Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Swimming & Diving Blog - Rachel Perry
11/17/2014 10:58:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Going into my sophomore year, I assumed a lot of things would be different. The nerves would be gone, there would be no more academic surprises, and I would know what to expect in the pool. Unfortunately, none of that is true. This year has been completely different than what I expected it to be.
In the classroom, I am faced with new challenges as my workload gets larger and my stress level rises. I am approaching all of my core accounting and management classes and as a first semester sophomore, I already have to focus on my future career path. With these new academic responsibilities comes an entirely new view of what sophomore year is like. I was unaware of the difficulty and demanding academic schedule this year would bring, but I feel my experiences last year have equipped me with the proper time management abilities and resources to handle my demanding year ahead.
In the pool, the women's team has growing expectations for ourselves. Finishing second in the Patriot League for the past two years has given the women's team motivation to take the next step forward and actually win the Patriot League this season. However, with the additions of Boston University and Loyola University of Maryland, our competition is getting better than ever and we need to recognize the new challenges these teams are bringing to the league. With faith in Coach Schinnerer's methods, this women's team has an opportunity to finally achieve a goal that we have been striving for – a first-place trophy at the Patriot League Championships. The entire team has been working tirelessly to reach this goal. Practices have been getting harder and more challenging each day, both mentally and physically. At this point in the season, everyone is exhausted, but with each other's support, we are all up to the task.
I believe the key to our success will be our team dynamic. The understandings and friendships within our team will be our motivation to continue pushing through the difficult times in the season by working together and supporting each other every single day. Having such a close team, including the men, is the easy part, it's figuring out how to use those relationships to your advantage that can become complicated and are crucial to personal and overall team success.
The addition of the new freshmen has given us another task to concentrate on by incorporating them into our team. All of the freshmen are very talented and so much fun to be around. Forming relationships with all of them has been one of my priorities for the beginning of the season. With the help of the freshmen, our team is improving as a whole, both in and out of the pool. The team dynamic is crucial to help every member of our team deal with the endless hours of practice and the difficult academic responsibilities associated with earning a degree at Bucknell University.
With the Bucknell Invite quickly approaching, our team has been preparing to race some of our toughest competition that we will have to face at championships. We are all excited for the chance to show what this team is made of and believe that Coach Schinnerer has given us the proper preparation to make the invite our best meet yet.
Players Mentioned
