V.I. Ecotours Offers kayaks and paddle boards at Honeymoon Beach on St John

One of the prettiest beaches on St John, which is accessible only by boat or by footpath, will be even more popular now that VI Ecotours has opened a concession base renting kayaks and paddle boards.  

St John Tradewinds photo of paddle boarding & kayaking at Honeymoon Bay

VI Ecotours, a popular St Thomas based watersports operator, has been operating a similar concession base at Caneel for nearly a decade.  They have now taken a long abandoned structure right on Honeymoon Beach which they have renovated and will offer paddle boards, kayaks, snorkel equipment, and even underwater cameras and ice cream!  Word is that they will also have flush toilets and use of lockers!

Newly renovated concession stand and amenities including a hammock for 'limin photo credit St John Tradewinds

Getting to Honeymoon beach is strictly by hiking (or by boat).  St John Off The Beaten Track has a great map showing the path which starts at the National Park Service Visitor's Center:

Distances

Visitor Center to Salomon Bay (1.0 mile)

Visitors Center to Honeymoon Bay (1.1 miles)

Visitor Center to Lind Point Overlook (0.4 mile)

Lind Point Overlook to start of Salomon Bay Spur Trail (0.3 mile)

Start of Salomon Bay Spur Trail to Salomon Bay (0.3 mi)

Start of Salomon Bay Spur Trail to Honeymoon Bay (0.4mi)

2 PM Thursday and Tropical Storm Isaac has passed St John but we are still feeling it

Our St John webcam is testament that Tropical Storm Isaac is still with us!  

2 PM Thursday TS Isaac delivers lots of rain and strong winds

While the eye has passed by (by over 150 miles to the south) and it is now making a bee-line toward the Dominican Republic and right over Haiti, because this system is HUGE (as demonstrated by the picture below from the Weather Channel) St John is still getting lots of water from the system:

TS Isaac as of 2 PM Thursday

This track is from the Weather Channel:

Track forecast as of 2 PM Thursday

The path of TS Isaac is to be right over Haiti, Cuba, and then on to Florida...do you think Isaac is a Democrat or Republican? 

Tropical Storm Isaac - as predicted - passes by to our south leaving St John unscathed

Most of yesterday was spent preparing for a guest that did not arrive - thankfully. At 7 AM this morning, Tropical Storm (TS) Isaac will officially pass about 100 miles to our south with clouds, winds at only 45 knots but lots of bands of rain spreading out hundreds of miles out from its center so we will still get lots of rain from this storm. Overnight, the storm jogged slightly south which helped further ensure the safety of the Virgin Islands (and Puerto Rico).  So far, heavy, heavy rains have not materialized on St John. The VI Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) cancelled its Hurricane Watch but has continued, for now, its Tropical Storm Warning and Flash Flood Watch. 

While today will be no beach day on St John we are all very happy that we have fared so well and happy that we are looking at a pretty nice day...considering what could have been! Our webcam overlooking the south shore of St John shows the clouds still hovering over us:

The Caribbean Hurricane Network posts some fascinating graphics which show how huge this storm is at this point (TS Isaac is the red, orange, yellow, blue mass in the center of the picture below): 

We now turn our concern to the Dominican Republic and Haiti which both appear to be in the direct path for the storm which is forecasted to intensify to become Hurricane Isaac by the time it arrives there tomorrow:

The pictures from our St John villa as Tropical Storm Isaac approaches

Wednesday evening on St John and the weather is still OK... see you in the AM & please stay safe!

Today was  a day of preparation pulling boats and putting away loose furniture and even putting on hurricane shutters but all in all it was a good day on St John....

As early evening sets in St John is still in the clear

See you in the morning and stay safe!

Tropical Storm Isaac's path still tracks to the south of St John

FYI This is TS Issac from a few years back Our St John webcam shows the clouds from Tropical Storm Isaac getting thicker and darker as the storm heads our way:

The clouds now cover the sky over St John's Rendezvous Bay in advance of Tropical Storm Isaac

No way around it...Tropical Storm Isaac is making its way through the islands. Here it is at 2 PM on Wednesday...

Tropical Storm Isaac heads south of St John (we hope!)

As of right now (and we all know weather is totally unpredictable!) the National Hurricane Center forecasts a path that takes Tropical Storm (TS) Isaac - by the way, Isaac was my father-in-law's name, who I loved and loved me, so I am confident 'he' will leave us on St John unharmed - far south of the US Virgin Islands.  I am sure we will feel strong winds and get lots of rain (which will fill our cisterns) but, hopefully, we will not get the brunt of his wrath as TS Isaac passes.

