Jan. 2, 2010

Maryland sophomore Lia Reich contributes a daily blog detailing the Terps training trip to Florida over the winter break.

January 4, 2010- Day 7 - Last Day!

We had a nice morning to sleep-in before the sprint and distance groups headed to the gym for lifting at 11 a.m. Mid-distance left shortly later to do dry-land at the pool, and we were all reunited for practice at noon.

Although each group did a different set this morning, they were all tough and a good, strong end to our time here. Even though everyone was obviously tired, no one backed down and everyone gave their best effort through the entire two hours of swimming. It is encouraging to see how our team is really motivated to get better and prepare themselves accordingly for ACCs and NCAAs.

Once we got back to the hotel, we got lunch and reconvened for the scavenger hunt. Each team was given a list and 45 minutes to go anywhere and take pictures of the items on the list. At the end, the pictures from each team were compared and the most creative ones received the most points. Examples of some of the items on the list were: Something hairy, something starting with FA-, something light and something heavy and someone with a mullet.

When the time expired and all the pictures were compared Team Monamna had accumulated the most points and got the victory. Speaking of victories, I forgot to mention who ended up winning the skit competition. Team Monamna took the win for that one too! Their skit, in which they reenacted the coaches during their college years, was hysterical and won them 160 points.

Our last practice in Florida was anything but what you would expect from the Sunshine State. It was 48 degrees and windy, and at 8 p.m. it seemed even chillier. However, the coaches took pity on us and we only swam for a little over an hour, working on pace and speed, before we could bundle back up and go home to get some sleep.

At night practice, the winner of the Delray Cup was also announced. Team Monamna (led by seniors Jackie Davidson, Laura Wright and Ryan Greene) had rightfully earned their place at the top by being strong and consistent in all of their events.

So concludes our trip to Florida. I have to say I'm sad to leave, but on the other hand I'm ready to return to College Park. We've had a great time and I know that all the work we've put in is going to pay off, but more than that, this trip was a great time for us to all be together and make some lasting memories, especially with our seniors who will be graduating before we know it.

So, goodbye Florida... until next year!

Meet The Team:
What was your favorite part of training trip? Nick Evans Freshman/Distance Freestyle
"I think overall the skits were my favorite part. They were very funny and entertaining and was something that could take my mind of swimming when we weren't at the pool."

What will you remember most from this trip?
Jackie Davidson Senior/Backstroke & Freestyle
"This is my last training trip and I'm always going to remember all the fun I had with the team. I was able to focus more on enjoying myself, enjoying everyone around me and having a good time."

January 3, 2010- Day 6

I wish I could convey in words how funny the team skits were tonight. All four teams prepared a short skit to be judged by the coaches where teammates and coaches alike were thoroughly made fun of for the enjoyment of all. Although the winner will not be named until practice tomorrow, I have to say it will be hard for the coaches to decide because they were all so good. I just had to start with that because it was so fresh on my mind, and I'm still laughing.

Overall it was a good day in Delray. Mid-distance lifted at 11 a.m. while sprint and distance went to the pool to do dry-land before practice, which was 12-2 today. Sean gave us a motivating pep talk that pumped us up before we dove into an intense `power' set that focused on really high-speed swimming/kicking on extended intervals. I think we were all very into the practice, which the coaches said was obvious by how well everyone did on the set.

It's great to see how everyone can get motivated by simply hearing someone yell "Go Terps" during a hard set or having a teammate cheer you on when you feel like you can't swim any harder. I honestly think that this trip is such a great time for us to bond and realize that we can count on each other through it all.

It was a cloudy afternoon and the girls team took the opportunity to meet with Sean to discuss the meet yesterday and the agenda for the upcoming few weeks leading up to ACCs. Sean continually has been telling us that we are going to "do things we've never done before" this year and in the coming years, and I know that he really believes in us and in our ability to be the best. It's great to have the kind of team we have at Maryland where you know that everyone supports you and is rooting for you to be the best you can be.

The night ended with the skits and a few more hours of relaxing before we headed to bed. Tomorrow is our last day here. I can't believe it went by so fast, but we still have another long day ahead of us including two more practices and the scavenger hunt, which I can imagine will be quite epic since Coach John is a pro at putting those things together.

Meet the Team:

How do you feel the training has been over the course of this trip?

Katie Hughes Freshman/Backstroke

"I think the team has done really well this week. We were all behind each other everyday in training and had so much fun together in between practices. I feel like I got to know a lot of the team better and got a lot of good training in at the same time."

