East to West Coast

During the last two weeks I've gotten the opportunity to travel to New York and California and both trips were awesome! In NYC my teammates and I did a press event for one of USA Synchro's sponsors Infusium 23. With the help of K Public Relations LLC we got to meet with beauty and fitness editors as well as bloggers and to answer their questions about hair, makeup, and training for the Olympics. After doing a short demo, many of the editors got in the pool with us and tried synchro! They were all so excited to learn new moves and weren't afraid to go upside down and even get lifted out of the water. I think they had some fun and so did we! Many of them were surprised to hear how much we practice and were very impressed when they saw us perform. They were also interested to hear how our makeup stays on in the water and what we do to keep our hair healthy. We shared some of our tips and tricks for not letting the chlorine get the best of our skin and hair and told them about what goes into our  daily training regimen. I think it was great to get this kind of exposure for our team and for Infusium! Here are a few of the beauty and fitness articles from the trip:

http://somekindofrunderful.com/2012/06/13/fresh-from-the-pool-workout-tips-and-beauty-secrets-from-usa-synchro/

http://www.bellasugar.com/Olympic-Synchronized-Swimming-Team-Hair-Makeup-Tips-23464485

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/blogs/fitstop/tag/synchronized-swimming/

I loooooved being in New York City. From getting to talk to stylish beauty editors to walking the streets of the city, I got the "big city" experience. I would maybe like to live here for a summer. It would be fun to do an internship or something like that and get to live like a New Yorker for a little. Who wouldn't love having this view every day??

After a few days back in Indy, Mary and I went to my hometown of Walnut Creek, CA to participate in the Walnut Creek Aquanuts' Celebration of Champions. This is an annual fundraiser that the club puts on in the spring and this year they featured 3 Olympic duets - the U.S., France and the Czech Republic. It felt SO good to be back home. Mary and I stayed at my house during these three days and even though I didn't get to spend much time with my family, it was still really nice to sleep in my own bed and to be home. My parents and brother were so happy to have me home too, even if it was only for a short while. My brother actually showed me an essay he wrote about me in school and it was very sweet. He talked about how much he looks up to me and how proud he is that I am going to the Olympics. Reading that just warmed my heart and I am happy that I can be an inspiration to him.

I quickly realized that my skin was not used to swimming outdoors again. I had some pretty scary tan lines after the first practice and my skin hurt constantly. I guess that's what you get for being indoors for a year! But hey, I'm not complaining. I needed a little color. Mary and I shared the pool with the younger girls during our two days of practice and then on Saturday we performed both of our routines at the show. The Aquanuts decked the pool out in Olympic decorations and even hung up the Olympic rings on one end!

Swimming at Heather Farms felt just right and having a home crowd was even better. I had so many people come up to me to wish me luck and to congratulate me on making it and I felt a lot of support from the entire Walnut Creek community. The Aquanuts were great hosts and I am thankful to them for having us! The French and Czech duet also swam very well. I enjoyed watching their routines and seeing some of the things they excel at.

The three Olympic duets

My parents and many of our family friends came to watch me swim and I am forever thankful that they've continued to believe in me over the years and that their support and love has always been there for me.

My brother Ivan and I after the show :)

Unfortunately we didn't get to stay after the exhibition to sign autographs and mingle because our flight left for Indy that night. Mary and I barely made it on the plane and my hair was still knoxed, I had full synchro make-up on and was too tired to even care about the strange looks we were getting at the airport. I just wanted to get back to Indy and sleep! Now that I've regained some of my energy I am looking forward to tomorrow's practice and the St. Vincent Spirit of Sport Awards we are attending tomorrow night. Then we are off to Spain and Switzerland on Tuesday! Wish us luck at these two competitions!

Lots of love,
MK