June 30, 2008

Karen Frazier's recap of day two of the Olympic Time Trials:

June 29, 1 day until I swim...

So, fortunately today did not hold as much excitement as the past few, for which I'm sure the meet coordinators are very appreciative. I went to the pool this morning to warm up, and the place was crazy. Over 1200 athletes are competing in the Olympic Trials, and it seemed like every last one was trying to warm up at the same time I was. My parents flew in this afternoon, and the three of us and my boyfriend's family all went out to dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is today. Unfortunately, that meant I missed the finals session of the meet this evening.

I am torn between nervousness and excitement now. Coach Dave always says that I just need to turn my brain off and race, so I'm actually trying not to think about my goals for the race tomorrow and trust in the training I have done to get me to this point. Today, there were over twelve thousand spectators for the preliminaries, and I'm guessing there will be a similar number there tomorrow. I have never raced in front of so many people before, and plan on savoring the experience.

Karen Frazier's heat in the 100 breaststroke can be viewed live on NBCOlympics.com. Her heat begins at 11:58 a.m. (CT).