So I have fully settled in to my usual Olympic Routine of 10 hours a day in front of the TV. In our new house there is no cable access, because it is SO cottage-like, so I scored a sweet pair of Rabbit Ears and am pulling in TV waves old school style. The streaming video on the Internet is really sweet as well, its fun to watch the streams with no commentating, its like you are sitting in the seats watching.

My mom and I enjoyed watching the opening ceremony together last Friday. It was my official duty to hand my mom Kleenex after Kleenex as she enjoyed the opening through the standard teary eyes. To be fair the opening makes my Mom cry when her son isn't marching in, so you can imagine the state she was in, but it was really nice to sit and watch with her. I can't say that I was not emotional either, watching the athletes march in. I am so proud of Angus and how hard he worked to get there. Adam V did an absolutely outstanding job carrying the flag into the stadium. No one was waving the flag more proudly and it was really nice to see his big grin as he looked into the crowd. It is an honour that is so special you could not even hope to dream of it, carrying the colours of your country out on the world stage like that. My Grandma put an amazing perspective on the ceremony and the spirit of the games when I was talking to her afterwards about it. She said in her extremely wise way, "It was a very powerful morning, I could not stop thinking about all these young people together from all the nations of the world. When I was young and when my father was young, so so many young people gathered as well, but to systematically try to destroy each other. It is something very powerful and moving to see so many young people together doing something positive and peaceful."

With the Opening out of the way the excitement of the competitions has now taken over. I have been completely blown away, again, by Michael Phelps. He is maybe the greatest athlete of his generation in any sport. Watching him last night in the 200m free was complete perfection. The way that he can move off the wall underwater is completely unbelievable. It is inspiring and just a complete marvel to see an athlete like that. The 4 x 100m relay is always a favorite swim race of mine to watch and it was another amazing contest this Olympics. The American anchor, Leyzak, was amazing in the last 10m and played the race exactly right. I was quietly pulling for the French to hold on, but a performance like the Americans pulled off deserved a Gold Medal.

Here at home, training is going well. It is always very fun to get into CCA training mode. Working on crew boats with your club mates that you don't usually get to train with. The energy at our club right now is fantastic. With the excitement of the Olympics and the anticipation of the approaching Nationals, everyday feels special at the club. I have been surprised and very stoked about the amount of press all the paddlers have been getting already here at home. Obviously, Adam has got great coverage, but the whole team, especially Mark and Tom have been seemingly picked by the sometimes (like in this case) wise media, as medal hopefuls and keep showing up in the news paper, which is great. The spill over at the grassroots level into canoe clubs will be immediate and that is good for everyone, especially those kids who will get exposed to our great sport.

So for now I am staying up late, getting up early, and being an overall massive Olympic fan. But as I told all the guys and girls when I saw them before they left in Toronto, I am definitely the biggest fan of our Canoe/Kayak team. I know you guys are feeling great over there and that the good vibes are rolling, keep it up and live the dream! If there are moments when you get the worries-sies, or the tired-sies, or the poopy-sies, remember the 100 kids here at Rideau, and the same number at 50 clubs across Canada who are counting down the hours to Heat 1 with you.