Jan. 10, 2011
Tempe, Ariz. - The Fighting Illini swimmers and divers recently traveled to Arizona to train for the second half of their season. Head coach Sue Novitsky offers her thoughts on the final days of training.
Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011 - ANOTHER BIRTHDAY
It is another day of training with four hours of swimming and one hour of weights. The team is holding up really well and training hard. It is (freshman) Cara Chuang's birthday today, and she celebrates by doing 19 pull-ups in our weight workout. It is probably one of the warmest days of the trip, so the hotel pool has a lot of visitors. After evening practice (freshman) Anne Goering buys a cake for Cara's birthday. The team celebrates back at the hotel with some cake and some singing.
Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 - ONE MORE DAY UNTIL THE DAY OFF
We have two practices to complete before our day off. The team is definitely ready for some rest after a tough week of training. Both coaches have some fast sets planned for the day. The sprinters do their fast work off the blocks in the morning and then some power sculling and parachute work at night. The rest of the team has a threshold set in the morning and then some race-pace work at night. Both groups hang in there and are able to swim fast even after a long week - LOVE IT! The freshmen get the team out of practice early at night with a get-out relay swim! The team gets a little crazy as they realize that there is only one more practice left on the trip.
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 - OFF DAY!
The team takes the opportunity to sleep in a little longer and hit up the breakfast buffet. At 11:00 a.m., most of the team loads up and heads to Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, Ariz. While they are at the mall, (associate head coach) Steve, (his wife) Dee and I head to Old Town to walk around. With the BCS National Championship game coming up in Glendale, Ariz., the place is swarming with Auburn and Oregon fans. After a couple of hours of shopping, we head back to the hotel, and I get an update on all of the purchases from the afternoon. We have a couple of hours until we head to dinner, so more naps for everyone!
One of our former swimmers, Kirsten Steele, formerly Kirsten Koepcke, from the graduating class of 2005 has invited the team over to dinner at her house in Scottsdale. We load up the vans and hope that Kirsten is ready for the home invasion of 41 guests! Her mother and sister are also there, and it is great to see them again. Kirsten has a great menu of spaghetti, pizza, garlic bread, salad and of course, dessert. After tearing through pretty much every morsel of food, the team gathers around for some dance-off contests on the Xbox Kinect. Some of the contestants are (freshman) Cara Chuang, (sophomore) Erin Lamb, (freshman) Courtney Pope, (sophomore) Kimberly Kalenda, (sophomore) Tessa Adams and even our trainer, Motoko Ugajin. It definitely provides some good entertainment. It was a terrific time and, as always, the team appreciates the hospitality!
Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011 - COMING HOME
Both the swimmers and the divers have one more morning practice, and then we work our way back to Illinois. At noon, we take the team to a final lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen and let them walk around the stores. We head back to the hotel for the final check out. If you like puzzles, try packing four vans with about 100 bags and 41 people. The team arrives at the airport, and we start the check-in process. US Airways is on its game, and we get everyone checked in smoothly and quickly. Now there is about three hours of time to kill before we have to board the plane. Some people watch the NFL games on TV, read, nap or play some games. We start loading up the plane at 7:10 p.m. and are off the ground 30 minutes later. We touchdown in Indianapolis at 12:44 a.m. and are greeted by a temperature of 20 degrees. All of the baggage makes it, so we load up the bus for the two-hour drive back to Champaign. The last people get off the bus at 3:00 a.m. and head home. It was a very productive trip to Arizona, but it is always good to get back home!
