Jan. 11, 2007
Winter Training Trip Photo Gallery
Illinois' women's swimming and diving squad recently returned from a winter training trip to Boca Raton, Fla. The team takes an annual training trip during the winter, but this was the first season the squad had visited Boca Raton. Coach Sue Novitsky kept a log of the team's activities during the trip.
December 27, 2006
After an early start in Champaign, the team arrived in Florida at the Fort Lauderdale Airport, and practices started that evening. The swimmers trained at Saint Andrew's School and the divers worked out at either Florida Atlantic University or Coral Springs.
December 28 - December 30, 2006
The swimmers and divers typically completed two practices a day in the pool and one dry land or weight workout. Needless to say, there were a lot of challenging days in the pool and also on land. The swimmers were broken into their training groups of sprint or distance and each practice they kept on trying to guess when the favorite training trip sets would appear. The divers would alternate days at Florida Atlantic University where they trained springboard or at Coral Springs where they trained platform. The team did a terrific job of working hard and staying together to get the work done.
December 31, 2006 - New Year's Eve
The Illini swimmers competed in the Scots Collegiate Invitational against North Carolina State, Maryland-Baltimore County and Catholic University of America. The events were switched up from normal race distances to some odd distances, meaning the athletes had to just get up and race. The Illini won 12 out of 13 events and seven different athletes won at least one individual event. After having over a month of no competitions, the team came to race, showing some great competitiveness and focus throughout the meet. Coming in and swimming well in the meet helped them learn that you don't have to feel great to be able to swim fast! Here are some of the meet highlights:
Scots Collegiate Invitational
100 Medley Relay
1. Meghan Farrell, Leigh Ann Tracy, Ali Keehn, Barbie Viney 49.86
350 Freestyle
1. Kellie Stevens 3:29.46
75 Breaststroke
1. Amy Johnson 49.65
150 Butterfly
1. Jen Ivarson 1:32.80
2. Jessica Rothenberg 1:34.46
75 Backstroke
1. Anna Johnson 44.38
150 Freestyle
1. Barbie Viney 1:24.01
2. Caroline Moore 1:25.16
300 IM
1. Marissa Clapp 3:16.51
150 Breaststroke
1. Marissa Clapp 1:41.40
75 Freestyle
1. Meghan Farrell
2. Barbie Viney 38.91
150 Backstroke
1. Cece Marizu 1:36.06
2. Caroline Moore 1:36.52
100 IM
1. Marissa Clapp 59.70
2. Katie Theissen 1:02.63
3. Anna Johnson 1:03.04
4. Ali Keehn 1:03.83
300 Freestyle Relay
1. Meghan Farrell, Katie Theissen, Leigh Ann Tracy, Barbie Viney 2:34.33
As a team-building activity after the meet, the seniors and sophomores had to coordinate and cook dinner for the team. It is a good way for them to work on communicating, cooperating and compromising to get to their goal. They decided on a breakfast theme and treated the team to scrambled eggs, pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, cinnamon rolls and fresh fruit. As I was going around checking on the progress, the smoke detector in
Caroline Moore,
Katie Theissen and
Meghan Bradley's room started beeping - they were cooking bacon (extra crispy!). The team lived to tell the tale and had some fun along the way. After the meal, we took a group down to Del Ray for ice cream. There was a big street festival going on with fireworks and music. It was a good way to ring in the New Year!
January 1, 2007
OFF DAY!!! Some people wanted to go gator wrestling, but I nixed that one. The team went down to Fort Lauderdale for a day at the beach. The day was warm and sunny and included many different activities. Most of the team worked on perfecting their tan on the beach along the A1A (a la Vanilla Ice). Many people hit the ocean for some body surfing or just to play around in the water. A group played some beach volleyball, walked along the beach or went shopping. That night, the team went out for a big group dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was a terrific, relaxing day prior to getting back to business for the second half of the trip.
