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JUSTIN CORREIAJustin Correia is the brother of Maritza Correia, a member of the U.S. Olympic swim team. He and his family have joined Maritza in Athens for the Summer Games and will be providing an ongoing diary of the experience.
Hello to all again from Athens. It's 2 a.m., and I couldn't sleep much because I had so much on my mind.
As most of you probably know, my sister Maritza didn't swim the final relay. It was very hard to see the Americans lose to the Australians today. It was even harder to see the U.S. relay on the podium without Maritza.
No words could describe the disappointment and sadness our family was feeling tonight. My parents were very upset about everything that transpired today. I had calmed down and became somewhat logical again. I felt that if Maritza would have been on the relay, they wouldn't have lost. Ritz is known as one of the best relay swimmers of all time, and she was sitting in the stands with the rest of her team. I still feel like everything was very unfair and should not have happened the way it did.
When I saw the women on the podium, my eyes started to water because I kept thinking about all the hard work my sister had put into her swimming career just to be in that position.
We talked to her afterwards, and I honestly can say I felt like crying when I saw her. She was very positive about everything. Yes, she was disappointed, but she had put it past her, and was there to support the team and the athletes that were in the water.
She is such a strong individual and she marvels me everyday. She is being interviewed by USA Today tomorrow morning to talk about the controversy behind the decision to take her out. She has such a strong heart, and I know she will get them next time. Next time she will be there individually and will be touching the wall for gold.
To backtrack a bit, I took awhile to go into the swimming event. I wasn't sure if I could handle not seeing Ritz in the water, but I came in around the 100-meter butterfly.
The competition was amazing. Kaitlyn Sandeno swam an amazing race today. I have gotten to know her parents this week, and I was thrilled to see her do so well. The same goes for Amanda Weir. I thought she swam spectacular on the relay; she brought the team ahead for a bit. Her parents were so proud of her.
We are proud of Maritza for swimming in the Olympics, period. Not too many people can say they were Olympians for their country, so we look at the positive side to it all. She swam the best she could this morning with the hopes of making it back. But as we all find out sooner or later, life isn't always fair.