We will try to keep our  St John webcam live as long as we have electricity and it is safe to keep the camera out in the weather so check us out!  Right now the sun is just poking out from behind the clouds that have started to arrive in advance of TS Isaac:

Wish us luck! By Friday we should be back at the beach!

USVI represented in the Paralympic Games in London for very first time

Equestrian rider Lee Frawley will be the first athlete to represent the  U.S. Virgin Islands at the Paralympic Games, when they start Aug. 29 in London

Equestrian, Lee Frawley, becomes the Virgin Island's first Paralympian and will compete later this month at the Paralympic Games in London. The Paralympic Games begin next Wednesday, August 29, 2012 and run through Sunday, September 9, 2012. 

Ms Frawley was born in New York but grew up on St. Thomas and has been riding horses and competing in equestrianism for a majority of her life including trotting along the beaches of the Virgin Islands and even taking her horses for swims!  While born in the Virgin Islands she moved to England to finish her schooling and has lived there since. While she has represented Great Britain in equestrian events she will be proudly representing the Virgin Islands this summer. 

While she has been riding from the young age of 5, it was an accident 14 years ago that had her hospitalized and almost ended her riding career.  With lots of therapy and support, she has been able to continue and thrive in her riding career.

She currently lives in Red Hill, England, with her two children, Matthew and Page. She took sixth last week in England at a 'dress rehearsal' competition for the 2012 Paralympics. This will be the first time the USVI will be represented at the Paralympics.

For more information about Ms Frawley...

Editor's note: According to Wikipedia the Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

More Sharing Servic

Day #5 was a mix of sun & rain & wood & plumbing; however, we are all eyes to the sky as we start week #2

The outline of the pool has been formed

Day #5 was a mix of sun and rain so we lost a little bit of time; however, it was still a productive day.  The guys did some hand digging to fine-tune the size of the footings that will eventually be poured with concrete. More rebar was cut and formed (into grids that will be placed into the middle of the concrete to hold it in place. And, more wood was cut and placed to define the outline of the pool.  

The side of the pool that faces the Caribbean will be curved

We met with both our electrician (Dick from Angel Electric) and our plumber (Joseph, owner of Love City Plumbing) and were delighted with them both.  They each are great people and both had great suggestions about how to improve our original design.  Dick suggested adding some very cool LED lighting to our wading pool and Joseph suggested some modification to our existing plumbing system that will make it much more efficient. 

While we had a great first week of construction, as we start week #2 we are watching the weather closely since we have two weather systems (one looking like it could be quite nasty) to our east heading our way.  The red circle, according to the National Hurricane Center, is a 'tropical system' which, at this point, has an 80% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone (e.g. tropical storm or hurricane) within the next 48 hours so this may well prove to be a nerve-wracking week!

This is the description for the red circle!

Monday AM, picture from our webcam:

At this point the weather is great so it is hard to imagine there is bad weather heading our way

Day 4 - Sun and lots of steel

We awoke to a wonderful Caribbean sky:

View from our webcam (we actually have the exact view from our bed in the Owner's Suite!)

With a sunrise like that it was bound to be a great day...and, it was!  Our crews showed up early. Folks here start work early (7 AM). The first one here was a guy delivering water and ice for the guys.  As you can imagine, working all day in the tropics you (should) drink a lot of water! Right behind him came Dave's crew.  We have lived here long enough to know good crews and crews that just slide by.  Dave's guys arrive on time and get to work! Obviously, this we love!  

Rock-a-Rock, our excavator, arrived to do some fine-tuning for the pool and then departed to return to do back-filling when the pool is formed.The day was spent cutting and forming rebar....a long and somewhat tedious but, oh so important job! This pool will go nowhere. It will be very sturdy:

The steel rebar, which is thick, will be placed in the concrete surrounding the pool to make sure that the pool is secure

And while the rebar is formed, the pool site is also framed with wood for the concrete to be poured into:

Boy, are those footings wide!

And, if you think life is so easy in the tropics, here is proof hubby worked so hard his pants ripped!

Chuck literally worked his pants off!

Day 3 - Rain, Sun, and pool starting to be framed

Last night brought some wonderful rain. When we woke to gray clouds we thought we might be rained out of any construction.  While we love the liquid gold (i.e. rain) that fills our cisterns but not when it conflicts with our construction so we were a bit disappointed when we saw rain this morning: 

Rain filling our gray water (for plants) cistern which is under the tennis court

But, as quickly as the rain came, the sun started to poke out of the clouds:

We have fabulous clouds around St John!

