Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, you’re far too kind.

The doors come to a close on this training trip to Puerto Rico today as we hop on a plane and go back home to what is supposed to be a snowstorm within a couple of days.  We really do have it rough, going from sand to snow…you cannot expect us to be able to deal with this kind of change with ease.

This trip is one of the things that the entire team looks forward to from the start of the season and it would not happen without a lot of help from the alumni.  There are numerous things that we take for granted while we are here: van rentals, gas, the hotel, the pool rental and the equipment that we use to practice. For all of this we owe a very big thank you to everyone who contributes because none of this would be possible without the contributions of our generous alumni. Thank you from all of us.

Another big thank you needs to be given to all the parents of us kids as I am sure almost all of them helped pay for our part of this wonderful trip.  The trip acts as so much more than a vacation from Amherst for ten days as I am sure you have been able to see over the past posts.  Thank you very much, (hugs are deserved).

Once again, Thank you to everyone for helping to fund this awesome experience. Now it is time for us to go out and do our part and make all of you proud.

#route146

JahMass

As a senior with UMass you are blessed with several privileges throughout the season and on this training trip.  One of these privileges is the senior get out on the last afternoon of practice.  This has been a long standing tradition, as I am sure many of the alumni can testify to, where the freshmen must swim a 100 meter free in under 55 seconds with fins and pads on. When all the freshmen have completed the challenge the seniors are free to leave practice early to get ready for a dinner with Russ.  Since I am a guy and do not take ages to get ready for dinner I am able to write this blog while the rest of my teammates are still in the pool grinding away.

The past couple of days have been quite the grind for us.  Several practices ended with people begging for a spot on the massage table and racing to the hot tub after dinner.  The sprinters have jumped off the blocks more than anyone thought was possible and the distance swimmers could tell you how many tiles are on the bottom of the pool.  The Mid Distance group should not go without mention as most of them have scars on their arms from the lane lines cutting them while doing backstroke or their arms are about to fall off because they are the unlucky ones that are somehow good at butterfly.

It seems this year has been the year of random racing challenges between current swimmers and recent alumni swimmers turned assistant coaches. Earlier in the week Max was able to take down Hao in a 50 meter backstroke. This morning Brian Schmidt was blown out by freshman Tim Gladyshev in a 50 meter Breaststroke race.  This afternoon was the “granddaddy of them all” A.J Vozella vs Ross Kahn in a 50 meter freestyle race.  The race was won by A.J by a slim enough margin that a rematch was rewarded and taken advantage of by the Freshman distance swimmer.

Make no mistake there has been free time in between all this work.  Some of the guys are perfecting the cannon ball into the pool right next to the dry girl swimmers attempting to tan while others are attempting to be midwestern farm boys and play cornhole all afternoon. Freshman Justin Bieber is rumored to have won several trips for ice cream from teammates on the girls team with his cornhole skills.  Most recently the team has participated in water volleyball games which usually end up in balls being thrown at peoples heads.

Thats all for now, this guy has a dinner to attend that has been four years in the making.

#route146

JahMass

There is one thing that does not happen very often for this group of swimmers, a recovery practice and that is exactly what we were rewarded with this morning.  Granted I am not sure how many people would consider 50 meter swims with 1 breath recovery by any means but it was recovery none the less.  The day was not fully recovery for all of us though as the end of the morning practice ended with a duel in the pool… Everyone has been thinking of this matchup since the beginning of the year but today was the day where it surfaced. Hao Luong vs Max Butler in a 50 meter backstroke race.

The Details:

Both swam on the same club team

Max holds the 100 back school record

Max has not swam in what some would call forever

Both are known for their underwater kicking abilities

Hao- the young gun and Max- the old vet

Make Your Bets…

Was an epic battle, both went about 35 meters before surfacing (highly illegal) but the Veteran pulled out a victory, over the freshman. Many were in awe at the upset but Hao was quick to lay blame on the sun for his pinball style swimming from lane line to lane line but as they say, “a win is a win.”

The recovery practice made some of us rather ambitious with our time off between practices.  Body surfing was the activity of the day and Pete Sacco was there to share all his knowledge of what to do and what not to do when surfing…who knew there were rules for splashing around in the water? As he was teaching about not “dropping in” on anyone’s wave, freshman Ryan Bobianski was doing just that. How dare him.

