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Updates from
Taiwan
GO TEAM USA!
So I just landed in Taiwan and am at the hotel
waiting to get in touch with Duggan. What a flight! The
city is pretty crowded and congested, but the people are so very
nice. Heard an update that Duggan appears to be quite the man
over here as he has had girls run up and ask to take their picture
with him. After the photo, they say thank you and run away
screaming. Ha! I’ll have to ask him to explain
that a little more to me.
~Coach Mike, 8:10am 9/6/09 (Taiwan time, which is 13
hours ahead)
Whoo! Training camp in Chiayi City is done. The Opening
Ceremony was amazing! The stadium was sold out and even more
had to fill into an adjoining stadium to watch on a JumboTron; the
show was awesome with dancers and costumes; and the ending
fireworks were spectacular! Supposedly, the budget for all of
the productions was right at 18 million US dollars and man was it
spent well! My favorite part of the whole ceremony was
getting to watch the Olympic flame being lit: The last torch
bearer touched his torch to a long "log" (which was carried by like
8 people)...then they touched the lit end of the log to two
ropes...which burst into flame, splitting in two directions like
little snakes...then they both flew up to the final cauldron where
the Olympic flame will burn for the entire games, and when they
both got there, the whole stadium erupted into fireworks!!!
And I was in the middle of that stadium with all the other
athletes from around the world, watching, as the entire audience
stood and started cheering. What a feeling! The theme
for the Games is, "The Power within Me," and I could feel it
pulsing through me! So now I’m shaved and ready to make
a little noise in the 100 fly and 800 free relay! WANT SOME?!
GET SOME!!!
~Duggan Baker, 9:53pm 9/6/09
Man this is a pretty fast meet.
Just saw a guy go 53.9 in the 100 fly...that’s a full 2
seconds under the US Open cut! Before the meet started, I was
overwhelmed with how happy I was to be here...and was very nervous
about if I’d swim well. BUT, I tried really hard to
just relax, enjoy the fact that I’m here, and have some fun!
And...I dropped 2 seconds in my 100 fly (1:03.02) and then
dropped another 2 seconds in my 200 free (2:04.3) going 3rd on the
800 free relay! Our relay finaled, which was really cool, and
I anchored the relay tonight with a 2:03.6! Woohoo! GOT
SOME!!! :-) Our relay came in 5th, going an 8:15, and
three relays ahead of us went faster than the deaf world records!
How fun is that?! The starting system is pretty
cool...when I get behind the block in my USA warm ups, there is a
bar on the ground next to the block that’s like a traffic
light. When the red light comes on, I’m to take off my
warm ups. When the yellow light comes on, I’m to step
up on the block and take my mark. When the light hits green,
it’s go time! It’s almost like the lights for
drag racing! :-)
~Duggan Baker, 9:45pm 9/7/09
Well I just got home from finals and I will tell you, Duggan is
definitely having a great meet. It’s very quiet at the
meet...something I’m not used to! :-) Reading
above, I see he told you about his times, but the best thing is the
wonder and excitement of the "wow" in his results. Let me
explain:
When you travel by plane, change time zones by 13 hours, being in
another country, change your metabolic cycle, take practices from
new coaches, are immersed in another culture, paying with money
that is different, trying to learn how to communicate with both
people that are signing and the local people whose English has a
hard accent (and you have to read their lips!), being away from
friends, being away from family to a certain extent, training in a
hot pool, then a cool pool, but different pools, trying to find a
spot in a new group of training partners you’ve never
met...etc...and doing all of this while trying to represent your
country and swim faster than you ever have before?!?!?! My
goodness!!!! THAT is called overcoming adversity!!!!
This quote stands out in my head for Duggan: "Obstacles
cause some people to break, and others to break records." We
ask our athletes to be resilient on PACK. We ask that they
commit to the process, and develop in more dynamics than just
swimming. Duggan has made his decision about who he is.
I’m HAPPY that he’s swimming fast, this is true.
