June 23 was Olympic Day this year. Olympic Day is an idea that the USOC and the IOC created to promote the Olympic Spirit on a local basis. This year, the USOC was pushing for as many cities as possible to participate to promote the Chicago 2016 bid to bring the Summer Games to Chicago.
I did my part by creating a day long event with the Pittsburgh area YMCAs. I went to 5 different YMCA Summer Camps where I spoke to a few hundred kids from age 5 - 15 about the Olympics, my experiences and the push to get the Olympics back to the US for Chicago 2016. It was a full and fun day of showing my medals and sharing my Olympic Spirit. The kids had some great questions about everyhting from how did I start rowing to when did the Olympics start.
I brought along with me a box of Olympic goodies for each Camp to use as prizes throughout the summer, including hats, beach towels, etc. The kids (and counselors) were all very attentive and excited to learn more about the Olympics. It was a great day that I hope to expand on in years to come. The YMCA is a natural fit with the Olympic Spirit for doing things together.
I posted some of the photos from the day here: http://assets.teamusa.org/olympicdayphotos?selected_city=247&state=39
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