The Olympic Spirit revealed itself to me once again last night at the evening finals.� I mean, I've been to big championship meets, but I realized there is nothing to compare the Olympic Games to.� The awards ceremonies just give so much inspiration to all the athletes...something only the competitors can feel.� Anyway, the night before my first race at the Olympic Games was pretty motivational.� I didn't get too nervous, just a little bit--for energy.

Then the morning came.� First of all, I felt great in my first race.� I woke up this morning with a tingling in my feet and hands.� I knew from the very beginning I wasn't going to do anything less than what I did. As I was warming up, I really felt strong and ready to go.� I was swimming 59's for 100 free's pace with a heart rate of under 25, which made me really confident.� After a little over 1600 meters of warming up, I put on my legs TYR suit and went to the site of the competition.

The ready-room where the athletes gathered before their heat was full of the fastest 200-freestylers in the world.� As I entered I felt so much energy and power that I used to feed off of.� I remember at the World Championships last year in Barcelona, I felt more nervous and scared to swim rather than the excitement I felt this morning.� As heat 2 walked out, the music began to play.� I can't describe the feeling I had when I heard the crowd and saw the pool.� As I always do, I looked up to see the Bulgarian flag--waving up at the highest� point in the stands.� The wind was pretty strong, so there was a nice breeze in the warm sun.

�As I stepped up on the blocks, my first thoughts were to 'not choke'--like I always do.� After each wall, I end up doing something--hitting a wave, or breathing on my left side (I usually breathe on my right), or turn one way and catch a little water in my throat.� Now, I focused on my start and turns...everything else would take care of itself.

As I heard the first whistle, we all stepped up on the blocks and after the 'take your marks' and sound we plunged into the water.� As I dove into the water, memories of all my previous European Championships� entered into my mind: all the cameras, people in the stands, and photographers.� This time around, I blocked all that off, closed my eyes, and thought about the perfect stroke I've been visualizing for about 2 months every night.

The race went by quickly, and as I was en-route to winning my heat,� the last 25 meters seemed to last forever.� The 200 freestyle is not my best event, and as many know, my last 25 meters hurt so much. The pain was the usual, but my time was better than most of my last races in the previous months this year.

Nonetheless, I was happy how I swam this morning.� My first race at the Games was fantastic, and so far, I'm having the most fun I've ever had in a meet.� I've been meeting many new athletes, sharing, and learning a lot so far in the first two days of competition.� What a great experience this is, and I can't wait until the 200 breast on Tuesday.

In addition, to go out of the swimming topic, it's been fun meeting and seeing new and famous athletes.�� For example, athletes on the Dream Team such as Allan Iverson, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming.� Amongst my recent experiences with them, I've realized they're people too, just at different levels in their sport.

Alright, the Olympic journey continues...and on to day three.

Sincerely,

Mike Alexandrov