Entry #1

Entry #1 should begin with explaining my motivation for this blog. So, here it is. My husband is a pretty normal guy. He eats (a lot) sleeps, hangs out with his friends, plays with his daughter, takes out the trash and works. It is that last bit ('works') that sets him apart. Mark does not go to an office, sit behind a desk, or carry a calculator. Instead, he pulls on a bathing suit (a tiny speedo, for those of you that may want to ask), straps on some goggles and dives into the water... this is his job. My husband is just your average, everyday, Olympian.

Mark has two Olympic gold medals. He earned the first one in Athens, Greece in 2004 and the second in Beijing, China in 2008. He is still swimming. He is still racing. And we are both counting the days until the 2012 Olympics in London. With a little more than two years to go before the 2o12 U.S. Olympic team trials I started to think that we should really document his journey (the ins and outs of his everyday life, training, racing, traveling, etc.). So, rather than nag him (something that I often do-but let's face it... I am a wife. Isn't nagging part of the job description?) to update his website, blog about his experiences, and keep a journal, I thought that I should keep a diary of my experiences as a nervous swim wife. Therefore, this blog is dedicated to that-a diary of my experiences as a swim wife. This blog will be from my perspective (from the bleechers, from behind the computer checking results, from airports as I travel to meets).

About me

I am a nervous person. I bite my nails. I do not hold a stop watch at every race, but I do memorize times. I can't help it. I am a bit neurotic, but most of the time I hide it well (it is funny because people think that I am cool, calm and collected-ha!). I typically ask Mark about his practices, his training, how he is feeling, if he has spoken to his agent lately, how other people around the world are swimming and every other annoying question that I am sure he does not want to answer. But, again, just to recap, I am a nervous swim wife-this is my right.

I also thought that this blog was important in order to clarify exactly what our life, and the lives of other average, everyday, Olympians and their families, are like. People often ask me what we eat for dinner, how we support ourselves financially and if we get to meet famous people, among a million (gazillion) other random questions and I thought this was the perfect way to provide some answers. Throughout this blog I will be honest and offer a glimpse into our lives.

I'm not sure exactly what turns this blog may take, but I am excited about the opportunity to keep a log of our crazy life. This is the diary of nervous swim wife whose husband is just your average, everyday, Olympian.