And then it turned into a(nother) perfect day:

Perfect weather for boating or constructing a pool!

On to day #3 -- Rock-a-Rock, our excavator, finished digging the footings so his job is done for a while.  He will return to back-fill the pool and grade around the new pool patio once the pool has been formed and the concrete poured which is weeks off.  

Those are some pretty BIG footings

We got rebar (the metal that goes into the concrete to hold it in place), wood and plywood (used to form the pool and support the concrete until it is cured) delivered today:

That is some pretty big rebar

Once the excavator finished, Dave's crew started framing the area:

Looking west over Chocolate Hole harbor

Another great day!

Day #2 of the pool project and we are still smiling!

Note two machines in picture our wonderful backhoe driver, Joel aka 'Rocka-Rock', alternated between them

Day #2 of our new pool project has come and gone and, happily, life is still good on St John!  We had a great day.  We (and I say 'we' generously since 'they' did the work and 'I' did the picture taking!) dug our pool footings today. Our excavator who drives both machines is phenomenal! He worked tirelessly in a fine-tune way to make sure that our 'footings' are deep enough and (obviously) in the right places:

Footings being dug

So, at the end of day #2:

Ready for water? Not quite... Note we have closed the Great Room hurricane shutters during the construction

(Another) pool soon come...

As property owners on St John we have found one constant and that is: we are always planning a new project!  Our rental groups at Great Expectations tend to be large and we have gotten feedback from our guests that they would like another, larger, pool (in addition to our current Villa wading and swimming pools and Guest House pool) so we are constructing a 3rd Villa pool which will be added to the west of our current pool:

Great Expectations (top 3 buildings) & Beau Geste ( Guest House)

The new 20' x 30' pool will be just to the west of the existing Villa wading/swimming pool (20' x 20') so guests can amble back and forth from one pool to the next!

Building on St John is always an adventure!  However, the key to building and surviving (with your relationships still in tack and a penny left in your bank account, is to choose a good builder. We believe that we have chosen the best contractor (and crew) on St John in Dave Carlson and Carlson Construction. First and foremost Dave (and his crew) are great people.  They represent the best of St John in every way.  Secondly, they do outstanding work. There is no finer craftsman than Matt Mueller and Carlson Construction, having constructed lots of St John pools, are pros. For months we have been planning to start the project this week.  

Let the digging begin

The end of day #1 of the start of construction and we have a hole!  No (unexpected) wires or pipes were found and most importantly no rock was discovered! A great beginning...

And, while this is not the pool it is the idea we are planning:

On to day #2!

What a difference a couple of days can make...in the Caribbean

This is the time of year that the Atlantic Ocean becomes a bit of a 'bowling alley' of storms. Storms usually form as they come off of the western coast of Africa and head west.  That is where the uncertainty comes in.  Sometimes the map can look very ominous.  For instance, this is what we were looking at coming toward the Virgin Islands (read for that: St John) this past Friday:

One system just to the north of the Virgin Islands and two systems to the East

As you can see from the caption on the picture above, the red indicates a pretty strong probability of a 'system' becoming a tropical storm (e.g. greater than 50%) and that was followed by an orange system just off the coast of Africa.  Neither color is a 'nice' color during hurricane season so we started talking about buttoning up our villa, just in case.  

During the night we got lots of 'liquid gold' (e.g. rain that fills our cisterns) and as we awake this morning the red has turned to yellow (this is a good thing!) passing way to our south, and we have sun! The orange that had been heading toward us is now just a yellow (another good thing) and seems to be heading north-northwest and this is the way the map looks right now:

This is only to say that weather changes in a heartbeat so don't worry too much when the storms are far away from the Caribbean.  Anything can happen - for the good or bad. While we have been fortunate - so far - this hurricane season with storms petering out before they get to us, we are still very early in the season. More storms will come off the coast of Africa.  Some will turn from yellow to orange and probably on to red.  While we are just a teeny island in a vast ocean, the systems that are serious tend to be huge and can be felt for hundreds of miles so the storm can be far away and can still have an impact on us.  The best advise is an age old one 'keep your eye to the sky' which in 2012 lingo translates to watching the following tropical weather links: 

National Hurricane Center  - updates current conditions & forecasts several times a day.

Caribbean Hurricane Network  - including very locally based reporting & forecasting. Excellent site.

