University of Minnesota Athletics
Training Trip Blog #2 from Alandra McDowell
1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
This week, we conquered one of our greatest fears: named sets. For those who are unaware, Minnesota coaches have a couple of favorite sets that they like to throw at us a few times each season.
For example, mid-distance and distance swimmers took on a long course version of "Erik Vendt", which entails 10x400, alternating IM and free. Middle-distance followed with "Drury", or 21x50 max effort. Distance and women's sprint were charged with the grueling "Fishburn", which was highlighted by senior Samantha Harding closing out with a 4:52 500.
Despite the many challenges, which included an 87 degree pool temperature, the Gophers had an impressive showing at their dual meet against Hawaii. If you were to ask any of the three people who were present in the stands that day, they would probably recount some incredible event line-ups headlined by Breanne Siwicki (1650 free, 400 IM, 500 free) and Brooke Zeiger (200 free, 400 IM, 200 back). Fans were also entertained by Ian Gordon's gritty finish to the men's 4x100 free relay and the many swimmers desperately pressing ice packs to their heads upon completing their races.
Thankfully, this week did not go by without fun. On Thursday, the entire team did a morning ocean swim under the direction of Ryan Purdy.
Later in the day, we took the advice of some locals and checked out Electric Beach, which got its name from its neighboring power plant (which apparently don't scare away sea turtles or tropically colored fish)!
The day after the meet, we set off on various expeditions around the island. These included visits to the Dole pineapple plantation, eating heavenly breakfast burritos, laying out at North Shore, and another trip to Lanikai beach.
With (hopefully) one of our hardest weeks of training completed, we're excited to spend three more days here in Oahu before heading to our next stop: Denver, Colorado.
Players Mentioned
