in the Spokojny van after the opening cer-
emonies, Lauren curled up on Daddy's lap
and went to sleep.
It was hard to sleep through MetroWest's
opening. The few speeches and the parade
of 60 delegations lasted 80 minutes. The
hosts followed with 25 minutes ofjazz danc-
ing and rhythmic gymnastics in tribute to
the Maccabees of Chanukah fame, a choral
tribute to assassinated Israeli Prime Min-
ister Yitzhak Rabin, and an eye-opening
display of indoor fireworks.
While most of the 16 Maccabi Youth
Games sports were team competitions,
swimming and track had individual medals
up for grabs early in the week. The two
teams totaled 13 medals for Detroit on Mon-
day, but swimming assistant coach Dena
Bernstein said medals did not seem to be
the first order of business with the athletes.
`They're having fun and they're really be-
ing funny," Bernstein said. Monday's clown-
ing was led by Steve Misuraca and Jeremy
Landa in the 100-yard backstroke. Both
boys, swimming in separate preliminary
heats, deliberately false-started on the ref-
eree's first attempt to get their heats under
way.
False-starting in the backstroke is a rare
occurrence.

After the false starts, Bernstein said, both
Misuraca and Landa swam well.
The team concept was tried by Metro-
West for the tennis competition. During the
first two days of play, individual matches
were counted toward a team championship,
and the concept was revolutionary for the
players.
"I saw something I've never seen before
in tennis," coach Linda Okun said. "The
kids were cheering each other and waiting
around until each player on their team fin-
ished. They congratulated each other when
they won and cheered up the kids who
lost."
In a late Monday tennis match, Detroi-
ter Ashley Abramson staged a remarkable
comeback "and our kids were just going
crazy," Okun said. 'They erupted when she
won."
Other comebacks were by the Detroit
boys baseball and volleyball teams. Beaten
by Chicago last year, Detroit's 13-14-year-
old baseball team trounced Chicago on Mon-
day. The volleyball team, not expecting to
do well in a rebuilding year, split the first
two games with Montreal on Monday, but
was down 13-5 in the final game. The boys
reeled off 10 straight points to win the game
and the match. ❑

Above left: Coach and team huddle in preparation for the big game.

Above right: Erin Kaufman is anything but uneven on these bars.

Left: Dan Edwards prepares for the shotput.

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COMPLETE RESULTS IN AUG. 30 ISSUE.

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