Yesterday, the Phelps Women were live from the plaza, with The Today Show. After arriving in London late the night before, there were more than one pair of bleary eyes in the hair and make-up chair that morning. Hopefully, waking up on-time yesterday morning will get us on track for the rest of our time here. With early mornings and late nights, it helps to acclimate quickly.
What’s funny was that the outfits weren’t planned. My orange J. Crew dress appeared red on TV, so it seemed as if we coordinated the red, white and blue! While we didn’t, it was an added bonus that looked oh, so coordinated and styled!
Since Athens, we’ve been on the show approximately 8-10 times, and it never gets old. The car picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the International Business Center (IBC), from where most American based media work during the Games. We had our passes and tickets in hand, went through security and were taken to the set on golf carts — we were told today that it can take upwards of an hour to walk from end to end of the Olympic Park, so the carts are helpful.
Arriving on the set means a quick hair and make-up. We had a tight connection, as we were scheduled to go on for a teaser (where we wave and the show says “Coming up next…”) a few minutes after arrival. Touch-ups were complete and onto the set we went. After the first teaser, we were able to say HI to Ryan Seacrest, who we met in April, when he was in Baltimore doing a profile piece on Michael and the family, set to air tonight (tune into the O-Zone at 7:30pm EST on NBC to see the piece). Of all the people we have met, in my opinion, Ryan is one of the nicest and most easy to talk to people in the media, which is one of the reasons he is so successful — he truly puts people at ease.
We sat with Savannah for just under 4 minutes and talked about what these Olympics mean to the family. This is our last Olympics together, but is Savannah’s first. It is still surreal that this is our FOURTH one!
The interview ended and we headed back to the hotel and out for some sightseeing. Finding a rustic coffee shop a few steps from our hotel, we stopped in for a pick-me-up. My initial plan was to grab it to go, but the barista didn’t provide that option. Instead, she said to take a seat and she would bring the order to us. Sitting outside, the caffeinated beverages were brought in quaint cups, along with a bowl of brown sugar.
Yesterday was the calm before the storm, as the next few days will be filled with action packed swimming prelims and finals. The coffee wasn’t take out, but we did walk away with a HUGE take away… when in England, look RIGHT first and then LEFT — the opposite of what it is back home in the United States. On two separate occasions, we forgot that seemingly small, but very important rule and found ourselves jumping back onto the sidewalk to the sounds of car horns.
Today we will figure out the schedule that we will follow for most of the week — we will determine whether we can adjust our wake-up time, how long it will take to travel to the venue and the time needed to clear through security. The week is just beginning, with many more adventures inside and outside of the pool to come! Until then…
(To watch the Today Show piece, click HERE)
Genuine Joy 