Knoxville

Knoxville:

The natatorium here is new - 3 months new, in fact! This selection camp is (as far as I know) the first event that's ever been held here. The pool is beautiful. There are four one meters and four three meters, a hot tub, a cold tub, air-filled stretching mats (excuse me while I nerd-out, diver style)... chlorine that doesn't seem too hard on my hair... plenty of room on the deck... great lighting... ! The wall behind the platforms and springboards is made of orange and white panels, which makes the whole diving end of the natatorium look really amazing. It reminds me a little of Mondrian painting (I had no idea the guy was named "Mondrian" until just now. You can thank wikipedia for this reference!). I keep meaning to take some pictures of the pool... don't worry, it'll happen some time before I leave!

Practices have been good. We got here unusually early - I arrived on Friday, and won't compete til this Thursday! I guess that means I'm now halfway through the waiting game. Sometimes it feels like it's going by fast, and other times I'm not sure if we'll ever get to the third. For me, ime seems to warp when there's something major on the horizon, probably because I pay so much more attention to the hours, days, and minutes leading up to the event. (FYI: Two days and thirteen hours til go-time, baby.)

I'm liking the city of Knoxville. There's actually a lot of down time at meets - we spend a few hours practicing each day, and that's about it - so it's nice to be in a place where there are lots of restaurants and shops within walking distance. Our hotel isn't too shabby, but there's about an inch of crack underneath each door, which means that everything that goes on in the halls - doors closing, conversations with more-than-six-inch-voices, footsteps, room parties, kids on school trips sneaking out after curfew - is heard pretty clearly. Likewise, everything that goes on in the rooms - television, conversations, sweet monkey nay nay - makes its way on out into the hall. This has made it hard to sleep the first few nights here.

Two girls on our team - Kaylea and Michelle - bought a drawerful of art supplies, and we've all been making posters for each other. I'm not exactly an artist (the stick figure divers I drew on Michelle and Kaylea's sign look a little like aliens) but I've enjoyed the sign-making, for sure! Kaylea's mom bought three cowbells. There may be fewer spectators at this meet than at Indy trials, but we're doing our best to try to make the stands just as loud and colorful!