Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Swimming and Diving Blog - Michael Volpe
11/23/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 23, 2009
After three weekends in a row of meets, it was hard to believe we had a two-day, three-session meet ahead of us. After four solid days of training throughout the week, we boarded the bus Friday afternoon to make our way to New Jersey. Thursday's practice was nothing short of difficult and a lot of us had doubts about the swims ahead of us. Most of us tried to sleep on the bus ride there in preparation for the first session starting later that night. As we got off the bus we all complained about being sore but ultimately knew that none of that mattered as we all started to mentally prepare to race.
The Big Al Open at Princeton was a great chance to get the feeling for championship-style racing again. We were given the opportunity to feel what it's like to swim a morning session then prepare for a night session a few hours later. For the freshmen on the team, it was a good for them to see how a three-day championship meet format works. Although we were not rested and were very tired, we had a great round of races. A lot of people posted season-best times. It is definitely a testament to our team to know that even when we're beat up from tough practices, we can step up and race well against good competition.
Although I enjoy racing, I will admit that this weekend was a nice break from the typical Saturday we've had the past four weekends. As a whole, the team had a solid Saturday morning practice which was a great way to end the week. It's nice because this break from meets gives us a good chance to get ready for the Bucknell Open. I think everyone is excited to see what they can accomplish at this meet. It will be a good way to see where we are at as a team and how well the training has paid off thus far. Being that it's my third year here, I've seen the steady progression in the difficulty of the practices between each season. I know that we are working harder than any previous year and I am excited to see where that will take us in a few weeks.
