Swimming heads to Florida for intense training session

Instead of eating hordes of holiday treats and lounging in front of the television, the Penn swimming teams will be putting in extra time in the pool over the next month. The Red and Blue swimmers will go home for a grand total of seven days over winter break. In past years, the Quakers have returned to Penn two weeks early to train. This year, the team will head to Boca Raton, Fla., to boost their fitness level. "We need to maintain and improve our current level of conditioning," men's captain Brian Barone said. "We have to build up our strength so that we're ready to go next semester." The Quakers will spend eight days in Florida. However, the trip is not for basking in the warm sunshine. This time of the year is one of the most crucial for the swimming teams. "The purpose of this trip is to get back into shape," women's captian April Fletcher said. "We've been resting because of our big meets with Columbia and Harvard. This is the last big spurt of really hard training." Coach Mike Schnur will use this time to prepare his teams for the entire second semester of competition. This is the last lengthy time period for consecutive training in the Quakers' schedule. "In Florida we will do nothing but work out," Schnur said. "There are no class conflicts, so the team can really focus on swimming. They will be in the pool for four hours every day." Although it may seem rigorous, the training schedule is all about intensity intermingled with some fun. "Its hard work, but if you're in Florida, it's not really all that bad," Fletcher said. "People are really pumped up to keep training and then see what they can do next semester." The trip to Florida also serves as a chance for the team to grow closer as a unit without the distractions of academics and differing schedules. "This is a great team bonding experience," Schnur said. "The freshmen really get to know the upperclassmen. We become one team." Both the men and women are already focusing on their meets next semester. The teams will start the second part of their season against Army in West Point, N.Y., on January 13. But the most important meets on both schedules -- the meets Penn hopes to prepare for through this trip -- are the Ivy League and EISL Championships in late February and early March, respectively.

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