Christmas was getting closer; you were marking off each day on the Advent calendar, concerts and present buying and half-day excursions to beaches or the pool, and the excitement seemed more than you could stand.
An 89-year old former junior diving champion joined Leon Taylor, who won silver in the synchronised 10m platform event at the 2004 Athens Olympics, in the pool and spoke of his excitement at London 2012.
Since many exceptional underclassmen leave for the NBA instead of staying all four years to graduate, the argument goes, the college talent pool is drained thin, diluting the excitement of the sport.
And oddly, after all the excitement of new and interesting pools, my local (and lovely) baths seemed anti-climactic.
Still, the excitement of going to the pool beats the embarrassment of looking like a 2-year-old Walmart shopper any day.
When Davon jumped into the family's indoor pool for the first time, he yelled with excitement, " 'This place is like 'Baywatch'!" said Mrs. Gomes, a stay-at-home mother who worked as a physical therapist.
Kitajima's exuberant screams of excitement after winning gold that night echoed around the pool deck.
But when my wife and I visited the pool with our two young children in 1999, having built up the excitement for our 2-year-old, imagine our disappointment when we were turned away.
I paused and pictured the children meeting secretly, pooling their money, visiting rug stores, trying to bargain with the dealers, anticipating my excitement.
We shout with exhilaration -- experiencing a feeling that is half excitement and half relief -- before being thrust into a calm pool and gently turned upriver for a post-rapids view.
