A Jump Back to Sunday & a Quick Catch Up

On Sunday we attended an afternoon tea for Sophie, hosted by My Aunt, Sophie's 'Nana', so that all of the family could catch up with her & hear how the rest of her trip through China went!
Oh..... & fondle the medals & oogle the car....did I almost forget that? No way!

It was a fabulous afternoon! A rather huge array of delectable food (as is the standard in these family get togethers) was accompanied some nice wine, tea or coffee & of course great company.
Of course Sophie was the same Sophie we all know - very chilled & not at all changed by all of the fuss that has been made of her acheivements (& what acheivements Soph! - you are an awesome young woman & we are all so very proud of you!!).

Right now Sophie is somewhat over being photographed every time she turns around. Can you tell? Actually I was really trying to capture the reflection of all the people standing around & admiring the car....honest ;o)

I got a ride in Sophie's new vehicle & WOW! What a great wee driver Sophie is - she offered me the keys, but I was a bit worried about driving that flash beauty, so I declined. What a wimp! It has a fabulous stereo & many other great features.

Ahh the medals!! Each medal has it's own presentation box, a beautiful red lacquered affair with a special insert that holds the medal in place. I didn't realise until later that each presentation box has another silk covered box to protect it - talk about great packaging!

The medals themselves really are huge ....& very heavy. The Gold Medals have an insert of White Jade (more valued & precious in China than the green) which of course adds to the weight. I can't imagine wearing four around my neck at once - mind you I expect with all the swimming that Sophie does she is pretty strong through the neck & shoulders - lol!

Bead de jour

Bongo

I had the rest of the beads in this series to post - but my computer has other ideas & is insisting on running at 100% CPU usage. So I can't even edit the darn photo right now.

I've added a couple more photo's of Sophie to the post below. There is a really great video online of her in the race, she turns around just after she finshes & realises that she's second - the look on her face is priceless.
There is also a great chat to her at the poolside afterwards - but it's in the middle of an hour long video about yesterdays event's & I can't seperate it to show you. I'll try & find a link to a short version later & post it in the post below.

A Bead & Beijing

"Tribal Beat"

One of the beads from the last few torch sessions that I am rather pleased with.

Last night there was a segment on National TV about Sophie - it was great, although in places quite emotional when you listen to her Dad, Gary talk about her accident. It was just under 5 minutes long & can be viewed here Close Up-Sophie Pascoe. (It takes wee while for it buffer for me)

This morning she was also on both the front page of this city's leading Newspaper this morning & also another article about her in the sports section. It's really quite exciting. Less than 48 hours to go before her first race!

We've heard from Sophie, apparently they were the first to arrive in the Olympic Village in Beijing. Training was to have taken place in Hong Kong, but when the swim team got to the pool there the water temperature was 30 deg Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) & too hot for them to train in!! So an early flight to Beijing in they got to train in the"Water Cube", the pool that is used for the Olympic & Paralympic races.

Sophie said that this pool is absolutely amazing to swim in - it's extremely deep, & the lanes are extra wide. I never knew this before, but apparently the extra depth makes swimming easier & the wider lanes prevent wake from other swimmers when competing.

Perhaps that answers why world records were broken in every swim race during the Olympics ;o)

I am dying to see how well Sophie can fly through that water.

From Beijing

Sophie has finished training in Hong Kong & arrived at the NZ Quarters for accomodation in the Olympic Village in Beijing!

They've sent a few photo's through of Sophie with the other Paralympians from New Zealand.

The Accomodation Block for the New Zealand Competitors

A Close up of the foyer, the poster on the left - That's Sophie!!!

I'm guessing this is the community area - & there she is again ;o)

This is Cameron Leslie - one of the swim team members.

And here's our girl Sophie - a true rose among the thorns. That's Roly Crichton, her coach, with his back towards the camera.

Meet a Very Special Young Lady

Sophie

One of the guests at the engagement party was my cousin's daughter, Sophie.
Now I have blogged about Sophie back in May - so I wont go into too much history.

Sophie is an extraordinary young lady. Personally, I am still left wondering when she morphed from a gangly kid into this beautiful 15 year old person - it seems only a moment ago that I was carrying tired 10 year old to my car - because her newly fitted prosthetic leg was hurting her.
You see , Sophie lost a leg in an accident at 2 years old, at the time of the accident it was thought that she may loose both legs - fortunately she didn't.

In 8 days time she is heading towards Beijing to participate in the Paralymics which runs Sepetember 6-17th, following directly on the tail of the Olympics. Part of New Zealand's 3 man, or rather 2 man & 1 woman strong swim team - she is the youngest ever contender from this country.
That's no surprise to us - she gives able bodied adult woman a good run for their money in her chosen events & has in fact beat some of their national records.

Right now Sophie is a bit tired, she has a nasty cough & has been training hard out - swimming 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) per week, which she will continue to do until she competes in Beijing.

Wish her luck :o)

Sophie & some old chick