Charlotte Ultra Swim week/weekend!

Oooofda. It's been a long week/weekend. I have been here in Charlotte, NC since Tuesday night!

Flew in a few days before meet for the America's Swim Team Photo shoot which I helped out at. I was the "Behind the Scenes" photographer for the day/videographer. You can see the pictures I took from the shoot here:

It was a pretty fun day - got to hang out on the pool deck with Jess Hardy, Ricky Berens, Ryan Lochte, Rebecca Soni, and Chloe Sutton. All swimmers I was on National Teams with. It's been so fun for me to catch up with all these guys who I haven't seen for so long. I really love it!! We ended up being at the pool for about 9 hours, I was pretty tired so I came back to the hotel and decided to relax for the rest of the day/evening, order room service, and watch the tube.

Thursday morning I drove Nick Thoman out to Greenville, SC for the Team Greenville pool opening that was taking place that day. The Greenville County Recreation District just built an absolutely beautiful aquatics facility, 6.1 million dollars in the making which has taken the past four years to complete. From what I heard the pool they had before was just a disaster, one of the moms I spoke with told me she started crying when she walked into the new pool because she was so overcome with joy. Felt great to help organize Nick's appearance there. Everyone was so appreciative of him being there and USA Swimming for making it possible. I love giving back! We met with Scott Bonine the Head Coach of Team Greenville, who happens to know my dad. More and more I realize just how small the swimming community is.

Did you watch the swim-off between Josh and Cullen on Thursday night?! I did!! I was sandwiched between Madison Kennedy and Dana Vollmer in the stands right on the pool deck. We had a great view. It was so nerve-wracking watching as they prepared for the race. It's been 9 months coming. Talking with Josh earlier that day he was telling me that it's just been such a long wait and he was looking forward to finally getting to swim it. They both did such a good job, and it was extremely close. If you missed it go to the USA Swimming fan page on facebook, we posted it! So Cullen won the race which means he'll be heading to Shanghai this summer for the World Championships July 24-31. Josh gets to swim at the World University Games - I told him that the WUG's in 2007 was one of my best meets I ever had and to enjoy the experience!

It's so different to be at meet and not compete. I actually got to enjoy the swimming on a whole new level. When I was competing I was such a head case most of the time worrying about myself. This weekend I was able to fully enjoy myself and watch the competition without butterfly’s in my stomach. Although it did make me really miss it, I was so happy to be there. I have also really enjoyed getting to see my old swimming buddies. Sat with Hardy in the stands tonight and will be heading to dinner with Nat (Coughlin) in a little bit.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Spartanburg, NC to visit the BMW Performance Center and test drive some of the nicest cars in the world on their driving track! Will be accompanied by Madison, Cullen Jones, Nick Brunelli, and Mark Gangloff - How fast should we go?!

I'll try to be better and posting more frequently - although I think Camilla is the only one who actually reads this thing. Oh yes, and my dad :)

Have a great week!

- Em