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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-12-29, Page 12Crossroads 12 Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Exeter Times Advocate Geiger swims to silver medal inAthens By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF "You can't even put it into words...it never sounds as good again and it never sounded so good before and it sounds amazing right then." Swimmer Darda Geiger, daughter of Don and Cathy Geiger of Zurich, describes hearing 0 Canada after winning a silver medal in the women's 4 by 100 metre medley relay Sept. 27 at the ParaOlympic games in Athens Greece. It was the second para- lympic experience for Geiger, after winning a gold medal at the Sydney games in 2000. After just returning from several weeks trav- elling around Europe after the games, Geiger will be back in the pool this week. She will also be back in the classroom at the University of Western Ontario in January where she will be going into her fourth year of kinesiology. Geiger left Canada Sept. 2 with the team of 24 athletes to train on the Greek island of Kos for 10 days before her first event Sept. 20. After swimming in five events in Sydney, Geiger was in her three strongest events in Athens, the 100 metre freestyle, the 100 metre backstroke and the 400 metre freestyle, as well as the relay. Comparing the Sydney and Athens experiences, Geiger said the pool com- plex was smaller in Athens allowing fans to be much closer to the competition. "There was a closer type feel to it, because you could get out of the pool and your parents were 10 feet away whereas in Syndey you could probably not make them out in the crowd." The athletes village in Athens was around 25 minutes away from the venues, leaving the ath- letes in traffic jams, unlike in Sydney where the competitors were no more than five minutes from their event loca- tions. "But it was interesting, because you got to see a little more of the city...our coaches were very good and very spe- cific about how early they wanted us on the bus, because they were nervous about us missing our events." Competing against 65 countries in the swim- ming competitions and 135 overall, Geiger said Canada had dominated in Sydney. But it had a smaller team this time and fin- ished third overall in the swimming medal count in Athens. "The world has gotten so much faster and they are looking to Canada as a model and seeing what we are doing. So now Canada has to come up with something new." One of the advantages for Canada, according to Geiger, is that Canada has a fully integrated Paraolympic and Olympic program. Both teams receive equal funding and train- ing side by side. "The rest of the world is seeing this...and trying to catch up." Some of the countries with stronger swimming programs include China and Spain and the United States is improving, according to Geiger. In her first event which was the 100 metre freestyle, she finished eighth, with a fifth place finish in the 400 metre freestyle. After her experience in Sydney, which she said was more "fly by the seat of my pants," she felt calmer in Athens and was able to focus on improving over her results in Sydney. One of her other goals in Athens was to take in more of the experience after being slightly over- whelmed in Sydney. After the games were over, Geiger, her mother, sister and boyfriend visit- ed the Island of Rhodes as well as Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games. She also spent time in England, Belgium, Germany, France, and Italy along with a few hours in Turkey and Tunisia where she tried a camel ride. "I would rather ride a camel than a horse. The way they moved was just more smooth." Geiger started her training for Athens almost immediately after coming back from Sydney. "I wanted to have the experience again, but be a little more prepared." Qualifications for the national team were by a different method this time, extending from July 2003 until May 2004. Swimmers used their best declared time to qualify for the team instead of the one meet method that was used for the Sydney Games. After the 2000 games, which was the first inter- national competition for Geiger, she has been to several more competi- tions overseas. She says she has improved not just in her times, but in the mental and emotional aspects of the sport. Geiger's 100 metre freestyle result in Athens was a personal best for her. While her 400 metre freestyle time wasn't a best time, she said it had a lot of positives for her including the mental preparations for the race. "Now I have a much more set mental prepa- ration for my races whereas four years ago it was all guts and glory. You didn't really know, you just let your body do it...With more experience you definitely learn what mental practices work for you." Geiger said another of the interesting parts of international competi- tions is sitting in the ready room before events with all of the competi- tors watching the prepa- ration rituals of each swimmer. "Some people are very talkative..whereas other people sit and stare at the ground and others jump around." She added swimmers also try to psych each other out before the race. "Races are won or lost in the ready room. If it's your first ready room, it's kind of scary. So it's another thing experience helps with where you learn to stay within your own race...some people try to stare you down." Other swimmers, according to Geiger, try to find out how their competitors plan to swim the race. "I personally think its a waste of time. While you're expending that energy trying to psych them out, you're not get- ting yourself prepared." Most of her own prepa- rations are in the last minutes before a race. "When I'm standing behind the block...I really intently stare at my lane and just try to block everything else out." In the silver medal win- ning relay race, Geiger said Canada was in third behind the Americans and Russians when she hit the water. "I was able to catch the Russians and if the pool had been just a little longer, I would have caught the American girl." But after the events are over, Geiger said the ath- Canadian paraolympic swimmer Darda Geiger with the silver medal she won the ParaOlympic Games in September and the gold she won in 2000 at the Sydney games.Geiger with her relay team mates Stephanie Dixon, Elisabeth Walker and Anne Polinario. (photo above Pat Bolen/below submitted) at letes all hang out togeth- er. "You make some really good friends you keep in touch with." After finishing her kine- siology course, Geiger said she would like to take her Masters in Physical Therapy at UWO. With the 2008 games to be held in Bejing, China, Geiger said competing there is always in the back of her mind, but will try to take her swim- ming career one year at a time. Geiger exits the pool after the silver medal winning swim. (photo/submitted)