The Girls From Ipanema Turn Heads At The Olympic Village Swimming Pool

Excerpt From Wallstreet Journal China Blog.

It was a perfect day to spend at the 10-lane, 50-meter swimming pool in the athlete village. Some of the largest men I’ve ever seen (Romania — wrestlers?) were proudly donning their speedo suits and catching some afternoon rays next to tiny gymnasts and divers from Great Britain, listening to Billy Jean. To my delight, I believe I saw the girl from Ipanema, and all her sisters (teammates), too. Their bathing attire is quite different than what you’d find at a local community pool. I’m being generous here. Six-foot plus Brazilian athletes versus 5?10? 300lb. Eastern Europeans: quite a juxtaposition on human form. Things got ROWDY...

when members of the GB swim team, clad in custom oriental silk market suits, sprinted onto the pool deck and jumped in … fully clothed! The commotion created was reminiscent of the type of speed and chaos only known to a pack of dogs in a hubcap factory. To put it another way, envisage the movie Caddyshack when the caddies took over the pool. Lots of shenanigans. Not to be outdone by their Commonwealth brethren, a handful of Aussie swimmers began launching each other over a line that ran about 10 feet above the pool. These guys were getting very high out of the water. It was great! So great, in fact, that the lifeguards originally on duty left the pool deck to get their cameras. Recalling my days on America’s oldest lifeguarding operation, the revered Atlantic City Beach Patrol, I scrambled up one of the lifeguard stands to ensure everyone’s safety. If an aquatic rescue situation were to arise, I would be ready. [Entire entry HERE]