The Guadalupe River, picture courtesy of River Sports Tubes

Annual Team Tubing Trip

This past Saturday, the entire swimming and diving team went on a tubing day trip to the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels. There was about sixty of us including athletes, coaches, and family.

After an early morning practice and breakfast at Mabee, we all piled into a charter bus waiting for us in front of the Bell Center. It was a cloudy day, but everyone was still animatedly excited to get out into the river.

About 45 minutes later, we pull up to the Rockin’ R Tubing rental place and receive a ‘tubing orientation’: basically, the dos and don’ts of tubing and how to have a good time. As soon as that was over, everyone rushed over to the tubes and then into the water.

BURR! We soon found out that the water was freezing! However, since we were aquatic athletes, this didn’t bother us for long and the two-hour float began.

The float was tons of fun and included multiple rope swings, rapids, and water falls. Towards the end, it began to rain. It really didn’t dampen our spirits though (the rain was much warmer than the water!). Then came the final attraction of the float: the tree climb. A couple of us, including me, were brave enough to climb up the tall tree over the water as the rain poured down. Jumping from such a height was a wonderful burst of exhilaration.

After the tree climb, we finally made it to the end of the float and climbed onto the beach where the Rockin’ R buses took us back to our charter bus.

Once everyone was warm and dry, our next stop was Rudy’s BBQ in Gruene, TX. The whole team accumulated one big hungry tab, and then we feasted.

On the ride back, most took naps after this fun but tiring trip. In fact, I took three that day!

This annual tubing trip is just one of the many awesome trips the swim team organizes. It was a good way to bond and to get to know each other better as our training season gets underway.

Next on our agenda will the 5K open water swim in Lake Travis, TX. Til then, adios!

The First Few Weeks At Trinity

Congratulations! You've finally made it to college and even scored a sweet spot on the famous, championship-winning swim team at Trinity University! You are now officially a Tiger.

What does all of this entail? First off, you get tons of free stuff including Trinity swim caps, goggles, practice and meet swim suits, t-shirts, sweatshirts, warm-ups, and an all access pass to the hot tub at the pool after practice.

However, the greatest things you will come away with when you join the Trinity swim team are all the memories, lifelong friendships, unforgettable elated feelings after reaching your highest athletic goals, and dinner buddies to eat with every night at Mabee dining hall. The swim team is a tight-knit group of teammates, friends, and a family away from home.

As a freshman, I love my teammates and look forward to practice everyday. This not only benefits my athletic performance, but also my overall moral and career as a Trinity student.

The first few weeks of college are stressful yet tons of fun. The same goes for swimming. I personally took the summer off from swimming, and jumping back into the water was a shock. Luckily, the swim team starts off with “Captains’ Practices” for the first few weeks of school every year. Part of the reasoning for this is the NCAA rule that coaches cannot be on deck until mid-September. Another reason is to buildup yardage and get back in shape, so when Coach Ryan and Coach Leta do come back, we’re in shape and ready to train hard. Generally, the seniors write and run the practices during this time. This proves to be really helpful for the rookies and veterans of the team.

So that is where us Tigers are today! We’re getting ready for our season to start and I am way excited. The first official event we have as a team is the annual toobing trip to the Guadalupe River on Sept. 18^th.  I plan on taking tons of pictures to post here for all to see. Until then, take care, and come back to see what else the swim team is up to!

-Marisa

(Picture courtesy of the TU Campus Gallery)