From 1998 to 2003, Center of Balance director Tom McCook was a conditioning coach for the Stanford Women's Swim Team. For over 2 years, he trained Olympic gold medal swimmers Jenny Thompson and Misty Hyman and in September 2000 traveled to Sydney, Australia with the Stanford swimmers and other members of the US Women's Olympic Swim Team. Click on the entries below for exciting behind-the-scenes photos and updates from the Games!
- September 11, 2000 Greetings from Beautiful Brisbane!
- September 14, 2000 Getting Ready for the Games
- September 15, 2000 Let the Games Begin!
- September 16, 2000 5 World Records!
- September 18, 2000 The Peaks and Valleys of Competition
- September 19, 2000 Misty "The Missile" Takes Gold!
- September 22, 2000 A Bronze Lining
- September 24, 2000 Glorious Grand Finale
Greetings from beautiful Brisbane!
September 11, 2000
Greetings from beautiful Brisbane!
It's been a few days since we arrived in this lovely country. In crossing the international dateline, we left September 5th and passed into the 7th. We don't know where the 6th ever went!
The 40+ US swimmers are training here in Brisbane until the 13th and then off to Sydney to get ready for the opening of the Games. Tom has been doing Pilates, stretching and mental preparation work with both Jenny Thompson and Misty Hyman 1-2 times per day. The beautiful weather and public gardens by the river are a great place to lay down the mat for the training sessions. There's quite a contrast between the studio setting and the very public beachfront, where onlookers find the whole thing intriguing. The folks here are truly delightful and excellent hosts--we feel really welcomed.
Karen, the newest addition to Center of Balance, is in charge of documenting our experiences on video and camera, and seeking out new adventures.
We leave for Sydney in 2 days, which we anticipate to be a very different experience. We're staying in a house about 20 minutes walking distance from the Olympic village. We'll update you on the inside scene when we get to Sydney. In the meantime, here are a couple photos from Tom's training sessions with Jenny.
Best from Australia,
Tom and Karen
