PAN AM SWIM EVENT IN SCARBOROUGH

Taking in some swimming at the Pan Am Aquatics Centre at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus July 14 was a fun day for me. Starting out at 0650 in the morning to go to the subway at Finch with my daughter to avoid one bus ride made it a long day. Wearing my red Canada games Tshirt as well as a white skirt and white blouse, I looked like I was going to an event with the early morning work crowd. I overheard two men in suits discussing what events they would be attending. Transferring at Bloor to take the Bloor/Danforth line out to the Kennedy Station to take the 198 rocket express to the campus was a memorable journey. I have not gone that far on that line for awhile. I actually had a Children's Aid job in Scarborough years ago so do remember the area and the roads. The Centre was about 30 minutes from the station.

About a 5 minute walk from the bus stop. I stopped near the front to help a family of 10 have a group picture. Knowing the photographer rarely gets in a picture, it is always a kind thing to do to let him get in it too. Chatted with them, they had come from Puerto Rico for the games.

Lots of signage and the usual security checks. No food, no drinks, small bags.

All the volunteers wear orange shirts and are always available to help. I spoke to one young volunteer about her experience. She was loving it! Good to hear!  Feeling a little hungry from the early start, I bought a Jamaican meat patty and a banana from one of the vendors supporting the event. The patty-$3.00. The banana-$2.00! Good thing I was alone or the food bill would have cost more than the tickets.

The swimmers were doing practice lengths when I arrived poolside 0900. The event started at 1000. The stands filled slowly but not full at any point. This was just a preliminary session with several heats for the various categories. The women and men's free style, women and men's butterfly, and the free style women and men's relay teams were the main events. One Canadian won his heat and is one of our better swimmers. Since I could only see the board on a slant, thought I should look up his name at a later time. He had a small contingent in the crowd who looked like the Mom, aunts and grandmother waving the Canadian flag wildly during his practice session as well as his win.

There were many Canadians in the crowd so it was great to see so much red in the stands. The Americans and Brazilians had some strong swimmers. There were a few South American flags in the audience too. Finishing at about 1120, it was time to head home. Catching the 198 it was busy with Pan Am people as well as students and others going to work. Since it was near lunch time at the Kennedy station, I bought some Swedish gummie berries and another patty. Ya Man patty that was supposed to be spicy but it was not. The subway took me back to the Yonge/University line which took me to Finch- the north end. Caught the express VIVA bus to Richmond Hill. To encourage people to use public transit, all the transit at any of the communities hosting the venues was free. So I did give a loonie at two different places to the musicians that are allowed to play their instruments as a kind of pan handling job. If I had to pay for transit it would have been close to $20.00 for the day. Parking would have been about the same. A long day, but there are times it is worth experiencing different parts of Toronto as a community person. Attending this event was city travel. So my walk to and from work is always more rewarding as I think of people taking transit every day. It was a part of my previous life to sit on buses and subway cars. Doing it occasionally is an adventure however and time for inner reflection and contemplation. Actually giving me some ideas and themes for future posts on my blog.

One last comment on the Aquatics is that the facility will be used for future competitions and training. As much of the money to host the games added a legacy feature to it. One never knows perhaps a grandchild could become a swimmer!