Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Swimming Journal - Luke Trafton
9/26/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Sept. 24, 2008
Well, here I am again. It's hard to believe I'm halfway through college. I would ask myself "where has all the time gone" but any swimmer knows that the answer to that question is smothered by chlorine and plenty of overpriced textbooks.
The only different thing about this year lies within preparation. I, along with three other male swimmers, decided to stay at Bucknell this summer to train and compete. We figured it would give us a good chance to train long-course and, above all, put us in a good position to start this season. We did a normal practice schedule including nine workouts a week with a ton of difficult dry-land thrown in. Competition-wise, we got to travel to the UltraSwim in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we stayed with one of our former teammates. The meet went well for being only a month into the training, so that was nice. After Charlotte, we continued to train for another month and tapered for the Mid-Atlantic Championships here at Bucknell. Everyone ended up turning in great long-course times and I managed to qualify for the U.S. Open in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a couple weeks later. The U.S. Open ended up going fairly well ... I didn't drop any time from Mid-Atlantics, but it was a great experience on its own.
So far I have noticed a big difference in the pool. I have always trained during the summers, but never that intense. I feel much stronger and am able to tackle sets that I wouldn't usually be able to do until around November. The new freshmen have been a huge asset as well. They have been pushing themselves so intensely during practice that they constitute a vast majority of swimmers doing the "A times". Each year, the incoming class keeps getting faster and faster, which is awesome because it pushes all of the upperclassmen to not get beat by freshmen during sets. They are all in great shape, physically and mentally, and I can't wait to see them race next weekend at UMBC.
I have a good feeling about this season, especially with the league championship at home. It's a long road until then, but we have to keep our eyes on the prize throughout the season.
- Luke Trafton '10
