By Dr. Terry Schroeder, Westlake Village resident and head coach of the U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo Team, which trained for several months in Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks.

Things are getting busier here in the Olympic Village. More and more teams are arriving everyday.

When we first arrived, the Village seemed quiet. This is not the case anymore. It is like a bee hive with lots of activity and athletes everywhere. The dining hall is getting crowded and I hate to say it, but there are no more Dove bars (bummer).

Many of the more recognizable athletes are beginning to show up. I saw Dirk Nowitzki (basketball), Rafael Nadal (tennis) and Michael Phelps (swimming) today.

I am beginning to feel a little short with many of the basketball and volleyball players showing up. It is fun to sit and people watch and try to guess what sport each athlete is part of - obviously some are easy - like the gymnasts and the weight lifters and the wrestlers (almost all of them have wrestler's ears).

Many of the other sports are very difficult. Regardless of the sport, it is fun to just sit back and realize that these are the best of the best at what they do in the world.

Today, we scrimmaged against the Chinese team at our competition venue again. We seemed a little tired and we played pretty poorly. We made a lot of bad passes and, after two quarters, the score ended in a tie.

I think that overall it was probably good for us to realize that if we do not play well it will be a battle. I got on them a little after the scrimmage and they woke up and dominated play in our 6-on-5 and 5-on-6 training (each team played 15 minutes of offense and 15 minutes of defense).

After dinner Rick, Ryan and I caught a taxi to the Cube and did some exploring. It was getting a little late, but we were able to get into the Cube and see the competition venue for swimming and diving. It was very impressive.

The Cube is an amazing building and it is one of two of the central venues (along with the Bird's Nest) that are in the middle of the Olympic Green.

After we explored the Cube, we walked over to the Bird's Nest, which was also lit up and did some exploring around there. We were not able to get into the stadium, but it was pretty cool just being outside and listening to them rehearse for the opening ceremonies.

Tomorrow, we are giving the guys the day off. I think that most of us are heading for the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. This will be our last day to relax and just sight-see a little. It should be a fun and relaxing day.

See you at the pool!

Coach

Wayne Bean is a local supporter of the U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo Team. He is posting blog entries for Coach Schroeder while he is in Beijing.