Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Swimming and Diving Blog - Courtney Warren
1/7/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 7, 2010
On Sunday, December 27, 2009, most people were at home relaxing and looking forward to a week off from work or school. Not the Bucknell swimmers and divers.
For the Bucknell swim and dive team, December 28 marked the first day of our three-week training camp in Lewisburg. So, while the general public was home on Sunday, we were on our way to school, ready to spend the next 24 days eating, sleeping, and training hard in Kinney Natatorium.
During our training camp, the campus is nearly deserted, most of the people we know are still home, and the training pushes us beyond limits we thought possible. That being said, training camp may seem to be a dreaded span of our season. Not for me. The hard work is a necessary evil in our quest for the extraordinary. And while the monotony of the training can get overwhelming, it can be broken up by one thing: each other. For, it is the team itself that makes this winter training enjoyable.
It's been one week into our training, and already we've had some fun events to keep our team entertained. At the team talent show, I witnessed some of my teammates dance to "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. At the team bowling event on New Year's Eve, one teammate was bowling a `1' for several frames. It is moments like these, ones full of laughter, that keep my morale high. Training camp might be full of hard work, but it also has its share of good times.
Without fun, the daily routine of eating, sleeping, and training would be unbearable. Luckily, I'm blessed with a team that I enjoy being around. When I think about the hard practices, I look forward, not to the pain I endure, but to the smiles on my teammates' faces on deck. The smiles make the workouts that much easier; they make the hard work and sacrifices I've made that much more worthwhile.
Looking ahead to the Patriot League Championships in February, I know our team will be ready. We're working hard in the pool, but more importantly, we're closer than ever. The strong bonds we've made throughout the season will create one unified force at Patriots. To say I didn't want to win it all would be a lie; I wouldn't be a competitive swimmer if winning wasn't important to me. However, win or lose at championships, those bonds can't be broken. And, at the end of the day, what I'm going to remember most about being a Bucknell Swimmer was the great friends that I made along the way and the great times we had together. GO BISON!