January 2, 2010- Day 5

We loaded the vans aft 7:45 a.m. to hit the road for Miami, which is about an hour drive south of Delray. The meet against University of Miami began at 11 a.m. so we had plenty of time to get in and warm up and warming up is exactly what we needed...it was freezing! The pool was outdoors and with the low temperatures and wind it was very chilly to be standing on deck, but thankfully the water was warm and made it easy to get right in.

For the girl's team this was an important competition and a good opportunity for us to race another ACC school. Miami actually does not have a boy's swim team, so the boys just swam each other and got to work on their racing. The meet was very successful for the Terps. The girls swept a lot of the events and won both relays to win the meet by a good margin of points.

The weather made a drastic change for the better by the end of the meet at about 2:30 p.m. when we packed up the vans and drove a short ways to a shopping plaza that included the location of our team lunch, The Cheesecake Factory. It was great to have a nice lunch and have a little time to shop around before driving back to Delray.

The rest of the evening was full of some coveted free time. Some of the team, along with myself, headed to the pool where there is a hot tub, and lots of the boy's team has been glued to the TV keeping up with all the college football bowl games being played today.

Hooray! Tomorrow is a sleep in morning. Practice isn't until noon.

Meet the Team:
Jen Vogel (captain) Senior/Butterfly & IM
How was it to start off the year with a solid win?
"It always feels great to win against other ACC schools. It's a great confidence builder since we focus on championships at the end of the season. Wins against those schools set us up well for that."

Jeff Winters Freshman/Sprint freestyle & breaststroke
How are you enjoying your first training trip as a Maryland swimmer?
"I like it a lot. I really like all the team bonding and the change of scenery, but it's also wicked hard cause of all the doubles. Overall its great though cause usually we just swim at Maryland, sleep, then go to practice again for doubles, but here we swim, then chill all together, then go back to swim then hang again... It's so much more fun!"

January 1, 2010- Day 4

Maryland swimming and diving began the New Year like any other day, but at least the weather was nice for our morning practice. We split into our training groups. Sprint group started with some core exercises while mid-distance and distance got started right away. For the latter, two groups' practice consisted mostly of a main set where you had to hold best average (12 x 150s or 30 x 100s,) and sprint group did some fast, high heart rate work also working on starts and breakouts.

Unfortunately by the time practice was over it had gotten a little cloudy out and rained for the majority of the afternoon. However, I don't think the team was too disappointed to have a few hours to lie down and take a nap before night practice. Along with swimming, practice that evening also consisted of the trivia and the diving competitions. Before practice began the swimmers watched while divers from each team went one by one to show off their most creative dive. Eric Sachs, from the Incredibles, took first place with an inverted flip into a cannonball that really impressed the crowd.

We took it a little easier tonight at practice because we have a meet in the morning against the Miami, but the trivia during each set really kept it fun. The idea behind the competition was that each team was given a set of three items and we had to determine what those three things had in common. For example: Cristmas, Easter, Virgins (Answer: they are all islands.) Overall there were 27 trivia questions and the Incredibles, amazingly, got 26 out of 27 beating out Team Ranger Danger by only one question for the win!

The rest of the night after practice was pretty low key. I think everyone wanted to get some rest before tomorrow since we haven't had a meet since Terp Cup back in November. Go Terps!

Meet the Team:
How do you think this trip will assist in the growth of the team as a whole?
Chris Rouchard (captain) Senior/Distance Freestyle
"Being in Florida has given the team a chance to develop outside of our usual environment in Maryland. Being away from campus and together so much allows us to grow closer through swimming and other activities while still enjoying the nice weather."

Annie Fittin Junior/Sprint free & backstroke
"This trip helps to build camaraderie. We all become more comfortable around each other through team activities, which is key going into ACCs. We need to be able to depend on one another."

December 31, 2009- Day 3

Today was the most beautiful day so far. The whole team met on the beach at 10 a.m. for some team activities.

We started with the annual sand castle building contest. All four teams had 30 minutes to brainstorm and construct a sand castle of their choice and a story behind it. Teams thought of everything from a giant turtle to the legendary Mt. Agrocrag, and although all the castles were quite creative, the coaches made their decision to award Team Agrocrag the overall victory.

Then the competition really heated up as we prepared for the ocean relay. The girls went first, each team locking arms and running until they were waist deep in the water. At that point it became a free-for-all and everyone did their best to sprint through the waves and out to the four (injured) teammates, which acted as the buoys for us to swim around. Once we'd swum out, around and back (to the best of our ability) we had to wait for all of our team members to emerge from the ocean where we had to lock arms and run back to tag the boys. Trust me, it was much harder than I could have imagined. There were points where you felt like you just weren't moving and the waves were pushing you backwards. However, I have to say, it was pretty fun. All the teams did well, but Team Ranger Danger crossed the finish line first for the win and 100 points.

