Reeling It In

There are going to be moments in every team's season that will contribute to it's ultimate success or demise.  Think of any team you have made an impact on.  Your perception of the team being "worth-while" or "fun" or "successful" ultimately depends on the approach the individual takes for the greater good of the squad.  I recently come across this video and thought it was one of the more interesting displays of camaraderie that I had seen in quite a while.  I hope you enjoy it; if nothing else, please admire the athletic ability of the human salmon.  Then ask yourself: "how much must this team enjoy each other's accomplishments or truly embrace the sport they play?"

It didn't feel any warmer than yesterday morning, no matter what some silly thermometer might indicate.  This morning, though, was a big step in becoming a stronger group.  Maybe it was just the mindset that we've already conquered our alarm clocks once so we didn't need any more mental preparation or rehearsal for this practice.  Knowing there are more physical demands in store, the Bison put together 130 minutes of great training.


The beautiful sunrise glistens over the Bison on Wednesday morning.

 The bright spot in the morning did not necessarily come in setting new records, saving a member of the ecological community that roam the campus, or getting to sleep in.  As far as performances go, this was our finest of the four we've had in the water so far.  There was a moment in practice when one could feel the group of swimmers make the collective decision that each would push the teammate next to them to the point of physical success.  We made the choice to take on more challenging intervals, shaving seconds of each 50 and operating in a more meticulous fashion that we had all season. 

There were, indeed, leaders of the group how earned their reward as our three stars of the morning, as well as our Prime Popcorn Practice Performer:
#3 - Chelsea Andrews - continues to get stronger after first 3000 yards.  Excellent work in main 2000 set that included fast 100 fly splits (7.)
#2 - Kelvin Goodman - having an outstanding few days, setting the bar higher in freestyle intervals to set himself up for great breaststroke sets (7.5.)
#1 - Damjan Strbac - under control and operating under fastest intervals out of entire team.  Looked stronger and more aggressive in final 1200 set (8.)

And as we become more like the Icelandic soccer team (if you didn't watch the video above, that won't make sense,) we will, undoubtedly, run into more obstacles that prevent us from gelling.  This practice served as a justification as to why it's so vital for a team, no matter how individual the sport may operate, to work together and enjoy the journey collectively as well as individually.  Without the team, we would just be floundering fish reeled-in one-by-one.