Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles by Noblesville Swim Club seniors Casey Akers and Jack Wolfred about the club’s Senior Trip to Coronado, Calif.
Welcome to day three on Coronado Island in California! Today was the hardest day of training yet and it tested not only our mental toughness but our physical toughness as well.
Our morning started out early as we headed over to the beach for a dry land workout. This workout turned to be tough as we ran and crawled across the sand of the beach. We also did our infamous five-minute leg lift where only a few swimmers out of the group were able to complete. At the end of this beach workout, which had drained our energy, we had to run about a mile to the pool for a quick swim workout. Although the swim workout was short and sweet we still were able to get even more work in.
After the exhausting morning practice we headed to the beach for around an hour, where we had some good quality time with the team. Then we came back for some sandwiches for lunch and some more free time to rest at the hotel. Afternoon practice today turned out to be the hardest challenge for many of us this week. The distance group did 5 x 800 individual medleys which pushed many, including Casey and I, to our limits. The mid-distance group had similar challenges with a set of fast 100’s and 50’s off the blocks for time. After this practice many of us were completely out of energy. We came back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for dinner.
Before dinner we discussed the word for today, DEVOTION, which meant giving all you have to make sure you reach your personal goals. We also had a chance to get out any leftover feelings regarding the incident that happened at Noblesville West Middle School a few weeks ago. After the great talk we had some burgers and grilled chicken courtesy of our amazing caterer Bob.
It was after this amazing dinner that we learned we had a picture scavenger hunt to complete in our teams. We had to go around the island in our groups and take pictures of certain given themes in order to win the competition. At the end, the turquoise team won and Bret made an amazing video that combined all the pictures we took. Tomorrow we prepare for our last practice in the morning and our excursion in the afternoon where some will be visiting the San Diego Zoo, or the famous USS Midway that is docked of the shore of San Diego.
TOMORROW: The swimmers go on their excursions and have their last day of training before the meet.