Diving - 10/10/14

Diving.  We all talked about how we'd actually do this one - some of us having last dived as kids (and not competitively) and others never at all.  Luckily, the SMU head diving coach agreed to have us come out and he'd show us how to get started.  Last October, we headed over on a Friday morning and took our chances...

There are four women's diving events at the Olympics:
3m springboard - singles and synchronized
10m platform - singles and synchronized

The coach said we'd just work on jumping in, which was fine by all of us.  And, um, by the way, was the 10m platform REALLY that MASSIVE concrete thing looming above us?  Holy cow!  I think I was the only one crazy enough going in to do it, but I admittedly chickened out after going off the 5m a couple of times.

We started on the side of the pool jumping in, to get used to the arm motion and, well, clenching that had to happen to protect us on our jumps.  Then we moved up to the 1m springboard.  L1 and L2 both dived off of this one.  Next up was the 3m springboard, followed by the 5m platform.  Not everyone did the 5m, and some did it with quite a bit of hesitation and a lot of cheering from below.

The fear factor was pretty high on this event, much like our track cycling, but we're all learning to lean on each other and help our friends succeed.  I think everyone was happy with what they did accomplish here - more than some of us thought we could do!

J (and baby L!) stepping off the 1m springboard

 

L1 prepping to dive off the 1m springboard

 

R overcame her fears and did the 3m springboard

L1 and L2 preparing for the 3m springboard synchro jump

 

L1 on her way down from the 5m platform

 

Everyone accomplished just a bit more than expected!

 

 



Cycling Road Race and Time Trial - 9/7/14

Only three of us have bikes of our own, so we decided to get together early on a Saturday morning to beat the September heat.  There are two cycling races - a time trial that is 1000m and a road race that varies in distance, but is generally over a paved terrain.  I charted out a course at CF Brewer High School that was exactly a 1 mile loop.  We used this for both events, doing one lap for the time trial and three laps for the road race.
These events were a welcome comfort from some of the more exotic sports we'd been trying!

L2 and M finishing lap 1 of the road race

J coming in at the end of her time trial

Swimming - August 2014

Wow - there are a lot of swimming events!  We decided to join the TCU swimming pool for a month over the summer of 2014 to work on getting all of them accomplished.  We met once or twice a week and completed these events at our own pace.  Some of us are much more comfortable in the water than others, but everyone did great and we got to enjoy some time outside during the month of July - not something that happens a lot in Texas!

Some info about Olympic women's swimming:
Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. Along with track & field athletics and gymnastics it is one of the most popular spectator sports at the Games and the one with the second largest number of events (after Athletics).
The women's events:
Freestyle - 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m
Backstroke - 100m, 200m
Breaststroke - 100m, 200m
Butterfly - 100m, 200m
Individual Medley - 200m, 400m
Relays - 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley
Marathon - 10km

M did complete the marathon on her own, over the course of our visits.  The rest of us decided we would combine our freestyle swimming to cover it.  None of us quite thought doing it all in one session would be wise!

L1's backstroke

 

K works on the butterfly

 

Everyone enjoyed their time in the pool!



Weightlifting - 7/21/14

We met on a hot summer day at Black Box Strength & Conditioning to get some instruction on Olympic weightlifting. 

Some info on the sport:
The two competition lifts in order are the snatch (one smooth motion lifting the bar overhead from a squat) and the clean and jerk (two distinct motions - first to the chest from a squat, then over the head with feet split into a lunge). Each weightlifter receives three attempts in each, and the combined total of the highest two successful lifts determines the overall result within a bodyweight category. Bodyweight categories are different for women and men.
In comparison with other strength sports, which test limit strength (with or without lifting aids), Olympic weightlifting tests aspects of human ballistic limits (explosive strength); the lifts are therefore executed faster—and with more mobility and a greater range of motion during their execution - than other strength movements. Properly executed, the snatch and the clean and jerk are both dynamic and explosive while appearing graceful, especially when viewed from a recording at a slowed speed.
While there are relatively few competitive Olympic weightlifters, the lifts performed in the Olympics, and in particular their component lifts (e.g. squats, deadlifts, cleans), are commonly used by elite athletes in other sports to train for both explosive and functional strength.

We first warmed up and stretched, then our instructor had us practice form using a wooden dowel.  After that, we took turns lifting just the bar, then added a little weight, as we were comfortable.  I focused on the form more than the weight being lifted, as it is a rather strange movement you make in both events.  It was great to watch some of the other lifters there to see just how explosive this really is in order to lift large amounts of weight!

L1 works on the Snatch

 

R shows her Clean and Jerk moves

 

Weightlifting Complete!



We Haven't Stopped!

It's been a while since a post has been made on our adventure...  No, we haven't quit, we've just been busy with these events, among other little life occurrences.  For example, J, our fearless leader, had a baby!  L1 and K have both gotten engaged!  And unfortunately, M has decided to carry on with the challenge on her own.
We've been busy, but I (L2) have volunteered to catch you up!  Now on to the highlights............

Fencing

Fencing has been contested at every modern Olympic games since 1896.  Women's events were added in 1924.  Today, there are three forms of Olympic fencing:  epee, foil, and saber.  Cutting Edge Fencing Center developed a short class for us to be able to experience all three forms.  But first, we had to don our protective gear, including plastic chest plates.

Also known as Xena bras

After learning to hold the equipment and practicing some basic walking techniques, we began with foil.  The foil is a light thrusting weapon, and your target is limited to the torso.  Double touches are not allowed.  We learned to thrust at each other, and to deflect our opponents' attacks.

Next up was saber, which is a light cutting and thrusting weapon.  The target area is anything above the waist, except the back of the head and hands.  Points can only be scored if you have the right of way:  first one competitor attacks, then the other.  For saber we donned jackets and gloves that would give off an electrical signal if a touch was scored.

Finally, we tried out epee.  Like foil, epee is a thrusting weapon, but it is much heavier, and the target area is the entire body.  There is no right of way in epee.  After being able to score a point in saber with a slashing motion, it was harder to only get points in epee for a thrust.  Cutting Edge set up a little mini-tournament for us, and we all found that we favored different events.  Thanks, Cutting Edge.

Wrestling

Wrestling was introduced in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC, and was a focus of the modern Olympic Games in 1896.  Women's wrestling was added in 2004.  In February 2013, the IOC voted to remove wrestling from the Olympic program, but in September of that year they voted to re-add wrestling.

Men compete in both Greco-Roman wrestling and Freestyle, while women only compete in Freestyle.  The major difference is that Freestyle allows the use of the wrestler's or opponent's legs for defense or offense.  The ultimate goal is to throw and pin your opponent to the mat, resulting in an immediate win.  The US is very successful in Olympic wrestling, as are the former Soviet Union and Japan.

Green B. Trimble Technical High School has both men's and women's wrestling, and the coach and team were generous enough to let us join one of their practices.  We weighed in and did some warm up exercises, and practiced some techniques.  Flexibility is a major component of wrestling, to allow you to escape an opponent's grip, or to grab your opponent.  We were very impressed with the flexibility of the wrestlers.

After learning some techniques, we paired up with each other or with members of the team.  We had a lot of fun throwing and pinning each other.

M has L flipped backwards

L was a huge fan of the leg-lace

R and J wrestling

R doesn't seem to concerned with L's hold on her.

L is about to win the count-out

M working with a Trimble Tech wrestler

Practice lasted a couple hours, and afterwards we re-weighed ourselves.  We all lost a few pounds during the workout.  We also learned a lot about wrestling, and had a great time.  Thank you, Trimble Tech.  Go Bulldogs!