This is the third part of our correspondence with Coach and Skating Director Lyndon Johnston as he chronicles the experiences of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver:

2/13/2010 (via email)

Just a couple of things,

Caydee and Jeremy drew 4th to skate and Amanda and Mark are 8th to skate.

Had good practices this morning as well, by tomorrow they will be ready.

We have one more practice today at another rink and then done for the day.

Going to try and see either short track and or long track speed skating in the next couple of days.

You wouldn’t believe the security around here. Not only is the RCMP but also local city police around, and then on top of that is the Canadian Military and last but not least the US secret service is also here. And they are at all of our practices. Early or late.

Wow, crazy.

How is everything around there? I hear that the newspaper is still doing some great articles.

Well, off and running again.

Lyndon

This is the second part of our correspondence with Coach and Skating Director Lyndon Johnston as he chronicles the experiences of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver:

2/11/2010 (via email)

All is going well. The main rink is interesting because it is also the main rink for short track, so they have thick pads that are around the rink and then they flip them over for the short track.
Practices have been going well. The kids have been working very well with their new surroundings.

The constant rain, or at least drizzle, has put little damper on the excitement here. I am sure that the area is beautiful, but if I had to put up with all the rain I would be very depressed.

The draw for the kids is tomorrow morning and then we will be able to let you know in what order they skate after that.

Have not had much chance to see other venues but have been seeing a lot of the other athletes.

Talk to you soon.

Lyndon

This is the first part of our correspondence with Coach and Skating Director Lyndon Johnston as he chronicles the experiences of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver:

2/10/2010 (via text message)

Monday was our travel day. We arrived to Vancouver at 1pm. All athletes had a special area to go through at customs at Vancouver International Airport which made it very quick and easy! Processing and accreditation was the next step in the process. After that we spent the next couple of hours getting our USA apparel! Wow! The skaters and coaches look great! Practices went well yesterday and we just got off the ice for the first practice of the day. Talk to you soon!

Due to the overwhelming support shown by everyone, the 2010 AT&T US Figure Skating Champion and Olympian skaters (Caydee Denney, Jeremy Barrett, Amanda Evora, and Mark Ladwig) and coaches (Mr. Jim Peterson, Mr. Lyndon Johnston, and Ms. Alison Smith) have decided to open their final practice before they leave for the Winter Games in Vancouver to the public. The session starts at 1:10pm.

Our Olympians are steadily returning home and that means it’s time to party! This Saturday, January 30th, we will be having a open house celebration at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex. It goes from 1:30-4:30 and you can meet the Olympians and congratulate them! Also, we have skates you can put well wishes and sign available at our front desk. Let the skaters, Caydee, Amanda, Jeremy, and Mark, and the coaches, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Johnston, and Ms. Smith, all know how excited you are they’re going to the Olympics!