Indiana University Athletics
Cardinell Olympic Diary (8-14-04)
8/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
August 14, 2004
Hoosier Olympic Diving Diary
| 1i>(photo courtesy of sarahildebrand.com) |
The Indiana University diving program has three current or former athletes competing in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Former Hoosier All-American Sara Hildebrand and current All-American Cassandra Cardinell will compete in the synchro 10-meter platform event at the Olympics. Former Hoosier National Champion Kimiko (Hirai) Soldati will compete individually in the three-meter springboard, while Hildebrand will compete in the 10-meter platform event.
Cardinell, who graduated in the spring and has one year of eligibility remaining, and Hildebrand train with the Indiana diving program and are coached by six-time National Diving Coach of the Year Dr. Jeff Huber. Huber is also serving as an assistant U.S. Olympic Diving Coach at the Athens Games.
Here is a look at diary from Hoosier senior Cassandra Cardinell. IUHOOSIERS.COM will have more excerpts throughout the Olympic Games.
Click HERE for the Olympic Diaries of Dr. Jeff Huber and Sara Hildebrand from August 12.
The Olympic Diary of Cassandra Cardinell
It’s the morning after opening ceremonies and I am exhausted! Last night was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Being able to stand next to other U.S. Olympians and march out in front of thousands of people is a great way to start the XXVIII Olympiad. It was a long evening though. We left the village at 6:00pm and did not get back until 2:00 am. When we arrived at the Olympic stadium all of the athletes were ushered into the gymnastics venue next door. We were here for a good two hours where we were able to walk around, meet other athletes, and trade pins (I got pins from all over the world- Cyprus, Croatia, China, Australia, etc). The ceremony finally started and we started to line up to march in. Since the countries were being announced in the greek alphabet, the United States was more towards the beginning. At about 10:00 pm we finally walked out through the tunnel, into the stadium I was in awe. It was an amazing sight that I will never forget. All of the people cheering and the amount of American flags that I saw waving in the stands were mind-blowing. We marched around the stadium and arrived at our finally spot in the middle where we waited for over an hour for the rest of the countries to come in. It was a long wait and you could tell that people were getting tired because they started to sit on the damp ground. It was worth it though because once Greece came in it started to get really exciting as the crowd went wild. There were a couple speeches and the official declaration of the beginning of the Games. The torch was lit followed by spectacular fireworks. At about midnight the ceremony was over and it was worth all the waiting until we had to go get buses back to the village! It was crazy, all the athletes were trying to file out through the tunnel and trying to get buses that were late! I ended up standing around for another hour and half until I finally got on a bus. It was a huge relief when I finally crawled into my bed. It was a great start and I look forward to my competition in three days!
Here is a look at the competition schedule for the Hoosier contingent:
Synchro 10-meter platform • Finals • August 16
TV: NBC • 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST
10-meter Platform • August 20-22
TV: NBC • 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST (all three days)
Three-meter Springboard • August 25-26
TV: NBC • 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST (both days)
Wednesday, August 12
Wednesday, August 12
Tuesday, August 11
Tuesday, August 11