Wherever I go, I will always have swimming

Somewhere over the North Pole-In case you didn't get it from the title, I'm a swimmer and I have adventures. Most of the time my adventures are because of swimming. Today is the beginning of a new set of just these adventures.

I'm on the plane on my way to Beijing for my 4th Olympic Games. It's my second as an observer after two as a participant. As I took my seat for my 13 hour flight, my college swim coach Matt K. appears and sits down beside me. I am absolutely giddy.

But this is par for the course with my swimming adventures. Our world is small and interconnected. Before I start on the present, I will tell you my favourite story from the past.

In 2005, after the bar exam, I was in the midst of planning a trip to Pakistan. I was going to visit Right To Play programs and I had promised the head coach of the Pakistan Women's National Team I would come visit her and her swimmers. I had met Veena M. back in 2002 at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, which was the first time Pakistani women were able to compete in mixed (i.e. men and women) competition. The reason? The new Speedo bodysuits covered their bodies sufficiently to conform to Islamic Code, allowing them to swim in front of men.

Since I was going to Pakistan, I thought, I would also visit a friend who was living in Sri Lanka (another swimmer who I met in Athens). Since I was now doing a South Asia tour, I figured I had to hit up India as well, however I was lamenting to my parents on the phone that while I had swim connections in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, I didn’t know anyone in India. My Dad, who lives in western Canada with my Mum, said that his old high school coach in Australia had spent some time in India and maybe he knew someone. My Dad then called up his coach Eric A. in Australia who said, why yes, he did know someone, a famous Indian swimmer named Khajan S. Unfortunately they had lost touch and he didn't know how to find him.

My Dad called me back in New York with this information and I set about Googling Khajan S. All I could find was the email address of the Youth Minister for Sport in India and emailed them asking for Mr. Khajan S.'s phone number. Within a day they had emailed me back with 3 numbers. I forwarded them on to my Dad, who took it upon himself to cold call New Delhi. When he got on the phone with Mr. Khajan S, and introduced himself as the swimmer of Eric A. from Australia and the father of an Olympic swimmer, Khajan S. didn't lose a beat. He welcomed me into his home and asked for my flight arrival details. He was there to pick me up and I stayed with him and his family for one incredible week. Everywhere I went, I was introduced as the daughter of a man who also swam for the great Australian coach, Eric A.

Now you can see why I named my blog with the longest and most ridiculous title in the world. It is the only one that fits.