But I’m PROUD of him for what he has handled mentally,
his attitude, and most of all, his unrelenting ability to persevere
when overwhelmed with obstacles. I can’t wait to see
what’s next...
~Coach Mike, 10:04pm 9/7/09
Duggan’s 200 back was like his previous swims...dropped time
yet again. It was fun to watch him almost negative
split the race while everyone else died like a rock on that back
100! Ha! I learned a little bit more yesterday about
how deaf swimmers communicate their names to each other.
I’ve been learning a little sign language (thanks to
Duggan!) and there are specific hand motions for things like,
"basketball," or "nice to meet you," or "I’m hungry."
The thing I never considered (and there are many I’m
learning about) is how deaf people communicate names. I
watched Duggan spell out words on his hand and asked Julie (his
mother) about that. She told me that frequently, an person
who is deaf will spell it out as there are no real "official" hand
motions for names. They might even create a unique hand
motion that means their name for when they are around people for
long periods of time. How great is that?!
Duggan’s name is a motion that is similar to "doctor."
My goal is to get that down today...
~Coach Mike, 7:04am 9/9/09
Well, yet again...Duggan stepped up and dropped bombs today in
Taiwan. I’m going to let him tell you about his times,
but I will say that working on how you finish your race could not
have been better illustrated by his 100 free today. While he
crushed his old time, it was his last 5 meters that made the
difference in beating other swimmers to the wall. As he
charged into the wall, he reached and rolled into the wall...and
just by doing that...went from 4th to 2nd and almost grabbed the
leader in his heat!
On a completely different note, our busses are lead and followed by
police escorts...which is kind of different. Apparently we
(USA citizens and swimmers), along with Russia and China, are a
focus of protection for possible aggression. I personally
haven’t had any fear, and have ventured into the night
markets with the Baker family...but it is an unusual feeling.
~Coach Mike, 10:02pm 9/9/09
Whoo! Today was AWESOME!!!! Best times in everything!
I went a 56.51 (down from a 58 low) 100 free and closed with
a perfect finish to out touch two other swimmers. My 400 IM
dropped 10 seconds for a 5:09 (down from a 5:19), and Coach Mike
said I closed it with a 1:04.9 for my free leg! Then, I lead
off our 400 medley relay with a 1:07.1 for the 100 back (down from
a 1:08.9)! Our relay initially didn’t final (we were
9th), but we got a last minute notice that South Africa got
DQ’d...so that ended up pushing us in! :-) In
finals, I was switched from swimming back to fly (which was fine
with me), and I dropped again from Monday going a 1:02.1. Our
relay finished 6th (moving up a place) and we lost out to the
Russians, who lowered the Deaf world record by a full 8 seconds.
After finals, I got a whole lot of pictures with random
Taiwanese women...hahaha! It was truly a great time.
All the hard work has been more than worth it!
~Duggan Baker, 10:13pm 9/9/09
Today was our rest day for the middle of the meet. Tomorrow begins
round two of the seven day meet. I took the free time as an
opportunity to hop on a high speed rail with my family (goes up to
180 mph) to Taipei to visit taipei 101, the tallest building in the
world. Boy the view really is incredible from up there...we were
able to feel clouds blow through us. A security guard had me on
suicide watch when I was on the outdoor observation deck because I
was reaching up to touch the top of the security
fence...hahahahahaha!
While I’ve got your attention, I’d like to take a
moment to thank all of the people who have supported me on my way
to Taipei and made this incredible trip possible. Whether by
fundraising, encouragement, or training with me, you all have made
this trip possible for me. I can’t tell you how much I
appreciate it.
