I can’t wait to head out to London for the Olympics. My departure is in T minus 2 days. It will be great!

I’ll probably end up packing a couple of hours before leaving, which will drive my wife crazy, but that last minute dash will give me an adrenaline rush and put me right in the Olympic Spirit.

I have lots of work to do over there, like participating in the amazing program at the Global Coaches House, taking advantage of its conferences and networking opportunities. I will also be shadowing our Canoe Kayak Coaches that are there as part of their ACE (Advanced Coach Education) program. If that’s not enough, I’ll also be linking up with National Coaching Institute Directors from other countries to compare programs for a High Performance Coach research project currently in progress.

The first thing on my agenda however will be to cheer on Sherraine Schalm - one of our fencing athletes competing in women’s epee. Before returning to the CAC last year, I was Fencing Canada’s High Performance Director, where I met Sherraine for the first time. Our first face-to-face meeting was in Catania at the World Championships. Sherraine had come along to encourage the other fencers on the Canadian Team. She must have been seven months pregnant at the time, ready to burst and still doing lessons with her coach - what discipline. She then had her daughter Gaia only a couple of months before the start of Olympic selections. It took her a tremendous amount of determination to get back in shape, especially since she lives in Italy and does most of her physical prep on her own. After the Pan Am Games, I started to help her with her physical preparation, showing her new programs through Skype. Not the ideal situation but it worked well -- not only did she qualify for the Olympics but my spies in the fencing world tell me she’s looking very fit and sharp. I can’t wait to see her in action July 30th.

Go Sherraine Go!

With hotel room prices skyrocketing I was lucky to find a University dorm with en suite washroom at a very very reasonable price. Let’s just hope they didn’t photoshop the pics on the internet. I’d hate to show up there with my wife and find out it’s really a World War II bunker with a bucket in the corner.

In any case, I’m looking forward to sharing this exciting experience with you over Twitter (@GerardLauziere) and on coach.ca.