Hi coaches,

Everything seems to have settled into place as of now.� All the athletes have moved into the village.� We went to see the other facilities around the sports complexes and they are really amazing.� The Greeks have done a fabulous job so far.� On the way back from practice this morning, I ran into Yao Ming.� He doesn't seem as tall on pictures as he does in real life.� Man, I really felt small compared to him.� Well, in the end, it isn't the size that matters, it's what you can do with what you have.

One of the coolest things here so far has been meeting new and famous athletes from all over the world.� It's one thing to see some of my good friends from other countries and catch up with them, but another to meet the famous ones.� They all seem to be really nice.� For example, I talked with Gary Hall Jr. today, and he really seemed nice and open with me.� I realized that you have to see all these athletes as people.� I mean, they are the same as anyone here at the village, but some are more popular, etc.

Anyway, I am really feeling great in the water so far.� We did the last test set yesterday evening which consisted of 2 x 50s race pace on the 1:00, a 200 ez, twice.� The race pace was specifically for the 200 IM.� I swam a 27.0 in the fly, a 29.8 for the back, a 33.2 for the breast, and a 26.2 for the free.� Overall, I felt really fast; felt the water and didn't feel like I was slipping.� So basically, I feel confident that my goal times will hopefully be accomplished.

The heat sheet for the 200 free came out today, and I'm in heat 2 lane 6.� I will definitely plan on winning the heat, and hopefully go under 1:50.� We'll see, that's my goal--since I'm shooting for the moon I might as well shoot for the stars as well.�

Alright, today I'm going to begin shaving.� That should be a ton of fun as it always is.� As far as the opening ceremonies go, I will not be going since I need to get as much rest as I can for Sunday.� They say it will take over 5 hours of walking around and standing, so a bunch of my teammates and I will watch it on TV or something.

My tooth isn't hurting as much.� Oh wait, did I tell you I got one of my wisdom teeth removed two weeks ago?� Yes, I did.� It was one of the� bottom ones.� It was perfectly healthy, but the skin around it was close to getting infected and some abcess was coming out.� The dentist in Bulgaria said it was best to take it out, so we sat down, (me laying down with eyes closed with fear) and the operation began.� I still haven't been able to chew on my right side and the pain just� went away even though the dentist said I would 'forget' about it two days after the operation.� It has really hurt for the past week or so, and I've been able to only eat soups and liquified foods.� Other than that, for the past week, I've been able to eat semi-normally, so I'm not complaining anymore.

Alright, the journey continues and I'm counting down the time to the first plunge on Sunday morning.

Sincerely,

Mike