Well we have arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah where it is COLD AS F***! It is currently 28 degrees outside and snowing... We complain about it being cold at morning practice when it's 37 degrees outside! Cold or hot, we have a duty to perform; we will win our final dual meet of the season. This may be the last swim meet for some who do not qualify for Pac-12 Championships and NCAA Championships. Since Utah is not as an elite of a school in the aquatics division, we can afford to swim people in all kinds of events. The meet has begun and our day of traveling as been great! We had nothing but each other, meaning 37 guys stuck together at an airport, cold, and bored. That with the USC swim team leads to snuggling for warmth and comfort, yes snuggling. We have been snuggled up against each other for the past couple hours and even though the competition pool is indoors, it does not change the fact that it is cold as f***.
This meet should just be over already, we have a birthday to celebrate tonight at the hotel! One of our seniors is turning 22 and we are stuck in Utah of all places to celebrate it. We are also going to be sober for the night...weird for USC kids. I wonder what it's like back at SC right now where it's probably warm, people are in shorts and t-shirts, people are tan, people don't say "Oh my heck" and so many more things that we are missing out on right now. Enough of this party talk, time to focus! We have 3 swimmers to qualify for NCAA at this meet and it is important that they do since they have been tapering. The road to the National Championship is open and we are ready to charge at it! In this case, there's snow on that road...well time to go warm up and BEAT THE UTES!
Friday, February 22, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
The romantic side of Trojans
As everyone knows, yesterday was Valentine's Day. The day where couples all go out to dinner and do all sorts of romantic things for one another and then the next day just continue living their lives. Well it's not so much different for us athletes over here. We had an athlete Valentine's Day dinner, where every athlete who attended was there for quick and quality food, a break from class, and/or just part of the usual routine to grab dinner at the Galen Dining Hall as we call it, "Little Galen." Notice that within those reasons for attending the dinner, to find a valentine was not included? Dating other athletes is something that we tend to stay away from because of how complicated things can get.
Athletes are humans with hearts as well and you can't help but have a crush on other athletes or even your own teammates in our case; we have a specific term for that called "Swimcest." Even though we try to steer away from it, our young hearts gradually gravitate towards it. This only makes sense though! For us swimmers and water polo players, we see each other in the least amount of clothing at all hours of the day. We see each others flaws, gifts, talents, you name it. That is a complication I faced last night, commit swimcest or muscle up and go talk to the blonde girl that lives right across the street from us? Swimcest is something that does not take much "going out of the way" to do because well, there are plenty of girls and guys on the team of all ethnicities. Blonde, brunette, dark, exotic, you name it. Regardless of what happens romantically between my teammates and I, the next day still begins bright and early at 5AM in the weight room. Definitely no time for late morning cuddle sessions.
Athletes are humans with hearts as well and you can't help but have a crush on other athletes or even your own teammates in our case; we have a specific term for that called "Swimcest." Even though we try to steer away from it, our young hearts gradually gravitate towards it. This only makes sense though! For us swimmers and water polo players, we see each other in the least amount of clothing at all hours of the day. We see each others flaws, gifts, talents, you name it. That is a complication I faced last night, commit swimcest or muscle up and go talk to the blonde girl that lives right across the street from us? Swimcest is something that does not take much "going out of the way" to do because well, there are plenty of girls and guys on the team of all ethnicities. Blonde, brunette, dark, exotic, you name it. Regardless of what happens romantically between my teammates and I, the next day still begins bright and early at 5AM in the weight room. Definitely no time for late morning cuddle sessions.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Road to National Championship
Well it's cold up here at Cal and we lost against the two-time defending national champions by one race. The Cal Bears were losing to us up until the final relay, the 400 Freestyle Relay. On our side, we had Olympians Vlad Morozov and Dima Colupaev, Jack Wager, and Cristian Quintero. We lost this race by 0.1 seconds... That distance is one knuckle and a half down a finger and our victory was lost by that much. We have team dinner in a little bit and sad faces are going to be everywhere.
"We are the best team in the country right now. We are going to go up there and show them what being the best team really means." Our coaches told us before we boarded the plane to the Bay Area. I wonder what they are going to say to us tonight about being the best team... Regardless, we have to move on and realize we have another tough team tomorrow: Stanford. Stanford, Cal, and us have always been tearing each other apart for number one. Cal may have claimed their spot, but Stanford will not claim their place tomorrow.
Tonight we don't have parties or invites to attend to, we have our hotel rooms and each other to get ready for a win tomorrow. As we are trained to "Show up early, ready, start fast. Finish what we start, make no excuses, tell the truth. Always compete with speed and power. Stand tall, big chest, big eyes. Protect the team at all times. We are tough, aggressive, and trained. We are SC. FIGHT ON!" Tomorrow is another day, a day where we come home with a W!
"We are the best team in the country right now. We are going to go up there and show them what being the best team really means." Our coaches told us before we boarded the plane to the Bay Area. I wonder what they are going to say to us tonight about being the best team... Regardless, we have to move on and realize we have another tough team tomorrow: Stanford. Stanford, Cal, and us have always been tearing each other apart for number one. Cal may have claimed their spot, but Stanford will not claim their place tomorrow.
Tonight we don't have parties or invites to attend to, we have our hotel rooms and each other to get ready for a win tomorrow. As we are trained to "Show up early, ready, start fast. Finish what we start, make no excuses, tell the truth. Always compete with speed and power. Stand tall, big chest, big eyes. Protect the team at all times. We are tough, aggressive, and trained. We are SC. FIGHT ON!" Tomorrow is another day, a day where we come home with a W!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Important Weekend
It's a rather important weekend for us over at the aquatic department. Our women's team has left for the Bay Area to show Cal and Stanford who the best NCAA Division 1 swim team in the country truly are. This leaves the men's team here training and hitting the weight room every morning. What else is going on this weekend? The Superbowl of course! Our Women of Troy are unable to relax and watch the game since they are on the road. As an athlete at USC, we sacrifice our social lives in such a way to almost eliminate our social lives. In a nutshell, our team is our social life, our family, our friends, our therapist, you name it.
On the women's team, we have multiple Olympians such as Stina Gardell, Haley Anderson, Christel Simms, and more. They are not only the best of the best swimmers in the country, but they are the best of the best of the best representing multiple countries. Haley won the silver medal in the London Olympics for the 10K open water swim. However, what does that do to her social life? Social life as an Olympian and a USC Athlete is more of a chore than a casual lifestyle. Haley was forced to watch everything she said through social media about this weekend's meet up in the Bay Area. Why? Because she is considered to be a model citizen, student, and athlete. That's only a glimpse of what really happens over at the pool and the John McKay Center. Speaking of the McKay center, it's that time of the day again for Trojan Swimming Crossfit with Coach Kelly...Fight On!
On the women's team, we have multiple Olympians such as Stina Gardell, Haley Anderson, Christel Simms, and more. They are not only the best of the best swimmers in the country, but they are the best of the best of the best representing multiple countries. Haley won the silver medal in the London Olympics for the 10K open water swim. However, what does that do to her social life? Social life as an Olympian and a USC Athlete is more of a chore than a casual lifestyle. Haley was forced to watch everything she said through social media about this weekend's meet up in the Bay Area. Why? Because she is considered to be a model citizen, student, and athlete. That's only a glimpse of what really happens over at the pool and the John McKay Center. Speaking of the McKay center, it's that time of the day again for Trojan Swimming Crossfit with Coach Kelly...Fight On!
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