Women's Swimming & Diving Training Trip Blog #3

1/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Brown University Women's Swimming & Diving was in South Florida for its annual Training Trip last week. Along with the men's team, both squads stayed in Deerfield Beach and trained at St. Andrews School in Boca Raton. The team trained long course meters in the mornings and short course yards in the evenings in warm, beautiful sunshine. For more information, like Brown Swimming & Diving on Facebook or follow @brownswimdive on Twitter and Instagram.

Captains' Reflection Blog

Travelling to Florida together allowed our team to bond in a way that would not have been possible in Providence. From a training perspective, the team did an awesome job of encouraging and challenging each other to ensure that we reached top performance at every practice. A special part of morning and evening practices were the beautiful sunrises and sunsets that we were so lucky to witness in between the grueling sets.

2014-2015 Women's Team Captains after our sunny, last practice at St. Andrew's pool (left to right) Nicole Provenza, Gina Matsumoto, Ashley Frith, Kate Dillione.

The Men's and Women's teams ate dinner together every night, catered by the hotel or provided by St. Andrew's delicious dining hall. We travelled in herds from dinner to get gelato, which dubbed the gelateria the unofficial team sponsor for the week. From dance competitions, to team cheers, to beaching, the team was able to enjoy time spent with each other and maximize focus on swimming in an environment away from all of the distractions of the academic year.

Women's Diving Team takes on the beach steps away from our hotel (right to left) Michelle Miller, Sydney Tan, Molly Gelb, Rachel Speakman, Megan Pope, Amanda Molinelli.

After Monday's afternoon practice, the Women's and Men's teams dueled in a fierce dance-off. The coaches judged our performances based on creativity, costumes, group participation, and Bruno Spirit. On the Women's side, the top-scoring group was Ashley Frith, Maggie Jordan, Reia Tong, Katie Roach, and Rachel Speakman for their original and very humorous rap about a day in the life of a Brown swimmer. Overall, the women outscored the men, largely due to points won with creativity. GO BWSD!

The Men's and Women's team does a team cheer together after the dance-off.

Swimmers communicated with coaches via GroupMe in regards to scheduling, reminders, and lost and found. We showcased our meme-ing skills in the message, which provided constant entertainment throughout the week.

A meme of head coach, Kate Kovenock, from the swimmers/coaches groupme... you probably just had to be there.

We want to make a few special acknowledgments to people that helped our trip to run smoothly. Shout-out to the weight training coaches for sending us videos so we could alter the last lift according to the available equipment. Thank you Saint Andrew's school for the beautiful pool and welcoming staff. Finally, we'd like to give a shout-out to Juan, our incredible bus driver, for being kind, patient, and reliable.

We are back at Brown and excited to compete down the stretch. As a team, we are stronger, tougher, and are prepared for the rest of the season. Beyond Saturday, upcoming meets include Columbia, Cornell, and Yale before we head into championship season. Go Bruno!