North Carolina State University Athletics
Velez Blog: 61.8 Seconds of Olympic Competition
8/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
How cool is this? The first thing former NC State swimmer Dan Velez, competing in the 100-meter breaststroke for the Puerto Rican national team, did after he touched the wall at the National Swimming Centre was flash the "Wolf" sign to former teammate Cullen Jones' mother, who was sitting up in the stands. The next thing he knew, he was being tackled by his girlfriend, Virginia swimmer and Durham native Ericka Stewart. As soon as he dried off, Velez picked up his cell phone and called Wolfpack swimming coach Brooks Teal in Raleigh. On Sunday, he watched Jones help the United States 4x100-meter relay team break the world record in a preliminary race. Velez, who won his heat and broke the Puerto Rican record in the 100-meter breaststroke, finished 33rd overall and did not advance to the semifinals. But he'll never forget his sixty seconds of Olympic glory, in front of the scariest crowd he has ever seen. Velez, who trained for the Olympics at NC State, has sent regular e-mails detailing his trip of a lifetime to GoPack.com.
BEIJING, China My participation in the 2008 Olympic Games consisted of one 61.8-second swim on the first day of competition, and I couldn't be happier.
The last few days have been the greatest of my swimming career. Each day just gets better and better. The moments I will never forget have been stacking up higher and higher.
My superstar sightings now include seeing Dallas Mavericks basketball player Dirk Nowitzki eating in the dining hall, walking next well, near former Russian president Vladimir Putin and stumbling across tennis legend Roger Federer hanging out in front of the Swiss dormitory. As I mentioned previously, I was unable to participate in the Opening Ceremonies, because my event was first thing the next day. The closest I got was putting on the Puerto Rican uniform and taking some pictures with my teammates. That's me on the left with my roommate, Doug Lennox, who swims at Princeton. When I made the decision to sit out, I told myself that now I absolutely have to do well or I'll forever regret not participating in the Parade of Nations. It turned out to be a great decision, even though it was tough sitting in my dormitory suite watching everyone else walk into the stadium on television, only a few miles away. But it was spectacular. It's really the first time I've watched opening ceremonies from start to finish. I’ve watched some parts of it before, but this time it truly meant something to me. I must have gotten goose bumps 10 times while watching, and I just about exploded with emotion when the Olympic flame was finally lit atop National Stadium. Those of us who chose to rest instead of participate cheered as we watched the Puerto Rican delegation march into the stadium. It was great seeing each of my friends and teammates from other countries march and wave to the crowd. I waited for about two hours for the Colombia delegation to enter the stadium, in the hopes of catching a quick glimpse of my girlfriend. Turns out, the camera guy at NBC likes her almost as much as I do, because he fixed on her face for a good 20 seconds, as you can see in this YouTube video from Colombian television. I went to sleep Friday night with tears in my eyes, realizing that all my dreams really were coming true.
I woke up at 6 a.m. on Saturday, too nervous and anxious to sleep any longer. Then I had to wait nearly half a day for the moment I have been waiting for my whole life. I spent the day trying to rest as much as possible and shaving and I don’t mean my 5 o’clock shadow. I tried to focus on what I had to do for the race. My warm-up at the Water Cube went well and I was feeling ready to do something great, but, man, I was nervous. It doesn't matter how much confidence you have in yourself, at the Olympics, every little race is an epic battle. I tried to stay as calm as possible before my race. It took me about 15 minutes to put on my body suit those things are even tighter than they look on television. Then I headed over to the ready room to wait for the third heat. I could tell that I wasn’t the only person in the room who was nervous. Now I know what people mean when they say “you could cut then tension with a knife.” You know when you're afraid of heights and really high up and someone tells you, "Don't look down?" When they called my heat to march out to the blocks in front of the largest crowd I've ever seen at a swim meet, I had to tell myself, "Don't look up!" Right before we stepped on the blocks, I took a quick look out of the corner of my eye. Oh-my- God! Those were the only words that formed in my mind, and they boomed over and over in my ears. Even now, I cannot possibly describe the feeling such a crowd gave me, other than to say I have never been that pumped with excitement before in my life. Or that nervous, either. I should interject here that my goal through many, many, many ups and downs has been to hit the 1:01 mark in my event. For years, I have told myself that before I retired from competitive swimming, I wanted to see 1:01 on the clock after I touched the wall. And then I knew I would be able to say I gave it all I had. When the gun went off, I hit the water and swam my heart out. When I touched the ball, I thought I had broken all my fingers, I slammed into it so hard. But I was able to whip my head around and look at the clock 1:01.8! Life-time goal achieved. I had this huge goofy smile on my face, and I flashed the Wolfpack sign to Cullen’s mom and tried to work my way through the media maze. I was attacked by my girlfriend, but managed to get to my cell phone to call Coach Teal. He said he was proud of me, which meant lot to me a lot. A few minutes later, I did what all swimmers are trained to do when they reach their lifetime goal: I set a new, much higher one.
