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Blaine, you were recently on NBC’s Today Show and on the David Letterman show, right?
Yes, I was.

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What is it like to participate in all the different media activities, especially pre-Olympic media activities?
I think it is fun to participate in all of these media activities. All of us have been doing it for a while now and I think it is a pleasure to talk about our team and ourselves when we get the opportunity. Team USA is a very unique team and we are all proud to be a part of it.

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Paul, you recently took part in the USOC Media Summit in New York City. How long were you in New York for this event?
I was actually only in New York City from 8am until about 4pm that day. I was in LA doing something for NBC so I took the red eye from LA to New York and did the media summit in the morning. In the afternoon, Morgan and I did a photo shoot for People Magazine’s 50 Most Eligible Bachelors.

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The history of Aquatics had early beginnings — Egyptian hieroglyphics showing people swimming were discovered as early as 2500 BC. Later, around 400 BC, records show the Egyptians and Romans diving off cliffs for fun! The Romans introduced swimming to Britain as a social event. The Japanese are credited with first promoting swimming as a competitive sport.

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Athletics was at the very heart of the spirit of the Olympic games, and is one of the most popular sports, comprising track and field events.

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The first stone arrowheads were discovered in Africa and date back as early as 50,000 BC! Humans have used bows and arrows for thousands of years, both for hunting and in wars, and Greek mythology is filled with tales of archers, including Hercules, Artemis, and Apollo. Archery is one of the most ancient of sports. It could have started when some skilled ancient hunter was challenged to a contest by some other competitive hunter!

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Called “America’s Pastime,” Baseball has had an important place in American culture. Most cultures have some sort of stick and ball game, cricket being the most well-known in other parts of the world. While its exact origins are unknown, most historians agree that the game of baseball is based on the English game of rounders. (In the book Northanger Abbey, begun in 1796, the writer Jane Austen said of her heroine, “…it was not very wonderful that Catherine should prefer cricket, base-ball, riding on horseback, and running about the country, at the age of fourteen, to books.”)

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Basketball is one of the world’s most unusual sports in that it was inventedby a single person, Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was asked by his boss in1891 at a Springfield, Massachusetts college to develop a game that couldbe played indoors during the cold New England weather. He had two weeks torespond.

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Records of boxing as a sport date back over 5,000 year to ancient Mesopotamia. Another word for boxing is "pugilism."

Boxing first appeared as an Olympic event in the 7th century B.C. Originally, the sport of boxing in ancient Greece was not so much about hitting one’s opponent as much as it was about avoiding being hit until the other boxer became exhausted in attack! However, it was still a tough bout, as boxers only wore leather straps on their hands for protection.

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Canoeing and Kayaking go back to the dawn of human culture. The earliest canoes date from 6,000 B.C. though it is likely that people used similar forms of transportation even earlier.

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The wheel was invented thousands of years ago, and used for carts and wagons, but it took a long time for anyone to come up with the idea of a bicycle!

The original bicylce is said to have been developed at the end of the 18th century by a French aristocrat. It had no pedals or steering wheel however, and was pushed forward much like the most junior child’s tricycle — by pushing with your legs against the ground.

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Please tell us your short-term and long-term goals in the sport.
My short-term goal is really a daily goal - to get done everyday in the gym what my coaches have set out for me to do. My long-term goal is to make the 2004 Olympic Team and win some medals with my teammates. After that, I am really looking forward to watching my wife play beach volleyball in California. I also plan to open a gym with a few of my buddies.

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