have sent me good luck emails and comments! I love knowing I will have a cheering section back home. A special thanks to all my HWSD teammates for your ongoing support!

A Day in the Life of a Paraympic Swimmer in Beijing on a non-race day

6am - alarm goes off...hit snooze
6:10 - roll out of bed and get dressed with no idea what day of September it is, except we know exactly how many days until we race
6:30 - drink coffee brought to the 2 Ivy League coffee-addicts' room by our incredible team assistant, check email
6:45 - grab an energy bar as I get pushed (taper time!) to the transport mall where we load a bus to the Water Cube
7:15 - arrive at the Cube and head to Team USA's deck space along side the warm-up pool, athletes can be found here napping on a massage table, watching recaps from yesterday's events or generally procrastinating getting into the water
7:30 - make the plunge into the water...and try not to get run over by a certain S3 male (names are not allowed on blogs!) or to get run over by European athletes circle swimming the opposite direction

8:30 - sprints for time...I try to keep them under 1:14 for practice starts
8:45 - get out of the water, shower, and try to find a space to change in the tiny Cube locker room
9:00 - wish all the swimmers good luck who are swimming pre-lims, watch a few heats of pre-lims before loading a bus back to the Village
9:15 until noon - free time begins, includes napping, playing on the computer, skyping home, getting visitors into the Village, shopping in the international zone, or watching t.v. from itunes (gossip girl viewing sessions are common in my suite)
noon - pre-lim swimmers have returned, go to lunch in the athlete cafeteria where we debate whether the free McDonalds is healthier than the cafeteria food, bypass the famous peking duck and opt for salad and chicken

1pm until 3pm - more free time, paint nails (my suite has been named the nail salon due to a certain S6 LP from California living here...see picture of a male's prosthetic foot), play scrabble with the Yale scrabble queen
3:15 - go back to the Cube to loosen in the water before finals start
3:30 - quick swim in the warm-up pool before changing and going upstairs in the stands for finals
5 until 8:30 - cheer for Team USA and watch us dominate in the pool (USA is currently winning the Gold medal count in the pool)!

9pm - back to the Village where we snack, email home (in addition to being the nail salon, my suite is also named the internet cafe since we have the best wireless access...and at least 6 laptops), generally hang out with teammates
10pm - sleeeep