The time has come!

After a grueling 20 1/2 hour on the charter flight, TEAMUSA arrived in Shanghai. The "5" Start hotel evidently is somewhat lower on the star scale. We are not allowed in the rooms, only the lobby for safety reasons. Todd has been sharing his Cheerios with his teammates and although the food is not Western or American the athletes are surviving. We never thought that McDonald's could be rated as flavorful, good food. KFC will not make the list as acceptable.





Opening Ceremonies were held in an 80,000 seat stadium and were amazing. Jackie Chan, Colin Farrel, Quincy Jones, Yao Ming, and Arnold Schwartzenegger were part of the ceremonies. Obviously, Todd enjoyed the show. This was emulating what the opening will be like for Beijing next year. The fireworks, music, laser lights, made the Torch Lighting and the athletes' entrance into the stadium truly a sight to see. Arnold led the TEAMUSA delegation into the stadium, all 400 athletes and 150 coaches.

Wednesday afternoon, the Men's 200 meter freestyle relay qualified and then Thursday afternoon swam to 2nd place for a SILVER MEDAL. The guys all swam well, with Todd leading off the race. Todd dropped his time 2.5 seconds from prelims to finals. He was rocking as usual, pumping up the team before he swam.



We are truly in awe of our athlete's abilities to handle such huge changes in time, culture and foods. Language differences make even simple things difficult. Very warm, humid weather feels almost like Florida in the summer.

Tomorrow, Friday morning he swims 100 free preliminaries.