~Duggan Baker, 10:17pm 9/10/09
Today...was truly a GREAT day! Coming into this meet,
I’d been struggling with long course for about a year and a
half...my times weren’t what I wanted, I was having a hard
time physically (breathing and vomiting issues), and man was it
painful mentally. But today, and all this meet (this one meet
that took so long to get here!)...has been an end of sorts...to a
long journey. Today in my 200 free, I had my biggest
performance. I came in with a 2:06.99, went a 2:04.3 in
prelims on a relay, then anchored the relay with a 2:03.6...all on
Monday...then in prelims today I went a 2:01.24...and in B finals
tonight, I dropped again and went my first 2:00.98!!!!! It
felt really good to almost break 2 minutes...in meters,
that’s a good barrier to break through. In prelims, I
won my heat and they showed my name, face, country, and time on the
big screen TV for the whole audience to see. What a feeling!
After finals tonight, I worked on trading some USA items
(pins, bandanas, caps, etc). I even traded my autograph for a
couple of keychains and pins...that was a little different!
On my way out of the pool, I was asked to take pictures again
with Taiwanese women again...hahahaha...a woman even asked me to
hold her baby for a picture too! I guess there’s a
first time for everything. Ha! I can’t believe
there are only three events and 2 days left of this meet...time is
really flying by! The 100 back and 400 free relay are both
tomorrow...looking forward to it!
~Duggan Baker, 9:02pm 9/11/09
Is the story different tonight? Not really...Duggan handled
that 200 free like all the rest...let the thunder rip and jumped up
to final when he wasn’t in the running. He split his
prelims swim 58.0, 1:03.2...then his finals swim 58.4, 1:02.5!
A brilliant performance! This event, in my opinion, was
definitely his best performance (even though all the rest were
incredible!) to date. I was beside myself with how happy I
was to see his face when he finished each 200. This is
success...for both Duggan and myself...swimmer and coach. I
get to have this feeling with all of my swimmers, so you’d
think it wouldn’t be something moving (like maybe it dulls
over time)...the truth is, it’s ALWAYS so very powerful and
special to me. Sometimes it’s lighter...they’ve
been improving right and left from the beginning, no issues with
continued performance...and sometimes it’s stronger...they
have struggled, endured, and overcome.
Okay, some interesting things to share (in no particular
order)...
1) The trucks that pick up the trash here all play music like
the ice cream trucks in the states. How awesome is that?!
It’s like an audio reminder to bring your trash out to
the street if you happen to be home!
2) To "cheer with an applause" at the meet or any deaf event,
you put both hands over your head and shake them independently.
Clapping isn’t terrible, but shaking your hands over
your head gives the VISUAL of applause without the sound...very
fitting I think!
3) When you are traveling by Taxi, it’s a good idea to
take a business card from the hotel to keep in your pocket.
If you’re trying to get home, you can simply take out
the card...and wallah!...the cab driver knows exactly where to take
you!
4) During the meet (for all events other than IM, backstroke,
and the medley relays), they take down the flags. It was
different when I first saw it, but I really like it now.
Removing the flags gives a very clear and unobstructed view
of the pool for the spectators. SWEET!
~Coach Mike, 9:37pm 9/11/09
Today was
yet another good day. I was able to improve my 100 back time
from the 400 medley relay (1:07.1) to a 1:06.41...and I lead off
the 400 free relay with a 56.2 100 free. The meet officials
decided to have the 1500 free (4 heats) and the girls 800 free (2
heats) on the same day...and circle seed both events so we had the
pleasure of sitting through four mile heats that had at least one
guy over 20 minutes...hahahahaha! :-) During those
races they passed the time by playing the theme song for the
Deaflympics ("Dreams") at least 10 consecutive times...hahahaha!
I’ll download the song and crank it up for anyone at
practice...hahahaha! During finals tonight, I swam the 100
back again and added one tenth of a second, but it was still a good
race nonetheless. Then I anchored the 400 free relay and
split a 55.4! :-) A "PB" for me as the Australians say
(personal best). Our relay was 5th overall. At dinner
with my parents, one of the chefs came out to shake my hand upon
finding out that I was a Deaflympic swimmer. It felt pretty
cool, I’m not going to lie! I’ve got one final
event tomorrow...the 200 fly. I’m looking forward to
it!
