“Words cannot begin to describe our opening ceremony experience from Beijing last night,” Amanda wrote in her Team GoSail website posting Saturday morning. No vocabulary can “draw deep enough meaning,” she added. “It was the thrill of our lives to walk through the tunnel and into the stadium surrounded by our country's great athletes and wearing the Team USA uniform!”
Ellen Clark, who emailed the Reporter from Beijing on Saturday, shared many of those sensations. “Nothing compares to the feeling we felt at the opening ceremony. We had such a time sitting with people from all nations. Everyone cheered everyone's country and it was a wonderful feeling. When they announced the USA I couldn't tell you how proud I was and when I saw Amanda it was unbelievable. She was having such a great time waving at people that I knew she too was enjoying the moment.”
That was the moment Amanda, 26, had worked towards for most of her life. Growing up on Shelter Island, she had plenty of time on the water. She started sailing at age 6 in the Shelter Island Yacht Club's junior program. Amanda sailed in her first national event at age 9 and her first international regatta in South America at age 13. She came in third during the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials for the Sydney games in the single-handed European dinghy class; that was before graduation from Shelter Island High School. In 2002, she reconnected with Sarah Mergenthaler, whom she had met at the Yacht Club in 1992 — the girls found each other because they both had navy blue dinghies that “stuck out like a sore thumb,” Amanda told the Reporter last fall. They just missed qualifying for the 2004 Olympic team.
But last October, Ellen and Dennis Clark watched in Los Angeles as Team GoSail finished first in the U.S. Olympic trials and Amanda was on her way to the opening ceremony in Beijing.
Amanda and her parents took different paths to get to the big event last Friday and, as can be expected when the world converges in one place at one time, neither way was quick or easy.
Amanda's trip
“Our day started very early on 8/8/08 as we boarded a charter flight from Qingdao to Beijing with sailors from all nations. Once we landed in Beijing the U.S. sailors checked into the Olympic Village and had the afternoon free to roam the campus. The first stop was the dining hall and, wow, what a place! The cafeteria must be almost a kilometer long with more food choices than a New Jersey mall food court (complete with a McDonalds).
“We also checked out the athlete entertainment center, gym, pool and yes, even took a 30 minute crash course: Chinese 101. By 4:30 p.m. we started dressing in our parade wear and gathered in front of the USA housing building. After a few photos we boarded a bus to the Fencing Hall to meet President Bush. The president gave a short but potent pump-up speech to the U.S. athletes then posed for a photo with each sports team. We also got the opportunity to meet athletes from other sports and snap more photos. In addition, there was a fair bit of marveling at how great everyone looked in the opening gear!”
Then the waiting began, first at the gymnastics arena, which was used as a waiting/queuing area for the opening ceremony. National teams were seated around the arena by marching order according to the nation's Chinese name, which put the United States 140 of about 204 nations, Amanda explained. “This was a lucky break as the letter ‘U' in the English alphabet would have put us even farther back!
“Once the USA was announced, it was marching time ... or so we thought. It took about 30 minutes to leave the gymnastics arena, followed by another 45 minutes to walk across the street. It was during this time that we were first exposed to the crowds of excited Chinese fans lining the walkway. Talk about enthusiasm — these people were out-of-their-minds energized. The atmosphere was contagious as every step we took, albeit slow, brought us closer and closer to the tunnel leading into the stadium.
“Inside the tunnel the entire US team broke into a beefy chant of ‘U-S-A!, U-S-A!, U-S-A!' but we were quickly drowned out by the crowd as we broke into the stadium. This was a moment we will never forget — the roaring of the crowd, blinding flashes from thousands of cameras, countless American flags waving in the masses of people and the electricity in the humid Beijing air. The highlight of the loop was marching past President Bush and his entire family, where U.S. athletes tipped their driving caps. The president acknowledged the team by standing and pumping his fists.
Clarks on queue
Ellen and Dennis almost missed the ceremony when the tickets they purchased last fall turned out to be bogus, the product of a ticket scam operation out of London. But before leaving Shelter Island, they managed to reserve opening ceremony passes, thanks to the efforts of Congressman Tim Bishop, and a pair of tickets to a swimming event, courtesy of Bank of New York. They headed out to the ceremony from their hotel at 1:45 p.m.
We “were told we couldn't take a taxi there” — cars would be blocked from the stadium area. “We were required to take the subway, which was OK for it is brand new and has AC. This is important for Beijing is extremely hot and humid.
“Halfway there we had to get off with everyone else and we waited on a security line for about three hours. Luckily we were under an awning but it was so hot we were really sweating. We had fun though talking to a couple from Australia who were on their honeymoon. At 5 p.m. we got through security and still had a another subway to take. But then we were at the Bird's Nest and all was well.
“We left the site at about 1 a.m. and had to go with thousands of people back to the subway. But all went smoothly (no charge for the subway and lots of English-speaking Chinese to help) and we arrived at our hotel at abut 2 a.m. What a day.”
From the Village to Qingdao
Amanda was bussed back to the Olympic Village, arriving there at 1 a.m., but the day was not yet over.
“We'd been traveling since 6:30 a.m., standing for almost eight hours and sweating buckets the whole night but we were too excited to go to sleep. Where, might you ask, would thousands of energized Olympic athletes migrate to at 1 a.m.? The dining hall, of course! And the place was jumping with activity.
“There might have been a lapse in our diets as we enjoyed an ice cream and took in the scenery. Athletes of every nation, still in their parade ensembles, were reliving the night. At 2 a.m. we finally turned in and set our alarms to make the morning flight back to Qingdao.”
Before the flight, Amanda spoke to her parents and told them about shaking President Bush's hand. She also had her picture taken with basketball star Kobe Bryant.
“Once back in Qingdao, we took our sails for the final measurement task: country call letters and names. Watching the Chinese volunteers affix USA to each side of the sail was a big moment. More amusing was when they moved on to our names. CLARK was business as usual but sticking MERGENTHALER was a larger job to tackle. They couldn't seem to get it straight so coach Bunny [Warren] took matters into his own paws and did it himself! Our practice race is tomorrow, then the main event begins on Monday, August 11th!”