Jan. 14, 2011
To get an inside look at what the Vanderbilt women’s swim team is up to, make sure to check out previous Swimmers’ Stories entries.
“Swimming alongside Finnish world record holders, sleeping with oversized pictures of tropical sea creatures watching over us, and being dropped off on the side of the highway in Key Largo to have “a fun day at the beach” are just a few out-of-the-ordinary experiences the Vanderbilt women’s swim team experienced on its week-long training trip in Miami. With our swimming, eating, and sleeping exclusive schedule, we had two-a-day practices every day except for New Year’s Eve, plus two additional dry land workouts. Although it was a nice change being able to swim outdoors, swimming long course was not a welcome change for many of us. Dreading having to dive into the pool every morning only imagining what type of torture Jeremy had planned for that practice were thoughts shared by many girls on the team. However, once practice was completed, it seemed as if everyone’s mood lightened as we talked about going to Jamba Juice, Starbucks, and Don Panâ€â€Âthe delicious Mexican bakery across the street from the hotel. With full bellies and time to spare before afternoon practice would start, many of us spend the mid-day laying out on the pool deck, shopping at the mall, or napping. However, our happiness was short-lived because we would soon have to get ready for afternoon practice. After our second workout each day, we had dinner as a team at restaurants including Panera, The Cheesecake Factory, and a Mexican restaurant in Key Largo.
“To celebrate the New Year, Jeremy gave us the afternoon off and drove us to Key Largo, where the team was dropped off at what was thought to be a beach, but was actually the side of the highway/a 10-foot long stretch of sand before the water started. Although we would have much rather spent the day at this little oasis than in the swimming pool, we decided to eat dinner early and go back to the hotel, where we celebrated New Years with sparkling white grape juice at 11 p.m. instead of midnight because we were all so exhausted. Although our first beach trip was a failure, we got to go again the last day of our trip. This time, we went to Fort Lauderdale, where it was much more of a beach than the one we had been to in Key Largo. The team seemed to have a good time at the beach in Fort Lauderdale, and that night we packed up and flew back to Nashville. After our week-long stay in a hotel bed, it was nice to sleep in our own beds again. Over all, the training trip seemed to be successful in whipping us all into shape in a week, and many of us were glad to have spent this intense week of training in the beautiful Miami weather than back at Vanderbilt.”
Melissa Roberts (Freshman)
Make sure to check vucommodores.com for more updates.
