Swim Team goes on annual weeklong training trip to Fort Lauderdale

This year the Malvern Swim Team went on their biannual training trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Our trip started early New Year’s morning when we arrived at the airport at 4:30 am. It was so early that when we went through the Transportation Security Administration lines, it took the same amount of time for half the team to go through the normal line as pre-check.

Our flight left Philadelphia around 6:30 in the morning and arrived in beautiful Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 9:00 in the morning. Walking out to the vans was one of the greatest feelings in the world. The air was so warm that when I walked out of the airport I had to take off my jacket so I didn’t sweat like crazy.

After we packed the vans, we drove to St. Andrews where we held mass under a pavilion and had our first of thirteen practices. Following practice we checked into our hotel, Ocean Beach Club, where we unpacked and brought food for the week.

The next morning we began our routine of waking up at 5:30 for practice. During the summer swim season, practices are held in the morning before the pool opens to the community. In the summer the sun is normally up or rising by the time I entered the pool but in Florida it was pitch black. The only light we did have for was from the spotlights that were on either side of the pool.

Seeing the sun rise every morning was definitely the only good part of practicing that early. Between our morning and afternoon practices must of us took naps and went to the beach where we hung out in the water and played some football.

Our afternoon practices were in the heat of the day, one of these practices we were trained by a coach from The Race Club. The coach taught us how to swim faster through the use of science and physics.

On January 6, the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting  made everyone a little nervous. However we were still able to complete both of our practices and have a very tasty dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.

Saturday we had our last two practices followed by a night to ourselves. During this time we were allowed to enter the town of Lauderdale-by-the-sea where we could get dinner and spend the night by ourselves without the coaches. Most of got burgers and walked around town before returning to the hotel and packing for our flight the next day.

The next day we arrived at the airport at 8:30 in the morning for our 11:30 flight. Our flight left and arrived on time and we all went our separate ways.

This was a great bonding experience for the team and I look forward to returning next year with my teammates.