University of Minnesota Athletics
Christine Jennings' World Championship Journal
5/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Junior freestyler Christine Jennings will represent the United States as a member of the 2008 U.S. World Championship team and will compete in the 5K race at the world championships in Seville, Spain, April 29-May 4, 2008. Jennings just earned All-America honors in the 500 free and the 800 free relay after helping the Gophers win the 2008 Big Ten Championships in February. She will share her world championship experience with gophersports.com in this journal.
Saturday, April 26
Hello from Spain!
So far, my trip has been amazing but exhausting at the same time. The flight here was my first overseas flight and the time change definitely takes some getting used to. The flight itself, actually, the switching of flights, was pretty interesting. First off, in ORD, a couple other swimmers I was with would not believe me that it was on the ground level (which it turned out it was) so we ended up walking two terminals and to the very end of the terminal, which turned out to be almost a 40-60 minute minute walk, including going through security again.
When we got to Madrid, we thought our flight was in K, but that was the earlier one, so we took a 5-10 min train ride out of security, checked back in again, walked to K and realized it wasn't our flight. Our flight was actually in M, so we ended up taking the train all the way back to the same stop to K. We are still not sure if we had to go all the way out and through security again?? :) It was fun getting lost.
When we arrived in Madrid, Spain, my first reaction was that it looked similar to Colorado because of the proximity it is to the mountains, but when we got to Seville, it kind of looked like we were in California. There are so many different kinds of trees and lots of orange trees. Driving: there are so many cars here and everything is a roundabout, it is a different experience. I think Europeans are better drivers then Americans!
Practice: Turns out, the host for the World event only rented out 4 lanes for 82 swimmers from around the world....hmmm..we'll see how this goes. So far we are one of the 4 countries here already. In the morning practice, we have from 7-9 a.m., but have to sneak out before 9, because if we get caught and we will probably get kicked out permanently, like last year (we are the only team at this one). Also, the water in the morning pool is 71 degrees, my feet were still blue after practice. Overall, it is really exciting, even though it hasn't quite sunk in yet.
Monday, April 28
Hey again!
Last night over half of us decided to go down to the inner city to get some ice cream. So, we all piled into two small vans and headed out following our nifty GPS system. Once we got to the inner city area, we began driving through tiny one-way streets. They were so small you had to tuck your mirrors in on your car so they wouldn’t hit the pedestrians or in some cases, the wall. I think we burned off rubber on the sides of all four wheels at one point. We ended up driving 15 or more minutes through these awesome little cobblestone streets. During that time I think I acted like a little kid seeing the world for the first time, everything was old and historic and was just awesome to look at. There were stores lining the sides of these streets and bicyclists and lots of pedestrians who had to move out of the way. It seemed as we got closer to the center, the streets got narrower, and at one point you could stick your hand half way out and touch the wall. When we finally got to the center, it opened up with huge historic buildings in front of you and a huge fountain and more shops. We parked (illegally and left someone to guard the cars) while we went to get ice cream. It was heaven again, with about 40 different flavors it was definitely a worth while trip.
Side Note: On the car ride back, we of course burned more rubber off the sides of the wheels, but I realized something I thought had to be the best thing ever. This might sound stupid, but if you saw it, you’d laugh your head off as well. So, everyone knows the crosswalks have the red hand and the white person (who doesn’t move) in America. Well, in Seville they have a red guy standing still for stop and a green guy for go. The green guy walks while you are allowed to cross and then it starts to jog and then with about 5 sec left the little green guy starts sprinting! Very fun to watch!
The city is just magnificent. It is very clean, much cleaner than our cities and other European cities. The pool we swim at in the afternoon is located outside the city up on a huge hill which overlooks the city. I want to get a picture of this view because when you look down it is like a huge circle of white buildings and apartments.
Bull Fighting: Yep, I went to a bull fight last night. I did not figure out they killed the bulls until I was in the arena, so I probably will not be returning to one in the future. It was a unique experience in a way. There was no yelling or cheering unless the matador did a certain routine in a full circle with the bull (I think it was in a circle), then people applauded. Otherwise, it was really quiet the entire time and there was no standing, entering, or leaving allowed, except after each bull died. The only part I enjoyed was the fighting part.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Hola! I officially love this place!
Update on swimming: The other countries are all here now. I have seen Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, Great Britain, France, Hungary, and a bunch of smaller teams. It is exciting to see all these different people gather in one place. The Aussies (and Grant Hackett!) stopped at our table last night at dinner to talk to us and since I am a rookie I knew hardly anyone, very awkward.
On Tuesday a van full of swimmers and coaches took a trip down to Cadiz. It is supposed to be the oldest city in all of Europe. Cadiz is situated on something similar to a peninsula which is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Driving toward the city was spectacular. With the water being so many different colors of blue and in every direction, it was truly a sight to see.
We drove to the old cathedral in Cadiz and had lunch out at one of the restaurants in front of it. The cathedral was so big you couldn’t get it in one photograph. There was an elementary school visiting the cathedral while we were there as well. The kids either sat on the big steps or chased the pigeons the entire time, it was amusing. I had mixed paella, it was delicious.
After lunch, we walked by Ben and Jerry’s (we were excited to see one in Spain) and believe it or not, it was Free Ice Cream Day!!!! So we all got ice cream and headed out to tour the cathedral. The cathedral was just as big inside as it was on the outside and the alter area was decorated with a lots of gold ornamental items.
We then headed toward the beach to go do an ocean swim, but turns out that we forgot it was only the end of April and the ocean was like 60-65 degrees. So instead, we just hung out on the beach for an hour before heading back to Seville.
On Wednesday, we went and swam down in the river where the race is going to be. The course was not set up because May 1 is a holiday in Spain. When we were out about 1000 meters from the start (just past the bridge) the police boat came up to us and told us to turn around or they would arrest us. Thankfully, someone there could understand Spanish better then me.
Also, on Wednesday night we went grocery shopping, it was unquestionably the most distinct experience I have ever had. The Carrefour Store was probably two, maybe three times as big as a Super Target. Positive: Grocery stores here carry the best cereal ever! Negative: The only kind of milk you can buy is sitting in a box next to the cereal, warm.
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