Malmö Olympic Day (3-June)

The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) set up an awesome event at Ribban - the beachfront near our house.  It was called Olympic Day and allowed kids to try a variety of different Olympic and sporting events.



Alana's class got to head down on Friday, where she got to try:
Orienteering, Boxing, Archery, Rowing (which got cancelled and replaced with Baseball), Basketball, Badminton.

It was open for the general public on the weekend, so we took the kids down and caught up with one of Tom's friends and another of Kristine's friends from work.  It was a great day and the kids got to try a stack of new sports.

We rode our bikes down to the event (after about 45min of pumping tyres, fixing up seats and general bike repairs).

Alana and her bike

All the events on the South side

Events on the North side

In case the signs above arent clear (or the Swedish is too tricky) - the events on offer were:

SOUTH
Boxing,
Capoeira - A martial art that combines dance, acrobatics and music,
Cycling,
Cricket,
Disc Golf - A game where a Frisbee has to be thrown into a set of goals,
Golf,
Innebandy - Floorball, a game similar to indoor hockey
Canoeing,
Karate,
Martial Arts,
Orienteering,
Rowing,
Sailing,
Horse Riding,
Parcour,
Squash,
Tennis, and
Taekwando.

NORTH
American Football,
Badminton,
Basketball,
Beach Volleyball,
Wrestling,
Archery,
Athletics,
Fencing,
Handball,
Paddling, and
Weight Lifting.

The first event the kids wanted to do was Canoeing so we headed down to the beach.  Of course we came prepared in long tracksuit pants, so they were rolled up.  All went well until Tomas fell in.  Oh well, it was warm enough and he dried fairly fast (after covering himself in sand)

Tomas

Alana getting ready and Cam in the background in purple

The race!

The kids weren't exactly speed demons:

The kids had fun and we had a little laugh that they had to wear life jackets even though the water was only just over ankle depth.  Most of the time the kids were using the oars to push off the sand rather than paddling properly.

Next we hit up the tennis and the kids had a hit.  Of course none of the balls landed in the court we were playing it, but it was good fun.

It's up there somewhere

Tomas went for the double racquet style

Our next stop was fencing.  The kids didn't quite get the hand of the lunge and thrust, instead going for a more cutlass fighting style that involved trying to smash the other fighter's head off.  Eventually I got Alana and Cameron to get some level of control but they still tried to impale each other on the blades.

Getting the rules and style explained

Tomas attacks! (and forgets every style suggestion)

I'm not sure it's legal to chop his leg off, Alana - Re-enacting the Black Knight scene from Holy Grail?

 We then found a few other different sports to try:

Hurdles

Archery - That's Tomas' sandy purple leg

Then Cam geared up for some American Football.  They wouldn't let me hit the tackle bags though..

Cameron

|Tomas after hitting the pads

Cameron

Cam looking tough in his pads

Tom in the pads

Innebandy - Cam is number  34

Tomas trying weights

  We also tried some cricket, badminton, shot put and a few others.  It was a great idea and gave the kids a chance to try a different number of less common sports.  It also worked well for the sporting clubs, who got to showcase their sports and possibly get new membership for summer.