The Panthers are in sunny Fort Lauderdale, training at Pinecrest Academy, both short and long course.They will be on the trip through the 15th of January before resuming the regular season schedule second semester against Carthage College on Jan. 14.
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The eighth entry is from freshman Kelly Theis:Dear Diary,
Today was the last day of my first training trip with the UWM swim team, and let me tell you, it was one to remember. It has been said that I am the team’s best runner and I proved it so in this morning’s biathlon. The team woke up the same as every morning, loading the vans at 7:15. Tensions were high as everyone prepared for a mile swim followed immediately by a three mile run. No time was allotted for a clothes change, resulting in many boys running in only their speedos. The competition was fierce. Brittany Walsh took the gold for the girls and Sam Niesen pulled out a win for the guys, with Kyle Trelka and Nathan Welchlin hot on his tail. It was a valiant effort by all, especially those of us who aren’t so talented on land. After the banging biathlon, we all packed into our vans and headed back to the one and only Ocean Manor.
Within an hour of practice ending, almost the entire team was down on the beach, soaking rays as bathing beauties. We all knew it wasn’t going to be a difficult practice in the evening, so even Finke skipped his daily nap to play in the sun all afternoon. Today was the perfect day for Liz, Chris and I to show off our Soul Surfer moves to the team. (Rent the movie if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth it.) Brian Verink dug his annual hole in the sand, deep enough to cover the head of any boy on the team. Anna and Mic were then buried in the hole, covered in sand up to the neck. Can you say photo op? The afternoon was filled numerous photo opportunities; I would even go as far to say that there were a few beach photo shoots. Hands down Brady Huemann is the model of the team, that kid’s got a future. Around four in the afternoon everyone headed in and prepared for the senior led practice.
Coaches Kyle and Brittany got the night off, kicking back and relaxing as the seniors wrote and led our last practice in Florida. The practice consisted of trivia questions, all based solely on the all so interesting seniors themselves. Getting a trivia question right resulted in an easy set and a wrong answer landed a lane something a little more difficult. My team, “Team Slackers”, was filled with all of the team’s biggest gossipers so we never had to do the “hard sets”. As things go, the freshmen were the last out of the water, ending the night with a doggie-paddle relay race where each swimmer needed to bark like a dog while paddling. Interesting noises were made by all freshmen. Each freshman’s personality came out with their individual barks, Mic was a yippy Chihuahua whereas Finke was a powerhouse bulldog. The night ended with laughs, giggles and a massive team picture.
We had the hardest workouts of the season this week, but my abs received an equally difficult workout from laughing so hard with all of my teammates and best friends. Diary, I am so sad to leave Florida and the constant interactions with all of these swimmers. I don’t want to go back to Wisconsin, winter boots, and mittens. I wish we could stay in our bikinis and speedos just a little longer. The memories made over these past tens days are by far some of the best of my freshmen year of college.
Sincerely,
Kelly Theis
