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Athens 2004 Olympics
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Athens was my second opportunity to be a volunteer at the Olympics. In Athens, I was a member of an international team in Press Operations at Aquatics. Swimming has been on the Olympic Games programme since the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Currently Aquatics at the Olympics consist of a variety of pool competitions, water polo, synchronized swimming, and diving competitions. The Olympic Aquatic Centre, was located at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Maroussi between the Olympic Stadium and the Velodrome.
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Aquatic Press Operations was located beside the outdoor 50 metre Main Pool where the swimming and water polo events were held. The task of the Press Operations team was to be facilitators and problem solvers, and to be a technical interface for the international media. We were to help reporters from around the world use the Olympic intranet to collect background information on individual athletes and the various aquatic events they were participating in. Despite the fact that most of the reporters covered sports, events such as Synchronized Diving was not something that the individual reporter might not be completely aufait with. To work successfully in Aquatic Press Operations, you had to understand the needs of reporters, appreciate a cultural diversity, (not every country on the face of this plant views swimming events the same way, especially considering the apparel worn by the competitors), their requirements in filing a story, and to be cognizant of the fact that their deadlines were based on filing stories to their editors who are worked in one of 24 different time zones.
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My
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On Sunday August 8th, six days before the Opening Ceremonies, the members of Press Operations attended a dress rehearsal that covered most of the ceremony. The part that was omitted was how the Olympic flame would be lit. Entering the Olympic complex security was extremely tight to ensure that no one of the audience brought a camera or cell phone into the stadium and captured images of the rehearsal. After viewing the rehearsal in the flesh and then watching it live on television, there was no comparison. While it was an extremely impressive show on television it could project the dynamics of being seated in the stadium. As the audience left grounds at the security gates the media were conducting interviews to find out about the ceremony.
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Aquatics Press Operations provided workstations for reporters and photographers. The facility had workstations for over 300 reporters and had intranet terminals with background information on the individual athletes, Olympics records and competitions results. Usually the reporters would stay in the air-conditioned room. They would write their stories while watching the competition on the television monitors that were mounted on the walls. As soon as the event had finished, they would race outside to the Mixed Press Zone and interview their countries athletes as they walked a zigzag course from the pool back to the change rooms. Then it was back to their laptops to finish off the story, and file it via the Internet.
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The photographers had a separate work area where they registered, and were then guided to one of three reserved areas to cover an event. One section was for publications that had purchased Rights and the other two for Non-Rights holders.
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The role of The air-conditioning in Press Operations was so efficient that some of the Greek members of Press Operations wore their jackets in the room, in contrast while those of us not that familiar with outdoor temperatures of over 40º C were quite comfortable.
Members of the Press Operations team were from Greece, Canada, Spain, and the United States. Because events were conducted on a daily bases over a 12 hour period, two shifts were required to staff Press Operations.
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Olympic Aquatic Events
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The swimming competitions consisted of 26 individual and six team relay men’s and women’s events in the outdoor 50 metre pool. | ||
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Each team consists of seven main players, one of whom is the goalkeeper, and six replacement players, one of whom may be a second goalkeeper. None of the players may touch the bottom of the pool. It is also forbidden for players to hold on to the ball with both hands or to strike it with the fist, except in the case of the goalkeeper. Every match consists of four periods (or ‘quarters’), each seven minutes long (actual playing time), with a two-minute break between periods. Whenever the referee whistles, the clock stops. A goal is scored when the whole ball passes the goal line. The winner is the team that scores the most goals at the end of all four periods. | ||
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Athletes dive from a platform called “highboard” or springboard. They try to perform their figures in the best way possible before reaching the surface of the water. The athletes dive into the swimming pool trying to disturb the water as little as possible when they break the surface (rip entry). The judging panel consists of seven judges. They give their score based on the degree of difficulty and ease displayed by the athletes while performing their program. | ||
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Synchronized Swimming, a sport often described as "dance in the water", consists of special elements like strength, flexibility, grace, artistry and long underwater endurance. In order for the athletes to stay longer underwater and perform routines, while at the same time appearing both presentable and comfortable, various ‘methods’ are used during a performance. One of them is to put a clip on the swimmer’s nose, which prevents an intake of water through the nostrils, making it possible for the athlete to stay underwater longer; the use of hair gelatine and make-up helps hair to stay in place and highlights the athletes’ features respectively; underwater speakers transmit the music into the pool, helping the swimmers keep their synchronization while under water. Synchronized Swimming is one of only three Olympic disciplines in which only women are allowed to compete (the other two being Rhythmic gymnastics and Softball). The pool where Synchronized swimming takes place must be at least 3 metres deep over a 12 x 12 m area in the centre of the pool. In Olympic Synchronized Swimming any country can enter in the duet and the team event. There are two sets of marks, one for technical merit and one for artistic impression. Swimmers perform their routines in the water and are marked for both their technical merit and artistic impression. |
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Images
of Aquatic Press Operations
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Images of Aquatic Competitions |
Images of Athletics Competitions |
Images
of Athens
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