The aquatics and London all abuzz
7 August 2012
Grant Danskine, Operations Manager, Sport Imperial went to the Men’s synchronised Diving at the Aquatics Centre on 1 August. He shares his experience of London 2012:
“Having been in Trafalgar Square on 6 July 2005 when Jacques Rogge of the International Olympic Committee uttered the magical (to me) words …. “The games of the 30th Olympiad 2012 are awarded to the city of….. ….. London” the celebrations for 2012 began there and then for me and the last seven years have flown by.
I applied for tickets on the 2012 website and did not manage to get any tickets the first or second time around, but luckily for me my friend in Switzerland managed to get some so I went along with my partner and my friends from Switzerland who flew over especially for the Games.
Travelling to Stratford was so easy – I even managing to watch our own Imperial student Melanie Wilson in the rowing on a big screen at St. Pancras Station en route to the Javelin train which whisked us there in a little under seven minutes. Entry to the park was seamless with no queueing and the friendliest Troops in the world ensuring security measures were carried out with the minimum amount of fuss. The volunteers added to this with their cheery personalities and offering to take pictures of us as a group without even being asked and genuinely wanting to help in any way they could to make everyone’s visit as memorable as possible.
The Aquatic Centre is very impressive but the climb up the many flights of stairs was almost too much for two old ladies we passed on the way up to the highest seats in Olympic Park ! Despite the distance from the diving pool the view was fairly good, and the competition was a good one with some unbelievable dives involving twists, somersaults, tucks, pikes and other mind boggling contortioning taking place with a minimum of splashes on entering the water. Peter Kaye and the John Smith diving board advert came to mind once or twice but the competitors were taking it seriously, and no bombing took place.
London is buzzing in a way I haven’t seen for many many years and the worries over transport problems simply do not seem to have materialised. People are talking to each other on buses and trains – and visitors from abroad are even complimenting us all on how friendly we are!”
Tags: London 2012
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