Florida trip no break for W. Swimming

Thirty-four Penn swimmers stood at the edge of the pool, peering at the 50 meters of expanse that waited for them at Fort Lauderdale's International Swimming Hall of Fame Pool. It may have been sunny, with beaches abounding at every turn, and Disney World looming within a trip down the highway.

But Penn didn't take this trip to shake hands with Goofy.

Fun always accompanies the annual journey south to train during winter break, but ultimately this trip served one purpose -- to get in prime condition for the remainder of the season.

"There were a lot of people who trained really well," senior co-captain April Fletcher said. "The entire team is in great shape and I think we made a solid base of training, and we will swim really well when we taper. In addition to that, people had a really good time, too."

As the 34 bodies vigorously stretched their limits, the team knew that this training session would build upon what has been one of the best early season starts in the program's history.

"We're definitely ready to attack the rest of the season," senior co-captain Devyn McGlynn said. "Once you have that [training] behind you, you're pretty much set."

In a sport where dedication begins in an athlete's early childhood years, the culmination of this year's Florida visit also marked the beginning of the end for seven Penn seniors and their competitive swimming careers.

"It's definitely going to be sad, and I'm going to make sure that I enjoy the last couple of months," Fletcher said. "We had 17 girls on the team at the beginning of the season, and now we have six seniors. I consider it a major accomplishment that I'm still here, and I'm going to have as much fun as possible throughout the rest of the season."

Four hours per day in the pool created a new definition for the word sore and certainly pruned a good number of fingers and toes on the Penn team, too. But when the Quakers' swimmers look back at their most recent week of practice, there was no doubt in each team member's mind, that this experience was testament to why each person swam.

"I think that team unity is why I like to swim," freshman Erin Tompkins said. "Getting through practice is always hard, everyone is always hurting, but the fact that everyone is doing it together makes it that much easier."

Swimming is fun, and always has been. Getting a tan during training was just an added bonus for what they would have liked to be doing anywhere else.

The Quakers, now well trained for the second half of their season, take on Army this Saturday at Sheerr Pool.

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