Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles by Noblesville Swim Club members Tina Berger and Delaney Radican about the club’s Senior Trip in Knoxville, Tenn.
T: Day two was a long one. It started with an early breakfast, a presentation by head coach Matt Kredich followed by practice that focused on our drills and technique.
D: During our practice the Tennessee coaches had drills and skills for us about underwater and turns.
After practice we went on an adventurous scavenger hunt around the campus to look at all of the different places that students see every day. As we walked around we saw the stadiums, museums, and many different sculptures including statues of the mascot Smokey.
When we were done with the photo scavenger hunt we went straight to dry land with Coach Grey and worked different parts of our bodies. After our dry land practice we had a meeting with the school psychologist and she had us do exercises with calming our body before a race and getting our mind focused.
After meeting with the psychologist we went straight into an intense workout where we worked on prime pace and prime technique while also trying to push through our fatigue and keep a good body line. We went through a set where we worked on prime sprint, drill, and pace to make sure that we got used to being uncomfortable in the water so that we could make it a habit for meets.
Once practice was over, everyone rushed back to our dorm rooms to get ready for our dinner at Calhoun’s On The River, we had a buffet style dinner and had chicken, biscuits, green beans, mac and cheese and pulled pork. There were many laughs and jokes during dinner which made hanging out with our teammates even more fun.
After the delicious dinner and a few fun pictures on the porch, Aleks sat us down to go over some things he wanted to reiterate from today. He discussed presenting yourself confidently and leaving a good impression on others around us. He told us all that the coaches all enjoyed coaching us because we were respectful and honest about how we felt and we weren’t scared to be wrong or mess up on our drills. We listened as he told stories about his “handshake moments” and how he left impressions on people throughout his life. Lastly he encouraged us to be better than we were yesterday instead of comparing ourselves to others around us, and to look towards our team mates for inspiration not competition.
After our long day of hard work and fun we ended our day back at the dorms, ready to go to bed after our long day.
The Noblesville Swim Club members got a chance to visit some of the practice facilities at the University of Tennessee during their Senior Trip to Knoxville. (Photo provided)