Swimming National Championships

Denise and I planned another close-to-home vacation the weekend of July 11-12. We went to Indianapolis to the US National Swimming Championships at the IU Natatorium. This event was held for top level swimmers (many who had been at the Olympics) to qualify for the World Championship team. I think Worlds are being held this weekend in Rome. It was great fun to see many swimmers that we had seen on TV and to watch them in action.

There were two sessions - the preliminary session in the morning where many people swam to qualify for the finals that evening. Only the fastest 24 swimmers in each event went on to the finals. We had a break of several hours between the morning and evening session. We were going to go explore and hang out at the state park in downtown Indy but it was raining. So plan B included hanging out at the IUPUI bookstore, going to lunch at Panera, and shopping at Trader Joe's. Overall it was a very interesting experience.

We ended up staying an additional night in Indy so we could get together with our Risser cousins on Sunday for lunch and the afternoon. My cousin John and his family who live in Bellingham, WA were in town so it was a good excuse to get together. That will be the next blog post.

Here are a bunch of pictures from swimming...

The entrance to the Natatorium (swimming stadium/complex)

The pool during warmups. That is why so many people are in the pool in various places.

Swimmers congregated at the end of lanes during the practice times.

Denise with the pool in the background. Before the evening session.

Debbie Phelps (black jacket) signing books at the IUPUI bookstore with one of her daughters. She is Micheal Phelps' mom. He won 8 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

Miss America (from Indiana!!!) sang the national anthem.

Me standing beside Michael Phelps. OK, so only half his face. This is as close as I got to him. Which is really not close at all.

The start of the evening session was a swim-off between Cullen Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale. They had tied for 2nd place in the Men's 50 M freestyle so they had a race to see who won and got on the World Championship team. They started at the end of the pool we were sitting at so I got a close up view of the start.

Cullen Jones won. Here he is being interviewed by the TV crew.

The swimmers prepping before the start of a women's race (can't remember which one anymore)

The Men's 200M breaststroke. Eric Shanteau set an American record in this race. That's him in the front with the silver cap.

Aaron Piersol prepping for the 200M Men's backstroke.

Swimming the Men's 200 M backstroke. Aaron Piersol set a world record in this race!!

The end of the pool we were on. Notice the camera on the telescoping arm overlooking the pool.

Announcing the World Championship team. Michael Phelps is in the middle with dark hair and the hat on backwards, Aaron Piersol is to his left looking up.

Michael Phelps on the Jumbotron.

The last race of the evening was a world record attempt in the Women's 50M freestyle. Again they started at our end of the pool. The exciting part was that Dara Torres swam in this race. She is a 42 year old swimmer who won a silver medal in the Olympics. (By the way, most swimmers "retire" in their mid-20's).

Dara Torres in the middle with the towel around her neck.

On the starting block. Torres is in the middle. She won the race and set an American record, but not the world record.