In Part One of this series I covered my Olympic Glory - the Olympic pools in which I have successfully swum. This second part, while a much shorter list, is more frustrating - the Olympic Pools I almost swam in!
It's not on my official 1001 Pools list for two reasons - I went there in 2005, two years before my self-imposed rule of only counting pools since I turned forty, and I absolutely did not do a workout, but just played around my two crazy oldest daughters. Little did I realize then that I'd be back there in the stands in 7 years (circled in green with me in the yellow shirt talking with my father in the jeans and blue shirt) watching my oldest daughter compete in the 2012 Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials. I still need to make it back there and do a proper workout!
Barely missing this one really hurt!
Back in January of 2003, I had a week-long business trip to Sydney, a trip that kicked off a multi-year period where I did extensive global business travel. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip: maybe because of the novelty, certainly because of the clients I was working with, and definitely because of the great Australian culture, It was a rare trip where I combined some pleasure with business, including climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, doing a boat cruise in that same harbour, and grabbing a great dinner with an old friend. To this day, I recount this as truly the only business trip I've ever fully enjoyed..
The icing on the cake of this great trip was to swim at the Sydney Olympic pool. I had everything worked out with my client meetings to do this. In those pre-smartphone, pre-Uber days, I even had a global flip-phone (complete with an antenna you had to extend to make the phone work!) and the number of a local taxi company so I could get to the pool, swim, and get back in time for my next commitment. The Aquatic Centre was even open and I did get in a workout. However, much like I experienced when I first went to the London Olympic pool, the main competition pool in Sydney was closed due to a kids' swimming meet and I only was allowed to swim in the warmup pool. Mind you, it was an exceptional warmup pool, but all I could do at the competition pool was to press my face against the glass and wish I could swim there!
Next up ... part three, the list of all the complete misses and my comprehensive Olympic Pool Bucket List.