ATHENS – When George Bruce attended the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics last Friday, his 350-euro ticket afforded him a fantastic view of the olive tree centerpiece and Bjork’s enormous blue dress. But what the Wichita, Kan. attorney really wanted to see was his daughter Caroline, a 200-meter breaststroke contender. He has a hunch he spotted her when the athletes came out and did a lap around the stadium, but he’s still not entirely sure. “You couldn’t really tell their faces apart,” he said.

Athletes’ relatives who’ve come here to root for their loved ones are learning it the hard way: Watching their relatives compete in the Olympics is thrilling stuff, but if it’s quality time they want, they’ll have to wait until the off-season. Not only do Olympic family members have to pay their own way out here, but once they arrive there’s no guaranteeing they’ll actually get see much of Junior apart from what’s shown on television.

With the athletes ensconced in the Olympic Village, parents are left to fend for themselves in Athens, booking their own hotel rooms and navigating the streets’ wavy layout. In the days leading up to a competition, the athletes are practically off-limits, too busy training and sleeping to entertain visitors.

Family visits to the Olympic Village can be arranged, but only via an elaborate, ultra-secure process that must be executed 24 hours in advance. What’s more, some family members expressed confusion as to how many people are allowed to visit the Village at one time, so those who’ve come in large numbers must take turns.

Some parents looking to chat with their little superstars wait until the events, where they can stand behind a fence and hope their kid comes over. “It’s just, ‘hello, how are you?’ ” said Dan Beard, father of breaststroker Amanda Beard, who scooped up the silver medal for 200-meter individual medley yesterday. “They have media obligations so you don’t want to take up all their time.”

To be fair, the parents here who’ve been to several Olympics say the access to their athletes is better than it was in years past. The tri-band cell phones with text messaging they can use here weren’t readily available at the Sydney Games four years ago. And in Atlanta in 1996, the only way they could get word to their kids was through a special call center where a live operator would take down a brief message by hand.

On Monday afternoon, Speedo threw a beach party in honor of the American, German, Australian, and Italian swimmers. The swimsuit company had roped off an area of the beach, sprucing it up with beach chairs and barbecues and even a goateed DJ. The party was packed with publicists, Speedo executives, TV crews, and friends and family of swimmers. The only thing that was missing was the swimmers.

Many of the athletes’ family members were socializing as they already know each other from previous competitions. The average American swimmer has four family members in Athens to cheer them on, with some entourages much larger – Michael Phelps has about 10 relatives here.

While the swimmers were back at the Village, relaxing in their spartan two-cot rooms, their loved ones were piling their plates high with grilled sausages and tomato salad. Jenny Thompson’s brother Aaron and his wife, Katie, were at the bar, having an animated faux-conversation for the sake of an NBC cameraman who wanted to record some setup footage.

An average day for the athletes’ families here involves watching competition in the morning, lunching at the American family center in Monastiraki Square, strolling around some before an evening competition, and then grabbing a bite to eat. At the sporting venues they can wave to their athletes or approach the fence, over which they can conduct relatively short conversations.

Once the swimming competitions are through, the constraints will let up. On Saturday night, Aaron, Katie, and Jenny Thompson are scheduled to go nightclubbing. Caroline Bruce’s 22-year-old brother Michael, a recent Stanford graduate, also plans to hit the local hotspots with his sister.

For now, though, the athletes’ family time is minimal. Last time the Thompsons met up for a quick beverage in a cafe, brother Aaron brought pictures of Jenny’s two nieces to put up on the blank walls of her temporary room.

Caroline Bruce’s mother Pam is going home on Friday morning, only two days after Caroline’s competitions are over. They’ll have Thursday to see the Acropolis together, and then it’s off to the airport for Mrs. Bruce.

Caroline’s 20-year-old sister Lizzie, a soon-to-be junior at University of North Carolina, seems fairly content with the arrangement. She says she’s thrilled to be seeing Greece – her fourth visit to a foreign country – and here the nightclub managers don’t seem to mind that she’s only 20 years old. But Jamie, the 14-year-old baby sister, is finding it a bit harder. While their two older siblings have fled the coop, Jamie and Caroline were the last two at home, and “we’ve gotten really close,” Jamie said. “It’s the longest time we’ve been away from each other.”

Amanda Beard’s father Dan seems more used to the drill. This is his third Olympics and he has few qualms with the fact that he doesn’t get to spend a lot of time with his daughter. “I don’t want to take her out of her routine,” he said. “At least this time we have cell phones.”

Among those crammed on a trolley heading back to the city center after the Speedo party were the parents of 800-meter relay gold medalist Lindsay Benko. Mrs. Benko pulled her newly purchased Greek cell phone out of her purse to discover she’d missed four calls and had received a text message.

“Is it from Lindsay?” asked Mr. Benko, eager as could be.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s in Greek.”