~Duggan Baker, 10:06pm 9/12/09
The sessions today were SWEET yet again. I feel like a broken
record saying the same thing, but this is a good thing.
Duggan smacked his 100 back right into B finals and lead off
the 400 free relay with yet another drop in his 100 (56.2).
As we approached the pool tonight for finals, we found out
that seating was "full." That was no good...and we (the
Bakers and I) were definitely NOT going to sit outside while Duggan
tore it up inside! With a little help from the staff, we
walked right past a line of 50 or so people, and in to sit with the
Aussie crowd (who we’ve come to really enjoy!). I love
their cheer: "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oy!
Oy! Oy!" Each time one of their swimmers competed, they all
look to the lady with the heat sheet saying, "Was that a PB?"
Yeah, you guessed it...PB = Personal Best. Quite
entertaining with their accent on top of it all! Tonight
Duggan stayed about the same in his back, and anchored his relay
with...yes, you guessed it...another drop! It’s sick
really! He came into this meet with a 58 low 100 free and
tonight, he smoked that with a 55.4! His 100 back...1:08
coming in...1:06.4 leaving! So much fun! :-)
I forgot to tell you one other "interesting" thing about Taiwan:
For some reason there are not a lot of trash cans here.
It’s strange. If I have some trash, it usually
takes me about 10 minutes before I can find a trash can to dispose
of my trash. I’ve decided that they must not like the
sight of garbage...which I can respect! Ha!
~Coach Mike, 10:17pm 9/12/09
I just closed out the meet today with a five second drop in
my 200 fly! Came in with a 2:25...leaving with a
2:20.60...and a new Sectional cut! Woohoo! :-) It
was a bittersweet moment as the meet came to an end for me. I
still want to swim some races...especially that 400 free! Ha!
But, finals tonight was very fun as I managed to trade caps
with several different countries (including Poland, Russia, Taiwan,
Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, etc.). We're moving back to
Taipei tomorrow to prepare for the closing ceremonies and the end
of the 2009 Deaflympic Games. I'll be seeing everyone soon!
~Duggan Baker, 10:18pm 9/13/09
I see I'm a little slow on the draw this morning, but it was as it
always has been...Duggan wrapped up his 15 swim, 7 day,
prelims/finals meet with a big drop in his 200 fly. As he
walked out to meet us, his eyes were satisfied, his walk was
confident...but I could tell he was feeling the "bittersweet"
feeling he described above. We have all experienced it...a
time where you can do no wrong and everything you touch turns to
gold. But as with all great stories...there must be an end.
For Duggan, as well as for all of us...these are the
experiences that re-shape boundaries, instill self confidence, and
give you a new source of reference for getting through the tough
times. They are the times you know deep down in your
soul...the feeling of personal success. They are spiritual in
nature, they are defining in character, and most importantly...they
will inspire you for the rest of your life.
I look forward to coming home and getting back to business with the
rest of our team. Our goal on PACK is to have everyone feel
as Duggan has felt. He now becomes but one of many wonderful
stories that will ultimately come out of PACK Swimming!
~Coach Mike, 8:01am 9/14/09
You can
keep up with recent postings on twitter with the following
link: http://twitter.com/usdeaflympics
Schedule of Events &
Results
If you would like to
follow Duggan’s performance the best option is to go
to http://english.2009deaflympics.org/bin/home.php/ . He will be listed as Dudley
Duggan Baker in the results.
You can also go to the main U.S. Deaflympic
website - www.usdeaflympics.org
for information.
Click
HERE
for list and schedule of
Duggan’s events. Keep in mind Taiwan is 13 hours
ahead of Houston!
Duggan’s
Schedule
Aug 28 - Sep 4 Training Camp in
Chiayi ( 2.5 hours South of Taipei)
Sep
4-6 To
Taipei for Opening Ceremonies
Sep 7 -
13 Swimming
competition in Hsinchu (45 minutes from
Taipei)
Sep
15 Closing
ceremony in Taipei
Sep
16 Home!
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