This reference to Finding Nemo is also a little mantra I say
to myself during rough patches in the season and at big competitions, like the
one L&C swimming traveled to last weekend.
We went to the 63rd Husky Invitational swim meet formerly
hosted by the University of Washington before their swim team was cut. Over the course of three days, over 1000
swimmers from clubs and colleges gathered in Federal Way Washington to swim
against very fast competition. In the mix were a bunch of NCAA Division I teams
(Oregon State, University of British Columbia, Grand Canyon University, etc…),
a couple Division II teams (University of San Diego and Seattle University) and
a bunch of club teams from all over the west coast (from northern Washington to
southern California). Overall, our L&Cteam did really well with a bunch of season
best times and a few PR’s which are awesome at this point in the season. And,
our big end of season meet will be held at the same venue, making it a good
practice run for our actual competition. Which is super exciting considering
the season is coming to a close in early February, just weeks away!
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| Look how giant the pool is! To put it in perspective, on the back wall is a 10m diving platform! (Photo Credit: Chris Fantz) |
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| A group of LCers cheering for Rachael Cazden swimming backstroke. We wave our hands above our heads when we cheer because backstrokers can see that as they push off the wall so they know we're there even if they can't hear us. (Photo Credit: Ali Brauer) |
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| Swimmers are really intimidating. (Photo Credit: Ali Brauer) |
Personally, one of the biggest hurdles for me to overcome is
balancing my end of the semester stress with the added anxieties of racing. This balance was tested this week as I committed three full days to swimming which can be both physically and emotionally draining. As an athlete (or any student with time
consuming extra curricular activities), this is just one of the things I have chosen to take part in and I deal with it by maximizing efficiency through
organization. To do so, I live and breathe by my iCal, which is color-coded by
activity. From my iCal I can then
prioritize my tasks visually and then just take it from there. By being able to stay on track time wise, I
can then manage juggling athletics and academics. Because of this extreme
organization of time, I am able to schedule in study breaks and fun extra-extra
activities like PioPup!
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| This is a screen shot of my iCal for last week, the colors make it look a little crazy but also helps me keep track of what is going on in my life! |
PioPup is an event hosted by SAAC where student athletes
invite faculty, staff, and alumi to bring their kids (the pups, get it?) to
campus to play with some of the L&C athletes. As a student, it was awesome
to see professors in a more relaxed atmosphere and even better to get to see
them with their kids who were all super cute!
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| All the Pups and Pios for a big group picture! (Photo Credit: SAAC) |
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| A little duck-duck-goose to get warmed up. (Photo Credit: SAAC) |
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| A little break between rounds of sharks and minnows! (Photo Credit: SAAC) |
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| Everyone playing a big game of tag! (Photo Credit: SAAC) |
If you have any questions about swimming, balancing college
life as a student-athlete, SAAC, or Pio-Pup, feel free to ask at katyyeh@lclark.edu!
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