The rest of the afternoon we were free to hang out and enjoy the New Years Eve day on the beach. We ventured over to the volleyball nets for a few games of beach volleyball and even Coach Sean tried his luck at body surfing, unsuccessfully (so I hear =).)

We headed to the pool for practice that night beginning with some dry-land (squat-jumps, pushups and ab exercises) before we hit the water. After practice we went back to the hotel to get ready to celebrate the New Year. The whole team went to a carnival that was put on by the town of Delray where there were plenty of delicious street vendors (funnel cakes!) and fireworks at midnight. It was nice to relax and be with the team to bring in the New Year.

I'm sure by 12:30 a.m., if not earlier, everyone was already sleeping (at least I know I definitely was.) The trip is very successful so far and I'm glad we still have plenty of time left here. Happy New Year!

Meet the Team:
What has been your favorite part of the trip so far and why?
*Ginny Glover Sophomore/Free & Back
"I really liked the beach competitions, the sand castles and the ocean swim, because we were able to show our competitive side with activities outside of the pool. Also, we got the whole afternoon to relax and just have some fun on the beach."
*Matt Gruszecki Junior/Sprint Free
"My favorite part has been being able to train outside. It's so nice to get a change of scenery and be able to relax and just focus on swimming without having to worry about school also."

December 30, 2009- Day 2

It was a beautiful morning for a swim, sunny skies and warm weather. (Also it didn't hurt that we got to sleep in until 8:30 a.m.) We left for the pool for a 10 a.m. to noon practice where we split into our normal groups (sprint, mid-distance and distance) and did our separate sets, which included some power work with parachutes.

Afterwards we hopped in the vans and drove a few minutes to the gym for our first lift of the trip. The gym was great and really spacious. We did our normal lift and were in and out in an hour. By 2 p.m. pretty much the whole team was out on the beach. It was a little chilly with the wind and clouds that had moved over us but that didn't deter anyone from getting in the ocean and laying out.

A few hours later, we're on our way back to the pool for the second practice of the day. Before practice started, the seniors talked to us about the importance of the trip and how it will allow us to bond better as a team going into ACC Championships. Practice was definitely a good bonding time for all the groups, and I think it was helpful to have my teammates cheering me on as we did a high intensity set.

I have to say its only day two and I'm pretty exhausted from the constant activity, but I'm still having a great time and I know everyone else is too. Tomorrow will be interesting. We don't have any morning practice, but we are doing beach activities with our teams and an ocean swim! Should be fun...

Meet the Team:
Patty DeScenza (captain) Senior/ Fly/Back
How important do you think training this week is for our season?
"I think that the training that we do here in Florida is a major part of where we taper off for ACCs. It also brings us together as a team, building and strengthening our support for each other."

Mitchell Challacombe/Junior/Sprint Free/Back
What are you looking forward to most on this trip?
"Honestly, I'm just looking forward to hanging out on the beach with all my best buds and enjoying all that Delray Beach has to offer."

December 29, 2009- Day 3

Today we headed down to Delray Beach in Florida! The weather this week is supposed to be nice, high 70s to low 80s, which will be nice for doing some outside training, especially since there is still snow on the ground in Maryland.

Yesterday everyone was split into four teams to begin "The Delray Cup," a competition that will include a combination of activities each scored on a point system (to be determined by the coaches.) The first two competitions took place before we left Maryland, the first being to create a team name and cheer and the second a corn hole bag toss. Teams (The Incredibles, Ranger Danger, Monomona and Agrocrag) faced off hoping to get an edge over the competition before we arrived in Florida. After the first two activities team Monomona took the lead with 80 points while The Incredibles follow closely behind with 75 points.

After loading up the vans and driving to the hotel we were lucky to have a few hours to head to the beach, which is just a quick walk from the hotel. The ocean was warm, thankfully, because we're doing an ocean swim in a few days, but the wind made it a little chilly outside.

At 5:30 we packed the vans and went to our first practice. The pool is really close; only about a ten-minute drive, and is big with eight lanes and set up for long course training. We swam from 6-8 p.m. and finished up the practice with a test set of 8 x 100's kick on the 2:30. Afterwards we all went to the grocery store to stock up for the week and came back to the hotel, exhausted from the long day of traveling and ready for bed.

Meet the Team
Blair Cross, Junior, Sprint Free/Fly
What are you looking forward to most about being in Florida?
"I'm excited to be so close to the beach, having warm weather and hanging out with my friends. It's nice to get away from College Park and have a change of scenery."
What are you looking forward to most about the trip as a whole?
"I am really excited to bond because all of our work here leads right into ACCs, which is coming up so soon, and this trip is a great chance to get together as a team and carry on our strength from this trip into the next phase of our season."