Storm Pulse - interesting depictions of the storms

St John webcam  - Our St John villa's webcam which looks to the East overlooking Rendezvous Bay (most storms race east to west so it is great to watch the weather 'come in')

If you have travel plans including the Caribbean I would not recommend changing them (or not making them in the first place!) because of the hurricane season.  It is more likely than not that your time on island will be storm free. However, just in case the bowling lane gets nasty and a big storm does head our way, it is always smart to protect yourself with travel insurance.  It is a small cost to pay for some reassurance.  

So, for today, we plan to head to the beach! 

Above average snowfall predicted for 2012-2013! Solution? Head to Caribbean...

Live Weather Blogs prediction for this coming winter

LiveWeatherBlog predicts especially big snows in the Rocky's and the Northeast...and, cold weather predicted across the southern states.  There is only one solution to this dilemma and that is to book your Caribbean vacation before you get shut out of your favorite island.  Our favorite Caribbean island - hands down - is St John where the temperature averages 85 degrees year round!

Tropical Storm Ernesto brings clouds but no harm to St John

St John gets clouds from far away Tropical Storm Ernesto

We have no complaints that (Tropical Storm) Ernesto stubbed St John leaving it way to the north, by over 300 miles, and only sending clouds our way.  We should still have a nice beach and boating day today. No so lucky will be Jamaica and then on to parts of Mexico where Ernesto is now heading...

Bookmark our St John webcam to keep up to date on weather in and around St John USVI

Kids stay free! at St John Great Expectations

Let your kids 'drag' you to St John

 On-St John recently reported the tale of Don Ricci who had a tough time leaving the beach on his last day so much so that his kids had to drag him off (and isn't it usually the other way around?). The logical question asked (by On-StJohn) was when do you book your next vacation to St John? While on island? Within the month you get back? Or, are you one of those who wait until the first snow-storm?

Wait no longer -- for the next week only - book Great Expectations for any new reservation by Tuesday, August 7 and get Kids Stay Free!  That's right - FREE! So, no more procrastinating! Reserve any week, except holiday weeks, with no charge for children age 12 or under!

E-mail or call (617 314-6836) us today to take advantage of our Kids Stay Free! special.

July & August News flashes & fun St John clips:

• Once again the Virgin Islands received top honors on several 'the best of' lists. We are not surprised since but always love having others validate our feelings about St John.  Some of this months honors are: *the Huffington Post designated the Virgin Islands National Park    their 'Destination of the Week'

  *Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards reader's survey placed the US Virgin Islands in their top 5 'Best Caribbean Islands'.

  *Islands Wish List for the 'Best Island to Live On' named St John as that island!

• Jet Blue jump starts its season by beginning their Boston - St Thomas flights in September, 3 months earlier than originally planned making it easier to get to St John.

•   News of St John has a great blog posting about a TripAdvisor forum about the 'Best things to Do on St John'.  See if you agree with their listing of best food, beaches, drink, entertainment, and hiking or if you have other ideas to add to the list.

• The USVI is represented at the Summer Olympics in London (including the Paralympics Games) by 8 amazing athletes who are sailing, running, swimming, & riding with their peers from around the world.  Tabarie Henry, who is running the 400 meter dash, was chosen to be the flag bearer for the USVI team. No matter what results, they are all winners & we are very proud of them all.

Come to St John - and Great Expectations - to enjoy an 'endless summer'!

Best,

Chuck & Kristin

owners of Great Expectations

P.S. Check out our availability; we still have a few weeks available during this coming winter.

USVI Megan Hodge helps Team USA overtake China at London Olympics

NBC interviews Megan Hodge after Team USA beats China today

Megan gave it her all and it sure paid off...18 spikes!!!! For more detail...

This is pretty, pretty sweet:

Megan in action

A recent profile of Megan:

Megan Hodge represents Team USA on the Volleyball Team

VI Daily News reports: Hodge's goal - Lead USA to the gold in volleyball

Megan Hodge, 23, a St. Thomas native, is a professional volleyball player who competes in Europe and will represent Team USA at the Games. She graduated from Penn State University in 2010 with a degree in business management and that was after she was named to the NCAA All-American Team four years in a row. Hodge was named the Most Valuable Player of the FIVB World Grand Prix earlier this month after leading Team USA to a 14-0 record and a gold medal. This will be her first appearance at the Olympics.

How did you get into volleyball?

Both of my parents played, so I grew up around the sport. I didn't really get into it until middle school, when most people start playing for their school team, and was playing both basketball and volleyball. As I got to high school, I stuck with volleyball, just because, and I've stuck with it ever since.

