Olympic Trials day Six


This was a great day for the basket crew. So far we haven't been out on the track very much because the athletes have been taking off their swets in the warm-up area before they go out on the track. This doesn't work for the sprints because the athletes like to stay dressed right up until race time. We were out on the track for the 100M last weekend but that is not a staggered race and our walk back to the recovery area is very short. Today was the qualifying for the 200M and they had the most heats (5) of both men and women. That's 10 races in a row with very little time in between. Our job is to provide each athlete with a basket to put their clothes in before each race then take that basket back to the recovery area for them to pick up when they are finished. The 100M is a short race but we also had a short walk and we were getting to the recovery area about the same time as the athletes. The 200M is our longest walk and still a short race for the runner, so we can't get there before them. It is also a staggered start so our baskets are stretched out in an arc instead of the nice straight line close together in the 100M. Our crew had to put the baskets behind the lane markers then squat along the side of the track until the athletes took off there warm-ups. Then they would pick up the basket and move behind all the runners and squat down along the rail to stay out of view of the spectators. One of our jobs is to not be in anyone's line of site. After the race has started successfully then we get up and carry our baskets off the track in single file outside of lane 8 and back to the recovery area. It may sound simple enough but these are mostly high school kids and we are to be quick and not seen. That's why most people don't know that we exist. Anyway our kids were GREAT today. They got the baskets on and off the track with incredible efficiency. I bet very few people watching the races even knew they were out there. My adult leaders for each team have always been very good at what they do and today everything worked perfectly. Tonight I'm a very happy Captain of a very good crew.

Oh, and to add to that we got to see some more of our great athletes perform at a very high level, and another Duck is going to Beijing.


Joseph Calbreath