(Start of the women's swimming marathon)
The past two days we've had men's and women's swimming marathon. Twenty-five competitors swim a 10K. I started thinking how much like NASCAR the event is......25 competitors start the race (not 43). They swim in a counter-clockwise course (making left-hand turns). During the the race, coaches and trainers hold out food and drink on long poles (a gas and go pit stop). NASCAR.....er, I mean event officials, follow them in boats to guard against bumping and blocking. The only difference, no wall for swimmers to knock their opponent into. Obviously, I've been here too long when I start comparing events to NASCAR!
(South Africa's Natalie Du Toit prepares for the marathon swim)
Seriously, it is unbelievable that these men and women can do this! In fact one woman that competed had lost her left leg below her knee. She didn't win, but she finished in the middle of the pack and beat a lot of racers with two good legs. Very inspirational. I shot the start from a TV tower overlooking the venue. The position only has room for one person so everything I shot is part of an Olympic pool that is made of of the four major wire services.
(South Africa's Natalie Du Toit gets help from an official after the race)
We ventured away from our normal restaurant rotation and went to a smaller place where no one spoke English. The food was god and pretty cheap. We also tried some kind of meat on a stick. On the menu it said it was venison, but it's not any deer I have ever tasted.
(Kirsty tries some kind of meat on a stick!)
Below is a photo from the Silk Market I visited a few days ago during a break in the beach volleyball. Many booths crammed into a large building with vendors wanting to sell you anything!
(Vendors selling jewelry at the Silk Market)
2 comments:
When you start comparing swimming to nascar that must mean that you are really homesick!!!!
Make sure and shop for all the little people at the markets....I hear pearls are very cheap over there:-)
I hope you didn't yell out "TROUBLE IN TURN 2" while you were shooting this! Didn't see the term "gas and go" in any of your captions either. I think the term we use here in the south for that meat on a stick is called "mystery meat"! Surely they have a pair of silk boxers with the Olympic logo on them in a 2X. Keep up the good work!
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