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Doug Lennox' Beijing Blog #1: My Arrival
August 05, 2008 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Rising senior Doug Lennox, a multiple-time EISL champion and a 2008
All-America swimmer in the 200 fly, will compete in the Games of the
XXIX Olympiad as a member of the Puerto Rican national team. Lennox,
who will compete in both the 100 and 200 fly, will write occasional
blogs for GoPrincetonTigers.com to share his experience in Beijing. In
his first entry, Lennox discusses his arrival to the beautiful city,
the Olympic village and seeing the more famous German teammate of
former Princetonian Konrad Wysocki '04.
August 5
I arrived in China August 2nd after a long 13-hour flight over the North Pole, and I landed in Beijing at about 1 p.m. local time (1 a.m. EST). Touching down in Beijing is when I first realized this dream is all real. I am here to compete with the best in the world, and to represent everyone and everything that has helped me become who I am and get to where I am (thank you everyone, good and bad influences alike -- you're equally important to my success!). After being received by a "welcome party" for the Puerto Rican delegation and taking pictures, the tone of the trip has already been set: a lot of very nice, hospitable Chinese volunteers will be smiling, using their best attempt at English, and wishing us athletes luck at every door. It is unbelievable how amazingly prepared China seems to be, and I mean the whole country. Everyone knows their job, what they are supposed to do, and they are very well trained in etiquette. The people are certainly spoiling us here, and it is very flattering.
The bus ride from the airport to the Olympic Village was short, but filled with tons of awesome sights. From the bus we could see all the Olympic venues, Olympic banners on every light post, and people smiling and waving as we drive by. The landscape is heavily urban, but sprawling in between buildings and roads are little creeks, awesome sculptures and beautiful greenery. The city is very open, but I am sure it's only because there is a quota put on cars for the sake of pollution. Speaking of which, the air is bright blue with very few clouds in the sky, and it has to be in the mid 90s (F) with no indication of thick smog.
The village itself is gigantic -- 42 housing buildings, a full-blown recreation center with a weightroom, cardio center, 50m swimming pool, outdoor basketball, tennis, and volleyball courts, an entertainment center with a bunch of huge flatscreen TVs, air hockey, fooseball, and pool tables, as well as a sauna and massage rooms in the locker rooms. Not far from here is the main dining hall, which has a McDonald's (of course), stations for Mediterranean, International, and Asian cuisines, deli bars, cereal bars, salad bars and many beverage refrigerators. All drinks are bottled, and scattered on the village campus are convenient vending machines for which we were given swipe passes to get our drinks for free.
The living conditions are better than any of the past Olympic Villages (so i have been told) and are very modern. There are two elevators per entry way, rooms of all sizes (singles, doubles, triples, etc.), and when you walk into your room there are paintings from local school children waiting for athletes, coaches and officials to take home. At the entrance of each building there are welcoming doormen/women who smile, say "hello", and "you're welcome" in English, and some can hold more in-depth conversations as well. You'll never catch any of them resting; they stand as tall and straight as the military men that secure the premises at the main entrances and line the fences of the Village. Writing from one of the three resident centers, where an internet cafe, an arcade gameroom, and information center are all present, I can say the Chinese are going all out in keeping us comfortable, entertained, and safe.
Walking around the village is very cool, too. Not only do you hear more languages than you can possibly identify, you see a lot of really interesting outfits, famous people and caring volunteers. Just today I walked past Dirk Nowitzki, Ryan Lochte, and the whole British cycling team on my way from my room to the dining hall. What a treat!
Although this is my third day here it is difficult to say whether I have adapted to the time zone yet. I sleep when I am supposed to, but I wake up feeling less than completely rested. As I approach competition time I will be sure to sleep as much as possible, stay out of the heat, and stay focused in training. Somewhere along the way I will keep ya'll posted on how things are progressing.
Doug