Now, I understand that you were also a competitive jump roper as a young girl. How did that evolve into volleyball and did it help your leaping ability?

I was. And I don't think there was any plan for the two to be correlated. As I got older I couldn't really make time for both so I had to choose. I chose volleyball, but I will give some credit for my jumping ability to jumping rope at a high level. It definitely impacted that.

What is your favorite thing about playing outside hitter?

The ability to do it all. In this position, at this level, you have to have all the skills, a generalized specialist if you will. You don't get that in other positions. It always gives me something to work on.

Your parents - Michael and Carmen Hodge - each played for the USVI senior volleyball teams. How did they influence your life and early volleyball development?

My parents were, and still are, awesome. They did everything they could to support me. Never forced me to play. They did always make it clear that they didn't want to waste time or money if I wasn't serious about the game. So, in retrospect, they taught me some major lessons on decision-making and commitment as a teenager. I'm so glad to have parents like them.

You won three straight NCAA national titles while at Penn State. How is the college game different from the professional game?

The only way to compare it, and I don't think this even does it justice, is to compare it to moving from a high school level to college level. Everyone's better, faster, stronger. The major difference though is the mental game. It's more intense, the level of focus and concentration, the ability to be consistent at a high level.

You've been working with Team USA since 2010, describe the relationship you have with your teammates?

I think we have a really good group. Our chemistry is very functional. We have a lot of wonderful pieces and we know how to make each other better. It wasn't always this way, but we've all put in a lot of time and effort to get to this point. I think it's exactly what we need for London.

It must be a comfortable relationship because the team was featured in ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue last month. What was that like?

It wasn't the whole team. Just a few of us. It was a good experience for me, personally. We have received a lot of mixed feedback on the magazine, but at the end of the day, for me, it was tasteful. We got to show the feminine side of women's sports. My biggest supporters - my family and loved ones - liked it so I'm happy with it.

Team USA is ranked No. 1 in the world and the favorite to win the gold medal in London. Is there any added pressure with those expectations?

I don't think so. I think most of our team have been in situations where they're "supposed to win" or something like that, but we know that all we can worry about is our performance; doing everything we can to win each point. Our coach has really harped on that this quadrennial so we understand. The No. 1 ranking is a distraction that we all are aware of but not concerned with.

Why and how is Team USA going to win the gold?

By playing USA Volleyball. We've put in the work and we have the right mental game to go in there and bring the gold back for USA.

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What are the Summer Olympic Games?

The Summer Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event, which occur every four years and are organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that started in 1904.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Olympic Committee is recognized as a separate "sports country" by the IOC. USVI athletes have competed in each Summer Olympic Games since 1968, except the 1980 Games, which were held in Russia and boycotted by the United States

Strong winds face Virgin Islands Olympic sailor

Olympian Cy Thompson

MY STORY...

I guess it can be said that I was born to be a sailor.  My grandfather, Rudy Thompson, sailed into the St Thomas Harbor in 1950. He and my Dad were among the top sailors in the Virgin Islands, and for many years my Mom raced with them. They were all stalwarts of the St. Thomas Yacht Club and well known throughout the Caribbean. And so when I came into the picture on July 1, 1988 it was an unstated assumption that I, too, would take to the water at a young age. I did, I loved it then — and I love it now....for complete story about Cy Thompson read on...

Winds today:

Swimmer from USVI takes to water today at Summer Olympics

St. Croix native Branden Whitehurst

Whitehurst takes to the water in the 100m Freestyle Tuesday, July 31 @ 10 AM in Heat #4. Details....

VI Daily News reports: Whitehurst eager to experience Olympics

BY AARON GRAY (DAILY NEWS STAFF), Published: July 20, 2012

St. Croix native Branden Whitehurst will be the only swimmer to represent the U.S. Virgin Islands at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, which start on July 27. Whitehurst will compete in the 100-meter freestyle.

Branden Whitehurst, 22, is a St. Croix native who lives and trains in Miami, Fla. He was the territory's most successful swimmer at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games when he advanced to the finals in four events. At the 2011 Pan American Games, Whitehurst finished second in the men's 200-meter Individual Medley "B" finals. He holds several USVI records, and this will be his first appearance at the Olympics.

Growing up on an island, I can only assume you have been swimming your whole life?

I started swimming when I was 5 years old, and I got into it because of my older sister, Kerrie. She went on to swim at Florida State and was definitely one of the main reasons I got into the sport.