The afternoon practice was not as relaxing as the one that took place just hours prior, it was almost fitting that it was pouring rain for the majority of it. But fear not the coaches did not get wet as they were seen standing under a tent or umbrella for the entire practice, we wouldn’t want Russ to be uncomfortable in any way that is for sure.  Practice was a grind per the usual for us around this time of year. Any day that there is a practice made for a group of guys to do 400 IMs Russ’ sanity is in question and the shoulder strength of the guys is tested.  All were able to survive the practice and evening activities were able to commence on schedule; the usual dinner, hot tub, tv and bed.

Tomorrow is a new day and another opportunity to get better. wish us luck.

#route146

JahMass

We finally escaped the cold and miserableness of Amherst and Boyden (not that there is anything wrong with either of those places) and found ourselves in sunny San Juan, per the usual around this time of year for us.  Life is not all fun and games here:

1) we are forced to stay in a 4 star hotel and sometimes the elevators are down and we have to walk up the stairs to our rooms with a slightly blocked view of the ocean.

2) Sometimes the sun is too hot, there are not any clouds in the sky, and the sun screen is not strong enough to keep us from burning.

3) Sometimes the hot tubs are too hot which makes them rather painful to sit in with the sun burn that most of us have.

4) Every place to eat for dinner is at least a 5 minute walk down the coast from our hotel.

5) The pool that we swim is is longer than any of us want it to be.

And finally: The pool is outside so while the sun is rising or setting the sun gets into our eyes.

Aside from the list above everything is going well here.  The trip started off with a bang as the bridge that is right next to the hotel that has been under construction for what seems like forever was finally finished.  This news did nothing but increase the number of celebratory jumps off of it into manatee infested waters.

o yeah, the swimming part… aside from the couple of strugglers who do not like the added distance to the pool(RBob) everyone seems to be adjusting well.  Russ, in his unlimited generosity, gave us one practice to get use to the 50 meter pool and than it was back on the grind.  All three training groups had three difficult practices before everyones favorite 3 Kings workout this morning….Joey Sbordon picked up right where he left off last year with his unluckiness.  He added 4 more 200s to his four year total putting him at 17 for his college career which puts him right behind the most unlucky person, Brian Schmidt at 20 out of a potential 24 200s. This practice is always fun to watch because of the reactions that some of the swimmers give because of a failure to gamble and win and thus only having to swim a 50…For example: Pete Sacco was caught throwing teammates to the ground in anger for calling the coin incorrectly in the air.  It is very common for the distance swimmers to laugh at the misfortune of the Sprinters when they get unlucky and end up swimming a 200 instead of the desired 50.  The best part of this practice is the afternoon off that comes after the practice.  Some of the guys are going on a deep sea fishing voyage while the less ambitious guys are just fine with walking to the beach and body surfing with their free time.

Wish us all luck on the next cycle as I am sure Russ has not gotten any kinder with age.

#Route146

JahMass

Calling all UMass Aquatics Alumni, Parents, and Friends…

The third in a series of alumni functions in 2011 will be taking place
the Saturday before Thanksgiving in Boston, Massachusetts!

Recently, an attempt for a UMass reunion in Baltimore for an
Orioles-Yankees game failed.  The pundits all agree this was primarily
due to the incompetent organizer, Jad Vonderheid.  Now the ball is
back in Beantown.

This is an event that you won’t want to miss:

Audubon Circle Restaurant Bar
838 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215
www.auduboncircle.us

Saturday, November 19, 2011
3pm to 6:00pm

The gathering is scheduled around the UMass competition at the Terrier
Invitational taking place down the street at Boston University.

Free drink tickets will be distributed to the first groups to
arrive!!!  For you teetotalers out there, free food will also be
available in the same time frame, although you may need proof that you
did, in fact, go to UMass.  The bouncers will accept speedos that are
three sizes too small and long form diplomas as identification.

For those of you who skipped the Amherst reunion because, frankly, you
didn’t want to wake up in a strange laundry room again – now is the
time to redeem yourself!

For those who passed up bocce ball on the Cape because your body
doesn’t match up with your college days – it will be jacket weather in
New England!

So get ready to reminisce with old teammates.  Meet alums from
different eras.  And try to answer that nagging question – just who
was it that used the cold Boyden water as a scapegoat during freshman
naked swim?

Hope to see you there!

Dylan Smith 2005