Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Team Goes To Florida!

The Trinity swim team has been very busy these past few weeks. Last weekend, the team went to Florida for the main traveling trip of the year. It was a great weekend full of swim meets and beaches.

The team left early Thursday morning for Orlando, Florida on a plane. After a nice lunch in the hippie Florida restaurant, the team went to Rollins College to practice in their beautiful outdoor pool.

Rollins College Pool Creative Commons License



On Friday, the team prepared for the first of two dual meets of the weekend. That afternoon, we swam against Rollins College and saw a great amount of success! We won the dual meet by placing first in multiple relays and individual events.
Right after the meet concluded, the team grabbed dinner at Chipotle and hopped on the bus to drive to Tampa for our next dual meet.

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early for our meet against the University of Tampa. This team was much faster than Rollins, and after many close races, Tampa came out with the victory. However, everyone was very satisfied with his or her races.

The University of Tampa pool Creative Commons License



After the meet, we grabbed lunch and headed for Clearwater Beach on the coast of Tampa. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and having fun in the sun in Florida’s beautiful, white sand beach. After our tough meets, we really earned our fun this weekend!

As the day came to an end, we traveled back to Orlando to head to the airport early the next morning and reunite with the Trinity campus. Overall, this travel trip was memorable and many tight bonds were formed. Team trips are just a part of the swimming program here at Trinity. Having such a tight-knit team is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

The women's team at Clearwater Beach Creative Commons License



If you would like to see more pictures of the Florida trip, check out my slide show!
Florida Trip Slide Show

Until next time,
Marisa :)





Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Lake Travis Open Water National Championships

The Trinity women after the 5K swim. Photo taken by Leta Gatton and used with written permission.

Last Saturday, the swim team took yet another exciting trip! This time we went to Lake Travis in Austin, TX for the National Collegiate Open Water Championships. ‘Open water’ swimming is considered anything outside of a pool including lakes and oceans. For this race, we swam a 5K (or 3.1 miles) in Lake Travis by the Mansfield Dam. Trinity men and women competed in this race as well as Texas A&M women and Rice University women.

Our day started at 5:30 am in the Bell Center pool for a warm-up swim. Then we loaded up on the charter bus to make our way to Lake Travis. Much to our delight, we were served Panera bagels, Taco Cabana breakfast tacos, bananas, and orange juice on the ride over there. After about an hour and a half, we arrived at the lake with happy tummies and a bit of nerves as we anticipated our hour+ race.

Once there, all athletes checked in and had their race number written on our arms for identification. Then right at nine o’clock, we swam out to the starting line (marked by a bright orange buoy) and the air horn sounded and the race began.

The start of the race. Photo taken by Leta Gatton and used with written permission.


Open water swimming is a different experience than regular swimming. While there are orange buoys marking the route, the majority of the race is figuring out which way to go and how to get there more efficiently. When you’re a mile away from the next buoy, it’s hard to see and you have to pick your head up while you swim to make sure you aren’t veering off course. Another difference is not being able to see anything underwater. Lake Travis visibility was about three feet in front of you and it was a bit claustrophobic at first.

About an hour later, the first swimmer finished from Texas A&M. Then about half an hour after that, the last swimming finished their three-mile swim.  The over-all results were Trinity Men in first place, then A&M women were first, Rice women were second, and Trinity women came in third place. Overall, it was a very successful and enjoyable race for the Trinity swim team. Once we were warm and dry, we loaded up on the bus and were treated to Wendy’s for lunch.

Our next adventure will be one of our most exciting trips: the swim team is traveling to Florida to race against Rollins College and Tampa University. We’re even squeezing in a trip to Busch Gardens, so it will make for a good blog post.

Until then, adios!
Marisa

Trinity men accepting their team award. Photo taken by Leta Gatton and used with written permission.