My Town Monday: US Olympic Training Center, Chula Vista, CA

I spent BEAUCOUP hours this past weekend on a pool deck with Child #3 in Chula Vista for a swim meet. BEAUCOUP. As in, I'm quite possibly in contention for Mother of the Weekend. :)

Chula Vista means "beautiful view" in Spanish. It's located about 11 miles south and a little bit east of downtown San Diego and about 7 miles north and a little bit west of Tijuana, Mexico. Chula Vista is the 2nd largest city in San Diego County with a population of around 200,000, 50%-ish is hispanic/latino.

Forbes Magazine described Chula Vista as one of the most boring American cities. Ouch.

Anyway, I disagree. Chula Vista is home to OnStage Playhouse, one of my favorite local community theatres. Not to mention a pretty cool nature center, a heritage museum, the Cricket amphitheater, and Knott's Soak City (more of interest to the Summy children than to their mother). No doubt I'll visit a couple of these for future My Town Monday posts.

Today, though, it's all about the US Olympic Training Center. Child #3 and I stopped by here after the meet.

Before I forget, on Tuesday through Saturday, there are tours led by an athlete. Here's the general info: 2800 Olympic Parkway, Chula Vista, CA 91915-6007. 619-656-1500. Okay, onto some info. This facility is for the development of America's Olympians (future and current) in many sports such as, archery, rowing, canoe/kayak, soccer, softball, field hockey, tennis, track & field, bobsledding, luge, rugby, tri-athalon and cycling. About 4,000 athletes train here each year. Apparently, the BMX competition events are super exciting to watch.


The complex is on 150 acres, is open year round and, of course, has our magnificent weather. The center was a gift to the United States Olympic Committee from the San Diego National Sports Training Foundation.

If you look closely (with a mega-strong magnifying glass), you can see a very tired (and cute) swimmer on the left.

I tried to snap a picture of Child #3 swimming the butterfly. But, alas, he was too fast!

Click here for links to more My Town Monday posts. Thanks to Travis Erwin for hosting this week. Also, if you're even marginally thinking about writing a My-Town-Monday post, please do! Fair warning, though, it's addictive! Write your post, then leave a comment on the official My Town Monday blog so we can get a link up to you.

Oh yeah, all the photos were taken with my trusty Blackberry.



sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chula_Vista,_California
http://www.judsbook.com/members/31864/posts/2006/1/249961
http://www.ci.chula-vista.ca.us/Attraction/olympics.asp
http://www.chulavistaconvis.com/olympic-training-center