January 2, 2007
The divers competed in the Mike Peppe (1M Diving) Meet at the International Swimming Hall of Fame. There were 32 competitors from D-I and D-III schools including Notre Dame, Missouri State, Nevada-Reno, Eastern Illinois and Illinois. Despite windy, rainy conditions, all four divers put together solid 1M lists and finished among the top 12. Top finishers for the Illini were Kyla Bachtell in 7th place and Abbey Bernardo in 8th. Each averaged scores of five or better on all their dives and kept themselves in contention throughout.
The swimmers were back at it in the pool for a solid block of doubles the next four days.
January 3- January 5, 2007
Training, training and more training! The swimmers have put in some great workouts and have put up some great times in practice. While on the boards, the divers are working hard and learning new dives and perfecting their dive list. The weather continues to be warm and sunny on most days and the team is able to go to the beach for some trips in between practice sessions.
January 6, 2007
This is a day of competition for both the swimmers and the divers. The swimmers set nine meet records and the divers put together a great showing in a tightly-scored meet.
FAU Invite II
The divers competed at the FAU Invite II. There were 15 competitors from host Florida Atlantic, Nebraska-Omaha, Illinois State, Illinois and Indian River Community College. After a long trip that saw many hours on the boards, Kyla and Abbey sat out in order to rest some injuries, while Nikki and Jackie took center stage. Both the one- and three-meter events were tightly contested with little margin between the athletes' scores. Nonetheless, Jackie was able to garner an 11th-place finish on 1M and a 9th on her favorite board, the 3M. Speaking of favorites, freshman Nikki Spillone's favorite number must be seven as that was her placing in both events on Saturday. Putting together two of her most consistent lists of the year, Nikki finished in 7th on both one- and three-meter.
2nd Annual Scots Collegiate Relay Challenge
The swimmers competed in the 2nd Annual Scots Collegiate Relay Challenge. The meet was not scored and featured Illinois, North Carolina State, Rider University, Binghamton, Catholic University of America and Penn State-Erie. The Illini swimmers won nine of the 12 relay events, setting nine new meet records. In three events the Illini finished 1-2 over the competition. Here are some highlights from the meet:
4X75 Medley Relay
1. Anna Johnson, Marissa Clapp, Jen Ivarson, Barbie Viney 2:52.22
50-100-150-200 Freestyle Relay
1. Katie Theissen, Leigh Ann Tracy, Kellie Stevens, Kristen Kloeckener 8:24.76
50-100-150 Butterfly Relay
1. Michelle Grandcolas, Ali Keehn, Jen Ivarson 2:58.04
50-100-150 Freestyle Relay
1. Meghan Farrell, Barbie Viney, Caroline Moore 2:39.29
2. Kellie Stevens, Leigh Ann Tracy, Amy Fofrsberg 2:47.11
100IM-200IM-100-IM Relay
1. Katie Theissen, Marissa Clapp, Anna Johnson 4:10.23
2. Ali Keehn, Jessica Rothenberg, Amy Johnson 4:16.23
4X25 Freestyle Relay
1. Meghan Farrell, Michelle Grandcolas, Becca Poetz, Barbie Viney 44.42
50-100-150 Breaststroke Relay
1. Leigh Ann Tracy, Amy Johnson, Marissa Clapp 3:19.51
4X25 Butterfly Relay
1. Ali Keehn, Michelle Grandcolas, Becca Poetz, Jen Ivarson 48.72
50-100-150 Backstroke Relay
1. Meghan Farrell, Anna Johnson, Cece Marizu 2:59.34
2. Morgan Gilman, Mallory Craft, Meghan Bradley
After the meets, it was the junior and freshman classes' turn to coordinate and cook dinner for the team. This group used a Mexican theme with bean dip and chips, tacos, refried beans, corn, Mexican rice and fresh fruit. It was an excellent meal and the team did a fantastic job of working together to get everything prepared.
January 7, 2007
The last day of training in Florida before the team heads back to Illinois. It has been a very productive trip, filled with excellent training and team bonding. The team is coming back to Illinois healthy and ready to get rolling into the second half of the season.
