HAWK TALK

January 2015

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75 D uring its weeklong training trip to the Sunshine State, the University of Iowa swimmers were 100 percent zeroed in on swimming. "Everybody is more focused (during the training trip)," said UI head coach Marc Long. "When you're outside, there seems to be more focus and a different energy. We get to shake things up a bit and that's necessary to get extra incentive and push." Aer breaking for the holidays, the Hawkeyes traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida, from Dec. 28 through Jan. 4, for a rigorous week- long stretch of training and team-building. e trip gave the team a jumpstart into the championship portion of its schedule. "e training trip is a nice transition into the second half of the season," said Long. "is trip allows us to get the entire team together, we have unlimited time with them, and it's a chance for some great bonding with the student-athletes and staff. "We can push each other and bring each other together to peak next month and into March." Senior Chris Freeman says the trip is a good change from the daily practices held throughout the school year in Iowa City. "e training trip is exciting because it pushes you to your limits every day, and it's a time where you have no other distractions," said Freeman. "You're in a nice location swimming and that's all that's on your mind." Senior Hannah Maher says the Hawkeyes take their training to another level. "Our main focus is to train, so we have more sessions than if we were in Iowa City," she said. "ere is a different level of training that takes place. It allows us to get back into shape (aer the break) that much quicker and accelerate upward right away." e Hawkeyes had two, two-hour practices each day throughout the trip and added weight training three times during the week. Each day also featured a team activity, allowing the group to come together outside of the pool. e activities ranged from team skits to trivia competitions to group circles. "e fact that we're together for a week straight, we become that much closer," said Maher. "We know we're here to train and get better, but you can't do that without pushing and encouraging each other. "Strengthening that team bond makes us stronger and brings us even closer together." is was the third training trip for the senior class. e team previously traveled to Colorado and California the previous two seasons (they traveled to Arizona for a single competition as freshmen). "Everybody looks forward to these trips each year to become closer as a team," said Maher. "We look forward to training outside and having a chance to go to the beach. We know we're going into the week we're going to be pushed, and it's going to help us get better." The University of Iowa swimming team spent a week growing both in and out of the pool during its winter training trip to Florida. JANUARY SCHEDULE Jan. 17 at Illinois (W) Jan. 24 Northwestern (M/W) Jan. 30-31 at Shamrock Invitational (M/W)

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