Swimming & Diving Winter Training Blog: Day One

Day One:

After watching 14 episodes of 24 on the bus, half of the team finally arrived safely in West Palm Beach as the other half trickled in on flights from around the country. The team was thrilled to finally be reunited after a week at home visiting with family, and the next day we awoke to our 'opportunity clocks,' refreshed and ready for a loosen swim before heading to the Keys. We are staying at the Islander Resort in Islamorada, where the weather is fantastic. The resort is complete with two pools and a large hot tub, which provide an excellent location to offset the below-freezing weather that many of us have become accustomed to.

This afternoon, we took our first trips to the training facilities here, Founders Park and Froggy's. The men's team lifted weights this evening before swimming, while the women spent their whole session in the pool. Tomorrow we head to a new swimming location to try out the pool where we will be competing in the Orange Bowl Invitational this Saturday. Everyone is thrilled to be sleeping in until 9 o'clock tomorrow morning and we are all getting rested for the important training week to come!

---Emily Kelly and Katie Bieze, swimming senior captains

Training could not be any more enjoyable than in the Florida Keys, and today's day of training is a prime example. The divers woke up this morning and joined hotel guests clothed in Hawaiian shirts and straw hats for a continental breakfast in the lobby of our hotel, the Islander Resort. At 8:15, we were packed into our rental van and down the road at the pool 10 minutes later. Our two-hour practice got us moving again, jumping and spinning in the Florida sun.

We were all in disbelief at the endless blue sky, not a cloud in sight, only bright rays working on our holiday tans. After a good and productive workout, we were back to the resort, where we walked only a couple of yards from our room's patio to reach lounge chairs awaiting us on the beach. Some of us took walks along the water, while others laid out with either an iPod or a good book (don't say you heard this from me, but half the dive team may be obsessed with the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer...). At 1 p.m. we met the swimmers a little north for a great seafood lunch at a restaurant right on the water. Now fueled and satisfied, I write from my hotel bed as I take a break from the sun, before heading back to the pool for the second workout of the day. Life's not too rough at the moment.

---Lauren Gonzalez, diving senior captain