My day at the London 2012 Olympics

After years of anticipation I made it to the London 2012 Olympics on Friday. The weather was fantastic and we enjoyed a lovely day exploring the Olympic park in the sunshine. It's hard to believe that the park was industrial wasteland up until a few years ago. The transformation is huge and it's now a wonderful green space, full of beautiful trees, plants and flowers.

We followed a path along the river and came across the Gloriana moored on the river, a royal barge privately commissioned as a tribute to the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee, and the lead vessel in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.  The site was buzzing with people and every now and again we could hear huge roars coming from the crowds inside the stadium and the other venues.

 In the evening we watched the Men's Diving 10m Platform preliminaries held in the Aquatics Centre. The atmosphere was wonderful and there were extra loud cheers for Team GB divers Tom Daley and Pete Waterfield. The duo had narrowly missed out on a medal the previous week, coming fourth in the synchronised 10m Platform competition. However things went better for Tom Daley this time and he went on to win a bronze medal in the final the following day. 

There have been so many magical moments in the last couple of weeks. My personal favourites were the Opening Ceremony that exceeded every ones expectations, Jessica Ennis winning the heptathlon, Mo Farah's 10,000m and 5,000m triumphs and of course Tom Daley taking bronze. Sadly it's over all too soon but I'll remember the London 2012 Olympics for the rest of my life, and we still have the Paralympics to come!

Synchronised Swimming at the Olympic Park

I was invited by BT Storytellers to watch the Synchronised Swimming Qualification at the Aquatics Centre on Sat 21 April. This five day event was the final opportunity for synchronised swimmers to qualify for the London 2012 Games.

 

It felt exciting to be walking into the Olympic Park. It’s completely transformed since I last visited in August 2010 when it was still a building site. We got through the airport style security quite quickly and stopped to take a few photos of the Olympic Stadium before we entered the Aquatics Centre with its iconic wave shaped roof. Inside there was a great atmosphere and it was very warm. We sat high up in one of the stands and we had a good view looking down on the pool.

Synchronised Swimming is one of two women-only disciplines in the Olympic Games (the other is Rhythmic Gymnastics). We watched 10 countries competing in the Teams free routine. Teams of eight athletes perform a four minute routine to music which is designed to show off their strengths and creativity.

The athletes need to be incredibly agile and strong to be able to perform in synch with each other and the music while holding their breath under water for a lot of the time. The fast pace of the routines and the variety of positions, movements and lifts make it really watchable and popular with spectators.

Judges mark a variety of components during a routine, including choreography, difficulty, synchronisation and execution. The routines varied quite a lot in terms of music and theme. The theme for Great Britain’s routine was inspired by Peter Pan and Neverland. I particularly enjoyed Mexico’s routine inspired by karate and martial arts.

 

The Russian team won gold in the competition. They are the current Olympic and world champions. Spain won silver and Japan won bronze.

They join five teams that had already qualified including Team GB as the host nation and the European representative. You can see the full list of results on the London Prepares website

 

It was fantastic to see world-class athletes in action inside the Olympic Park. Synchronised Swimming is a great event to watch and I’m looking forward to following the competition during the Games.