Sydney update

Brad Alan Lewis

From Sydney - The 1956 Melbourne Olympics were known as the

Friendly Games. Not only are the 2000 Sydney Games exceptionally

friendly, they may go down in history as the Free Games.

Without spending a dime a tourist can have all sorts of fun.

The whole of downtown Sydney has been transformed into an enormous

Olympic-Sports zone. On every block, some complimentary distraction

beacons the curious, penurious tourist.

The prime ticket this evening was the swimming events, scheduled for

8. A curious spectator could see the events in one of several ways: In

person at the Aquatic Center located within the Sydney Olympic Park; on

television at home or in one of the countless pubs around town. I

explored a fantastic third option: Free of charge in Belmore Park.

Belmore Park is located just across from Central Station in downtown

Sydney. A giant TV - no less than 20 feet by 20 feet, was set at one end

of the park. Sitting, standing, cheering in front of the TV were about

5,000 fellow ticket-less spectators. Had you been sitting alongside me,

this is what you would have experienced.

A smoky-smell hangs in the air - a few miles outside of town an

authentic Australian bush fire is burning, driven by easterly winds.

Mixing with the burning eucalyptus-incense is the smell of car and diesel

exhaust - several big busses idle nearby on Pitt Street.

In a throwback to earlier times, leaded gasoline is still sold and

used in Australia - the exhaust that leaded gas produces is a long

forgotten smell for those of us from Southern California.

Supposedly the Aussies have the second-oldest fleet of cars - second

only to Cuba. These old cars need leaded gasoline.

It’s a warm evening - shorts and T-shirt weather. Most people have

brought a towel or folding chair on which to sit. For some reason the

park itself doesn’t have any real grass - just synthetic plastic glass.

About half the men in the audience are drinking beer - the beer of

choice is called Victoria Bitter - the Down Under equivalent of Coors.

The style of bottle holding the Victoria Bitter is called a ‘stubbie.’

The name exactly describes its shape, short and squat. So ubiquitous are

these stubbies that one cannot help but wonder if the designers of the

Olympic medals might hot have attempted to work their shape into the

design of the medal.

The core audience has setting in around 7:30 - on the perimeter of the

park people constantly streamed along - often watching for a few minutes,

then moving along.

Vendors strolled through the crowd - the fare of choice is fish and

chips wrapped in newspaper ($5.50 Australian, which is about $3 in U.S.

currency) and something called meat pies - buttery, flaky crusts, the

insides packed with a puree of unidentified meat stuffs. These meat pies

are very hot to the touch and very tasty, especially when complemented

with a Victoria Bitter.

The swimming events unfold like clockwork - one race every eight

minutews. These races were mostly preliminary heats. One final of note:

in the women’s 100-meter butterfly, the Dutch swimmer, Inge de Bruijri,

wins the gold and sets a world record, 56.61. Her time would have won her

a bronze medal at the 1968 Olympics - in the men’s 100-meter butterfly.

Like the races, the commercials come like clockwork. Some of these

Olympic-themed commercials are exceptionally clever.

My favorite - a commercial that shows several parents of Australian

Olympians attempting to duplicate the sport of their offspring. At the

end of the commercial, the mother of a gymnast is left hanging by her

arms from the balance beam, requestilng assistance so that she might get

down unscathed. Some commercials are promotional pieces for regular

weekly TV series that are currently being pre-empted by the Games. JAG is

a big hit down here. Baywatch is not. That TV series was supposed to move

to a beach town near Sydney called Avalon, but backed out, leaving a bad

tast in its wake.

Inevitably I found myself reaching for a non-existent remote control

to see what else might be on during the commercials.

Back to the races, Ian Thorpe raced his 200-meter freestyle heat -

setting an Olympic record, 1:46.56. The making of a national sports hero

has never been more beautifully executed. He seems to be a good guy with

a winning smile and a penchant for setting records. The press loves to

use his nickname: The “Thorpedo.” If he wins another gold, his picture

will likely be put on the Aussie $5 bill.

When the swimming competition finally wrapped up around 10:30, about

half the crowd wandered down to the Circular Quay (pronounced ‘key’)

where a slew of fireworks were launched off a barge moored a few yards

offshore.

Ther crowd, the stubbies, the fireworks will all be back tomorrow as

the Olympic party continues.

Brad Alan Lewis is a product of Corona del Mar High and a gold-medal

winner in rowing at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.