BEIJING, China My participation in the 2008 Olympic Games consisted of one 61.8-second swim on the first day of competition, and I couldn't be happier.
The last few days have been the greatest of my swimming career. Each day just gets better and better. The moments I will never forget have been stacking up higher and higher.
My superstar sightings now include seeing Dallas Mavericks basketball player Dirk Nowitzki eating in the dining hall, walking next well, near former Russian president Vladimir Putin and stumbling across tennis legend Roger Federer hanging out in front of the Swiss dormitory. As I mentioned previously, I was unable to participate in the Opening Ceremonies, because my event was first thing the next day. The closest I got was putting on the Puerto Rican uniform and taking some pictures with my teammates. That's me on the left with my roommate, Doug Lennox, who swims at Princeton. When I made the decision to sit out, I told myself that now I absolutely have to do well or I'll forever regret not participating in the Parade of Nations. It turned out to be a great decision, even though it was tough sitting in my dormitory suite watching everyone else walk into the stadium on television, only a few miles away. But it was spectacular. It's really the first time I've watched opening ceremonies from start to finish. I’ve watched some parts of it before, but this time it truly meant something to me. I must have gotten goose bumps 10 times while watching, and I just about exploded with emotion when the Olympic flame was finally lit atop National Stadium. Those of us who chose to rest instead of participate cheered as we watched the Puerto Rican delegation march into the stadium. It was great seeing each of my friends and teammates from other countries march and wave to the crowd. I waited for about two hours for the Colombia delegation to enter the stadium, in the hopes of catching a quick glimpse of my girlfriend. Turns out, the camera guy at NBC likes her almost as much as I do, because he fixed on her face for a good 20 seconds, as you can see in this YouTube video from Colombian television. I went to sleep Friday night with tears in my eyes, realizing that all my dreams really were coming true.
I woke up at 6 a.m. on Saturday, too nervous and anxious to sleep any longer. Then I had to wait nearly half a day for the moment I have been waiting for my whole life. I spent the day trying to rest as much as possible and shaving and I don’t mean my 5 o’clock shadow. I tried to focus on what I had to do for the race. My warm-up at the Water Cube went well and I was feeling ready to do something great, but, man, I was nervous. It doesn't matter how much confidence you have in yourself, at the Olympics, every little race is an epic battle. I tried to stay as calm as possible before my race. It took me about 15 minutes to put on my body suit those things are even tighter than they look on television. Then I headed over to the ready room to wait for the third heat. I could tell that I wasn’t the only person in the room who was nervous. Now I know what people mean when they say “you could cut then tension with a knife.” You know when you're afraid of heights and really high up and someone tells you, "Don't look down?" When they called my heat to march out to the blocks in front of the largest crowd I've ever seen at a swim meet, I had to tell myself, "Don't look up!" Right before we stepped on the blocks, I took a quick look out of the corner of my eye. Oh-my- God! Those were the only words that formed in my mind, and they boomed over and over in my ears. Even now, I cannot possibly describe the feeling such a crowd gave me, other than to say I have never been that pumped with excitement before in my life. Or that nervous, either. I should interject here that my goal through many, many, many ups and downs has been to hit the 1:01 mark in my event. For years, I have told myself that before I retired from competitive swimming, I wanted to see 1:01 on the clock after I touched the wall. And then I knew I would be able to say I gave it all I had. When the gun went off, I hit the water and swam my heart out. When I touched the ball, I thought I had broken all my fingers, I slammed into it so hard. But I was able to whip my head around and look at the clock 1:01.8! Life-time goal achieved. I had this huge goofy smile on my face, and I flashed the Wolfpack sign to Cullen’s mom and tried to work my way through the media maze. I was attacked by my girlfriend, but managed to get to my cell phone to call Coach Teal. He said he was proud of me, which meant lot to me a lot. A few minutes later, I did what all swimmers are trained to do when they reach their lifetime goal: I set a new, much higher one.
S2E26 Pulse Of The Pack
Monday, February 23
Beyond the Howl: The Road to Cary
Friday, February 20
S2E25 Pulse Of The Pack
Monday, February 16
S2E24 PulseOfThePack
Monday, February 09