June 29, 2009
Mehnert's pictures from Germany
Summertime for members of the University of Illinois swimming and diving team typically involves a mix of dry land and water training to become stronger for the upcoming season. Many of the girls return home and swim with their local clubs or choose to remain in Champaign, but sophomore Michelle Mehnert made summer plans that out-splashed the rest. Mehnert participated in an exchange program that took her training over the pond for the trip of a lifetime in Germany.
The Champaign, Ill. native has one year under her belt as a mid-distance freestyler for the Illini competing in eight regular season meets and the Big Ten Championships during the 2008-09 season. During the offseason Mehnert swims for a local club, the Champaign Heat, based out of the Champaign YMCA. Last year the father of one of her teammates came up with the idea to develop an exchange program between the Heat and the SSV Freiburg, a swim club located near the German university he taught at prior to his sabbatical.
During the summer of 2008 approximately 12 swimmers from the SSV Freiburg based out of Freiburg, Germany made the trip over the Atlantic to Champaign. Members of the Champaign Heat opened their homes to the German team showing them some Midwest hospitality with meals and a place to stay. The Freiburg team stayed in Champaign for approximately two weeks and swam with the Heat almost every day at their local pool. Along with swimming, the Heat took their guests to Chicago for some sightseeing.
This May it was the Heat's turn to make the trip overseas. Shortly after school ended, Mehnert and 11 teammates made the cross-continental trip on the 28th. Several chaperones and coaches, including former Illini swimmer Alison Czmarko, accompanied the team on their two-week excursion.
"It was a lot of fun to experience Germany and spend time with the German swimmers," Mehnert said. "Although we didn't speak the same language, we had an immediate connection through swimming."
As they had done the previous summer, each swimmer stayed with a host family. Mehnert resided with the same swimmer she had hosted last summer on the family's farm in the small town of Schwanau, located approximately 50 km north of Freiburg. Since Mehnert's host-sister was also a distance swimmer, the two trained together during the visit. The SSV Freiburg's indoor pool also allowed Mehnert to maintain her training schedule.
In addition to the indoor swimming, Mehnert was able to participate in an open water competition during her trip. Open water swimming competitions are popular overseas and on Saturday, June 6th Mehnert, along with her host-mother and host-sister, traveled three hours to Mengen to swim in a 5 km open-water regional competition. All three swam in the same heat during the competition held in a Mengen lake, and finished in close approximation to one another.
"Michelle's trip to Germany was a fantastic opportunity," Illinios head coach Sue Novitsky said. "I think that it is always beneficial for my athletes to gain experience in different settings in order to continue learning about what type of athlete they are and what they need to do to compete without their coach around all the time."
In addition to swimming, Mehnert also runs on a frequent basis. She was a member of the cross country team in high school and was named the Champaign News-Gazette's "Runner of the Year" in 2006. Mehnert still maintains a passion for running and has continued to run in her free time. While in Germany, Mehnert took advantage of the beautiful scenery by going on frequent runs and even ran to the French border and back multiple times.
Mehnert has not showed any signs of slowing down since returning to Champaign on June 11th. A triathlon enthusiast, Mehnert has participated in one triathlon already this summer and plans to participate in three more. The swimming, biking and running will keep Mehnert in great shape over the next few months and help her hit the water with a vengeance for the Illini heading into the 2009-10 season.
"On the trip she was exposed to different training and competition, as well as being in a different country," Novitsky said. "She adapted to the environment and was able to balance out her training overseas and come back in terrific shape. I believe that she will continue to carry a confidence in herself into the next season from the success and experiences that she gained over in Germany."
