A typical day for a Northwestern women’s swimmer does not include laying out on the beach and having five-pound sacks of flour dropped on her stomach.
But during their holiday training trip to the Florida Keys, this quickly became the norm.
Every year the Wildcats take a trip during Winter Break to begin more intense training for the rest of their season. The trip also serves as a mental release from the cold and ugly reality of Midwest winters.
During this year’s trip, NU squared off against three other teams in the Key Relays Invitational. NU finished strong in second place with 128 points, beating out Tennessee and conference foe Ohio State. Of the 12 events, the Cats won three and were runner-up in another seven.
Freshman Sara Petric and senior Carmen Cosgrove both were members on three winning relay teams.
“I felt really good in the water,” Petric said. “I was really confident in swimming, since we were doing so much of it.”
However NU could not keep up with No. 20 Florida State, which won the meet with 154 points.
“FSU was really sharp,” coach Jimmy Tierney said. “The rest of us seemed to be dragging. With all the training it’s a difficult time to go fast — their bodies are broken down pretty well.”
Each of the nine days spent in Key West, Fla., was a combination of rigorous workouts and much-needed relaxation.
The days began at 7:30 a.m. with a short breakfast, followed by a two-hour practice and then lunch. After lunch, the Cats had some personal time before a longer workout.
“For the most part (temperatures) were in the 70s and 80s,” Petric said. “So some of the girls went down to the beach. The rest of us just slept.”
During the longer workouts, the team would start by running or lifting weights. Normally, the coaching staff uses medicine balls to work out the swimmers’ abdominal muscles. But since the medicine balls were too large to take on the plane, assistant coach Heather Johnston was forced to be a little creative.
“She got the idea to use those big sacks of flour and sugar that you see in the kitchen, so she ran to the store and bought a bunch,” Tierney said. “I think they worked well.”
While the hard work of the swimmers was rewarded with a second place finish, the NU coaching staff also received a nice reward for their continuing hard work.
Tierney announced that three swimmers and a diver signed national letters of intent to join the Cats next season.
Leanne Dumais of Ventura, Calif. will join sophomore Ashley Carter on the diving squad. These two have the potential to be a dangerous tandem for the Cats. Tierney said they could be the best divers ever recruited to NU’s program.
Dumais, along with swimmers Jenna Barbary, Kristen Kilroy and Ashley Welnhofer, all inked with NU during the NCAA’s early signing period.
