Day 4

Today was probably the best day we’ve had so far. Although some were a bit apprehensive about the ocean swim it went off without a hitch (minus a couple of jelly stings.) The Terps dominated the ocean and the other swimmers taking the majority of the top finishes. The weather couldn’t have been better and more than one came out of the day with a pretty painful looking sunburn (if Holly’s parents are reading this your daughter will most definitely need some aloe.)

The ocean mile was over by 10:30 and we proceeded to get into teams and prepare for the sand castle building contest to be judged by the coaches later that afternoon.

Victorious Secret came out on top as they recreated a portion of Michel Angelo’s Sistine Chapel (very ambitious.) Other creations included a shark and two castles. Others on the beach were all crowding around to see our masterpieces and we definitely made an impression in Delray, although it may not be very long lasting, as our castles will be washed away by morning.

We were thankful to have the perfect weather on a day where we could be out on the beach all afternoon and that is exactly what everyone did until we left for night practice.

I can’t say they took it easy on us tonight. Each group did their own version of a high lactate set, aka high effort, fast swimming. Distance and sprint groups went off the blocks again while mid-distance pushed through a set of 200’s. It was good to see everyone pushing each other and “inspiring each other” as Sean likes to say. Before sprint group started its main set Sean talked to us about the importance of inspiring one another. He stressed that to get to that next level and to be the best athletes we can be starts with having passion. Having this passion and intensity is what we can use to make each other better and something we can all thrive on. He also used an analogy he uses often about water hitting its boiling point at 212 degrees. That one extra degree can make all the difference, just like pushing each other and inspiring each other to get to a higher level every day in practice can make all the difference. (I’ve attached the 212 degrees video we have watched as a team numerous times, and it has become one of our team mottos.)

After practice we were on our own until curfew. Many took this time to meet with their teams to discuss the skit competition to take place tomorrow. This is a tradition that is most looked forward to on training trip year after year.

The trip is flying by. It’s amazing we only have 2 practices left here, but it’s obvious, after hearing about everyone’s sore muscles, that we have made the most out of our trip as far as training while still managing to have a lot of fun.