Countdown Beijing - The Great Wall

This morning we trained at BNU for two hours. We have been spending a good portion on every workout on our 6 on 5 offense and 5 on 6 defense since this part of our game will more than likely determine how well we do. This morning we finished our workout with 30 minutes of 6 on 5. On the last play of the practice Tony Azevedo took a shot with Jesse Smith blocking him. The shot scored but no one really cared. Jesse went straight underwater and Tony was grabbing his hand. Tony’s follow through had hit Jesse on the bridge of the nose. This is actually a very common water polo injury. A shooter follows through and hits the shot blocker in the face. It is dangerous for both the offensive and defensive players. We all held our breath to see how bad it was – as Jesse surfaced he had blood running down his face and Tony was still grasping his finger in pain. I knew what the worst case scenario was – I have seen this happen before – so I knew that it was possible that Jesse could have a broken nose or end up with multiple stitches in his face and Tony could have a broken finger or even worse he may have split the webbing on his hand. My heart was pumping as I made my way to the side of the pool where Jesse was heading. Obviously, that would not be good with a little over a week to go before the competition is to begin. As it turned out Jesse had a small cut on the bridge of his nose. He went to the medical room at BNU and ended up with two stitches. Tony had a jammed finger and after lunch seemed to be just fine. Ok - I have had my scare for the trip.

Everyone is healthy now and we plan on keeping it that way. That is the risk that we take everyday in our preparation. We can’t exactly stop practicing and just lock the guys in padded rooms. We want our practices to be competitive and game like as much as possible to prepare us for the battles to come. I am confident that we will stay healthy and be ready for what lies ahead.

We had a nice lunch at BNU and then jumped on a bus to the Great Wall. The Olympic Games is all about the life experiences. This was a great one. It was nice to take a little break from our training and just let the guys be tourists for the afternoon. We took a team picture at the wall and walked around the wall for awhile before we headed back for the Village. It was a pretty cool day – we took at ski lift up to the top of the wall and then took a toboggan down the mountain. It was a very nice day and one that will be a great memory for the team. As you can see by the other pictures attached I picked up a new hat and some new friends.

It is amazing to think that there is only one more week until the Opening Ceremonies. We are back to our regular training schedule tomorrow.

See you at the pool!
Coach