I started to get competitive when I was about 11, and that was the same time I started to represent the V.I. at CARIFTA and other swim meets in the Caribbean. I swam with the Marlins swim team on St. Croix and then joined the Dolphins right before high school. I swam with them consistently until college.

You are one of just a few USVI athletes in this Olympiad who have competed at the CAC Games, the Pan Am Games and now the Olympics. Talk about what the journey has been like?

The overall process has been great. I've competed all over the world, so I can't complain about that. I'm just very grateful for the USVI Swimming Federation and what they have allowed me to do these last four years. It's been a one-of-a-kind experience.

In the pool, I have definitely improved each time out. The CAC's were tough. I had a great meet at the World Championships the next summer, and then the Pan Ams were sort of a surprise because I wasn't in prime shape.

For the Olympics, I want to end my career on a high. I've been working for the last three years toward this and I believe I'm peaking at the right time.

Which event will you be swimming in London? What other events do you like to swim?

I will be swimming the 100-meter freestyle at the Olympics. I also like to compete in the 200 IM, 50 free and 200 free. I swam in each of those events at the 2009 World Championships, and I believe I still hold the USVI record for all of them but the 50 free. I would have to go back and check that, though.

Describe your daily training regiment, and has it picked up leading into the Olympics?

This week and last week, I've been going hard in the weight room and training very hard in the pool. It will probably taper off next week and the week leading into the Games.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and I'm in the gym by 6 a.m. for an hour workout. We swim from 7 to 9 a.m. and it's a constant swim, which means there are not a lot of breaks, if any. We get back in the pool from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. again. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, we usually do just one two-hour swim.

Sounds like you work up quite an appetite?

I started a new diet, too. Mostly a lot of protein. Meats, salads, fruit and egg whites. I basically forgot what pizza tastes like.

Which swim meet is more competitive in your opinion: the NCAA National Championships or the Olympic Games? Why?

It's a toss up. I would say the NCAA's is the fastest meet in the world. Only because it seems like all the best international swimmers have trained at some point in the U.S. But it's hard to compare the two meets. It's long course versus short course and meters versus yards - they are almost two different worlds.

After the Games, I understand you will go into training to become a Navy SEAL. How did you come to that decision?

When I was a kid, I was always running around with my friends in the bush and played cops and robbers and that kind of stuff. Plus, my father was in the Air Force for 15 years. One day, he mentioned the Navy SEALs to me and he may have been joking at the time, but I took it to heart. I found myself thinking about it every day.

For my future, I wanted a physical and mental challenge. I don't want to be stuck behind a desk. As of now, I'm scheduled to go to boot camp on Dec. 8, and after that, I'm hoping to train to become a Navy SEAL.

What are your ultimate goals for these Games?

I've been working to hit that 49-second mark in the 100 free for years. I was a half-second off when I was at Auburn University, so I just want to hit that mark. That's everything I can hope for.

For me, it's a personal race against the clock. It doesn't really matter who else is in the pool or whether I finish first or last. I've been working hard for the last three years and I really just want to have fun and enjoy myself. But this will be the last meet of my swimming career, so if I can hit 49 seconds, it would be a huge success for me.

For more info:  http://www.london2012.com/swimming/event/men-100m-freestyle/index.html
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Swim on!

St John USVI Olympian races today at noon (actually 12:10 PM!)

Mimi Roller giving the VI sign at the London Olympics

After years of practice and sailing today is THE day!  St Johnian Mayumi 'Mimi' Roller raises her sail today at 12:10 PM to compete in the Summer Olympics.  No matter the outcome of the race today, she is our winner for sure.  Keep up to date with schedule... and - almost real time - results...

More on Mimi:

Virgin Islands Daily News reports:

Experienced Roller steps into Olympic spotlight

BY AARON GRAY (DAILY NEWS STAFF), Published: July 21, 2012

Photo by GLENNON STRATTON St. John native Mimi Roller, front right, will represent the U.S. Virgin Islands in laser radial sailing at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Mimi Roller, 21, a St. John native, took a year off from St. Mary's College of Maryland to focus on her Olympic sailing quest. She punched her ticket for London after she finished sixth among 66 sailors at the 2012 Laser World Championships in Boltenhagen, Germany, in May. Roller finished eighth overall among 13 sailors at the 2011 Pan American Games, and led St. Mary's to a third-place showing at the ICSA Women's National Championship two years ago. This will be her first appearance at the Olympics.

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GO MIMI, GO! SAIL YOUR HEART OUT!