London 2012: What to watch, August 3rd

Alright, alright, everybody out of the damn pool!

Well, not quite. But, we're getting closer to saying 'so long' to the wet stuff as "Day August 3rd" dawns. Good thing. I've watched so much swimming, my eyeballs are all pruney. Not only that, the little voice inside my head sounds exactly like Rod Smith.

Before we towel off, let's see some diving. Remember back on "Day July 29th" when Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel were all smiles because they'd given Canada its first medal of the games? Remember how they scored bronze in the 3 metre synchro event? Remember how they hugged each other and seemed like best pals forever? Yeah, well, now they're mortal enemies as they compete in the 3 metre individual event. 9:30 am ET on OLN.

Ryan Cochrane, of Victoria, goes long distance as he attempts to qualify for the men's 1500 metre freestyle final. He won a bronze in this event four years ago, in Beijing. If he wins gold, I'd suggest he guard it verrry carefully. He was the victim of a pickpocketing earlier in the week. It's one thing to have your ipod stolen, it's another thing entirely to have your Olympic bling pilfered. Wait, what am I saying? 5:30 am ET, on CTV.

BIG game for Canada's women's soccer team. They'll take on Great Britain in quarter final action, at what's expected to be a sold out City Of Coventry Stadium, capacity: 32,609. Sure you know all about Christine Sinclair, but a new household soccer name has risen in this tournament. Melissa Tancredi has four goals in three games for Canada. Can Captain Canada and the Tank beat The Brits and a hostile crowd? I don't know. But I do know it's on TSN at 2:30 pm ET.

Athletics will start to take over the Olympic Games. We'll finally get to see the cauldron, in its cozy little hideaway inside the stadium, away from the prying eyes of those who haven't paid dearly to step inside and bask in its glow. Would love to see Prince Harry using the thing to make a few s'mores. However, I doubt he'll even make his way into the stadium, after discovering Canada House on Thursday morning. He'll just keep hanging with the cool kids.

I think it's time we all turned our attention to shot put and Mr. Dylan Armstrong, who has the hopes of a nation riding on his massive shoulders. You may know his story already; he's a big medal hope for Canada after missing the podium in Beijing by one measly centimetre. True story: The Kamloops native used to train in an old World War II ammunition storage bunker. Guess that's where he gets his explosive pow... uh, never mind. Shot put qualifying can be seen starting at 5 am ET, on CTV. The final, goes at 3 pm ET. I really hope Armstrong wins, because I truly believe he will lift James Duthie over his head during an interview.

Jessica Zelinka is being touted as a possible Canadian medal winner, but to do that, she'll have to be good at an awful lot of things, over two days. She's entered in the heptathlon and gets things going by running the 100 metre hurdles, then the high jump, shot put and 200 metre race, at various times throughout the day. Sound just like a working mom's typical day? It is for Jessica. She stopped competing after the Beijing Games (where she placed 5th) in order to start a family, but now she's back.

Unless I miss my bet, you've just got to see something called laser sailing. If it's what I think it is, the broadcast is probably being directed by George Lucas. There'll be high speed water manoeuvres and high tech shots across the bow. What? It's just the type of boat? Oh. Well, I'll bet it's still worth a look and I've got myself an idea for a Saturday Night Live digital short.

Here's a handy link to the Canadian broadcast consortium's entire schedule.