Our London Blog begins today

Over the next two weeks, Canadians will be following with great interest the exploits of our athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England.

And, unlike Vancouver 2010 when a cure for Olympic fever was just a short four hour drive away, getting 'Up Close and Personal' with the London games won't be quite as easy.

So, here at Castanet, we've come up with a way to get you a little closer to 'Jolly Old England.'

William Dean, a 24-year-old native of Kelowna and a member of Canada's Coxless Four rowing team, has agreed to provide viewers with his perspective from the Olympics.

Dean will send Castanet a blog entry periodically throughout the games and, in turn, we will post his thoughts and comments for all to read.

Since training and preparing for his event (beginning Monday, July 30) is paramount, Dean can't promise a blog each and every day.

Dean graduated from Kelowna Secondary School before moving on to the University of California. He graduated in 2010 then moved to Victoria to begin rowing full time at the Victoria Rowing Centre.

Also an incredible cross-country skier, Dean comes by his athletic ability honestly.

His mother, Jo-Anne Ritchie was a world class triathlete while his dad Blake was a former coach with the Okanagan Sun.

We hope you'll enjoy these 'Snapshots from London.'

We will also be following with great interest the exploits of three other Okanagan athletes completing in London.

They include:

• Scott Frandsen, Kelowna - Coxless Pairs Rowing. Silver medal winner in 2008
• Brett McMahon, Kelowna - Triathlon
• Vasek Pospisil, Vernon - Tennis

Fans of the Kelowna Apple Triathlon will also be paying special attention to Simon Whitfield and Paula Findlay, perennial competitors and winners of the annual Kelowna race.

Canada's summer Olympians will try to build on the record breaking success of their winter teammates at the 2010 games in Vancouver.

We finished third in medals with 26 and captured more gold medals (14) than any other previous host nation.

While a third place finish in medals is out of the question, the Canadian Olympic Committee has set a goal in London of a top 12 finish.

That would translate into approximately 24 medals, depending of course on how well other nations do.

This is also the first Summer Games since we introduced the 'Own The Podium' program.

The Olympics officially begin Friday with the opening ceremonies from London Olympic Stadium.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.