Louise’s Last Regatta

I just finished a sailing race on Lake Michigan with my dad, cousin and uncle. It was officially the last race of the year here in the soon-to-be very cold town known as Milwaukee:( We raced on a 44ft steel boat that was onced cruised extensively in the South Pacific. This was the first time I sailed on this particular boat with its current owner...for this story let's just call him 'Bart'. Bart has a very interesting philosophy of being on the boat and in the race: Relax, everything will work out and be fine. For those of you who are not familiar with racing just let me tell you this is probably not the best ideology. Imagine this; 115 to 120 boats ranging in size from 8ft to 70ft and from $5000 to a million or more dollars. Now all these boats are in an area of about a square mile of each other weaving in and out, fighting for position at the starting line. There are many protocols for rights of way so that boats stay relatively safe. Essentially Bart was a little too relaxed with the protocols. We nearly clipped the rear end of two boats. On one we actually caught some of their rigging on our bow (front). Needless to say it was not a good/safe situation. A crash could cause serious damage to boats as well as their crews. I had a great time being on the water, as I always do. The weather was perfect, 75 and sunny with a light breeze. Bart's racing tactics are somewhat hilarious as you look back at them from the safety of the dock. I'm now off to eat with my Uncle Bill who made the outstanding chickens. Unfortunately I won't be eating his chickens tonight:(

Splash Cover

Yesterday I picked up the mail and to my surprise I was on the cover of SPLASH Magazine! A

Chicken Roast

My great Uncle Bill is famous in our family for an incredible chicken roast that he has been doing for almost 45 years. I had never actually tasted the chickens, at least not that I could remember. I made a deal with him last year that if I made the Olympics he would make me roasted chickens! Saturday was Uncle Bill's day to roast chickens to perfection. Usually he would roast 20 chickens. However, the chickens we got were too big so we only got eight on each spit. The two spits are rotated by a 40-year-old washing machine motor. The entire contraption is something you would see on MacGyver! Roasting these chickens is as easy as any recipe. We simply basted the chickens twice in a solution of Miller Lite beer and a touch of salt. When the beer and salt mixture dried, we basted them in butter. About a half hour after this first basting session we did this once more. In about two and a half hours the chickens were cooked to perfection. They were the most unbelievably juicy, tender and tasty chickens I had ever put into my by-then watering mouth!

Bud Selig

Today I had a cool experience. I met Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball. A

Abbaye de Citeaux

While at the restaurant Daniel I had the opportunity to taste the most unique cheese of my life. It's a cow's milk cheese that is called Abbaye de Citeaux. This splendid cow's milk creation is made by monks in a French monestary. The flavor is something that sounds weird and maybe even unappetizing: when I first put this soft, creamy cheese with a semi-hard rind in my mouth, I instantly thought of a Wisconsin dairy farm. It was splendid!

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Horseback Riding

Today I had a rare treat. I went horseback riding!

Back in the Gym, Sort of…

It's been years and years since I've been able to take a couple months off. Believe me, I need it. I plan to stay out of the pool until early October. Meanwhile, I've been starting to work my way back into shape... pushups, crunches, free weights in my parents' basement, visits to the gym when I was in New York to see my sister. It feels good to work out without killing myself.

Restaurant Daniel

New York, New York

Today I traveled to New York City to visit my older sister Hillary. On the cab ride from the airport to the city I saw a man driving in chaotic traffic while flossing his teeth. At that very moment I thought to myself, "Only in New York City would you see this!" I went straight from the airport to my sister's office. She is a designer at JCREW. I met a bunch of her co-workers and everyone wanted to see my medals. I took them out, everyone was so excited. It was great to see their reactions. A few more people came, then a few people told a few more people. Before I knew it there were tons of people around and the CEO of the company was on the Intercom of the entire office telling everyone I was in the office with my gold medals. As soon as this happened I was swept away upstairs where all the top executives and designers were meeting in a conference room. As soon as they saw me walking down the hall they all began cheering and clapping. Everyone was so excited for me and could not tell me enough how proud they were of Team USA. The CEO, a very funny and straight to the point man named Mickey asked me when I seriously started swimming. I told him when I went to high school my parents told me I needed to decide what sport or activity I really wanted to do and focus on that. I explained to him that I really loved swimming and decided I was going to do it to the best of my abilities. He raised his arms and said, "WHHHHOOOAAA, do you hear that everybody??? Garrett just said you need to pick what you really love and do it the best that you can!!" He then explained to me that my philosophy was exactly what he had been telling the entire company at countless meetings over the past several months. He was so excited about it that he got on the intercom and told everyone that I just told him something amazing. He then prodded me into saying the quote over the intercom, I agreed and everyone thought it was really funny. It was all quite comical. The day in New York and at JCREW was fantastic!!! I got the opportunity to meet many unique and influential people. Best of all I reunited with my sister:)