It was great to see Cassie win her medal.
And that round bit of metal about three inches in diameter meant everything to her and she struggled to control her emotions afterwards.
She cried all through the medal ceremony and was still shedding tears when she entered a press conference nearly an hour after the race. Every time she looked at the medal around her neck her eyes just filled up.
Her family were just as bad as well, but you can’t blame them as it is not every day you see your daughter or sister win an Olympic medal.
Yesterday was the first time the 10km open water marathon swim has been included in the Olympics, but I think it could prove to be very popular.
What surprised me more than anything was how aggressive the swimmers can be. To try and cut down on the dirty tricks there is a yellow and red card scheme in place.
Swimmers who intentionally hamper or foul another competitor get one warning – a yellow card – and if they do it again they are chucked out of the race.
What was also quite interesting to watch was how the swimmers take on liquid. Like a normal running marathon there are drinks stations around the course. In this case it involves a team official holding out a long pole in the water with the country’s flag on it so that the swimmers know which drink to take. Then you can only watch in amazement as the swimmers quickly turn on their backs have a few sips and then get back to their normal stroke. It makes drinking while running seem easy..
But what totally blew me away is the distance these competitors are swimming.
You are talking over six miles, which is 400 lengths of you every day 25m pool and with no sides to touch.
Yet despite that distance nearly every major championship in recent years has come down to a sprint finish. It is incredible to think that an event that takes two hours to complete nearly always comes down to hundredths of a second.
HRH Princess Anne was at yesterday’s race and she seemed quite interested in the Olympics’ newest water event.
When London hosts the 2012 Games the open water swim is going to be stage in the Serpentine – I wonder how they are going to get all the ducks and geese to stay away.
It is funny I have not yet seen a live duck in Beijing , despite visiting a number of areas with water, but I have seen plenty of cooked ones.
Another thing I have not seen in Beijing is a bike with a light on.
Last night my taxi driving nearly took out three cyclists at different stages of my journey back to my hotel – mind you he also nearly took out two pedestrians on a zebra crossing by doing a you-turn and nearly hit two other cars. Yet I think that is just a normal day driving in Beijing .
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