On January 3^rd, the swim team left bright and early in the morning for Nassau, Bahamas! Once we landed we had a swim meet with a team from New Jersey and then ate at the all-you-can-eat-buffet (which everyone enjoyed!) and went to bed. The next morning we started our two-a-day practice schedule! For the first two days we swam in a FREEZING pool, but thank goodness on Friday we got to go swimming with the dolphins! While swimming with the dolphins we got to hug, kiss, feed dance with and be superman-ed across the pool! On Saturday we found a new pool and the team was a much happier team! For the next three days we spent our time off in the sun or taking naps, enjoying the time we had to be warm before we had to come back to the frozen tundra known as Minnesota! But as we landed back here in Minnesota, I think all of us were very happy to be home!

12 Hour Swim-a-thon!

On November 5, 2011 the swimming girls woke up early, and after packing all their towels, snacks, blankets and pillows, headed for the pool. Starting at 9:30 in the morning and ending at 9:30 that night, each girl swam six 20 minute intervals, totaling 2 hours of continuous swimming.

The reason for all this swimming?, The Bahamas! Each girl sent out letters to family and friends asking for money donations to be able to go on the team trip to the Bahamas. Some people gave flat donations, and others pledged the girls per mile, meaning they actually had to try to swim as far as possible!

While the girls were not swimming, they watched movies, did homework assignments, slept and ate food. Afterwards, everyone was happy to take a nice, warm shower and head off to Munchies (the new frozen yogurt store) for a treat, which was well deserved! Needless to say it was one long day, but I’m sure that those who made some money would say it was well worth it!

Thank you for supporting our team and helping us achieve our goals!

St. Catherine Swim and Dive Team!

Cheering on our Sister Sport – Cross Country, Halloween Practice, and the Northfield Quad Meet!!!

On Saturday October 29^th, the team headed over to the Como golf course to cheer on our sister sport – cross country for their MIAC championship meet!! It was a gorgeous day – sunshine, but not too cold or too hot and we had our signs at the ready! We cheered loud for them at multiple points around the course and then had treats for them at the end!! It was fun to see our sister sport do so well!!!

To finish off the weekend/start off a new week we had our annual Halloween costume contest practice on Monday, October 31^st!!! :D :D We had some GREAT costumes which included Minons, Thomas the Train, Spongebob’s plankton and his wife, an M&M, a panda bear, cowgirls, water, a surgeon, and a lifeguard. Doing something a little different this year – the team split into groups and did a scavenger hunt around the campus!! We had to race against each other, but also complete each task at the different sites correctly! It was a lot of fun and a great way to show that Halloween spirit!!!

Heading into November the team traveled to Northfield where we swam against St. Olaf, Carleton, and Minnesota State University – Moorhead. All really good teams we geared up for some great competition. Our diver, Sarah Moody led the team in winning both the one and three meter diving events. She also made an NCAA qualifying score for the 3-meter board! Stephanie Jurusik and Bridget Perkins also had great swims with some second place finishes in their events: the 100 back, 100 I.M., and 50 butterfly.

Team Bonding

The first Friday of the season, we participated in our favorite volunteering event, Feed My Starving Children. As usual, the team had a blast assembling food packets for those in need in Haiti. This 6 hour team bonding affair also included team pictures, apparel ordering, an exciting nutrition talk by the always entertaining Mark Blegen, and, my personal favorite, consumption of pepperoni pizza and crazy bread!!

Augsburg Pentathlon

After only two weeks of practice, our first meet of the 2011 season, the Augsburg Pentathlon, was met with much success on Saturday October 20th. Demonstrating our versatility and endurance, each of us raced the 100 butterfly, 100 back, 100 IM, 100 breaststroke, and 100 freestyle over the course of an hour. All said and done, we dominated the top team score with 2085 points and the top six individual finishes. The top scorer was Steffanie Jurusik with 199, right ahead of me (191) and fellow captain Sarah Vrudny (189). Steff had the top time in every event except the 100 breast, where Vrudny posted the fastest time. After such a great meet, I would say that we are on track to post some great times in the heart of competitive season.

The Pentathlon was also our parents meet, and we showed our appreciation for our biggest fans through a small reception after the meet.

Colors Workshop

What else would we do on our 1 day mid-term break, but some more team bonding. The colors work shop was a personality characterization seminar hosted by the 2011 Minnesota teacher of the Katy Smith. Katy Smith was an excellent MC with her fun and exciting orange personality. The work shop was quite enjoyable as we mingled with other St. Kate’s winter athletes and coaches, made posters, commented on accuracy of the color personalities of some team members, and of course ate delicious food. We not only found out what color represents our personalities, but how to communicate and work together with each unique color personality. It came as little surprise to me, and to anyone who has read the past two blog posts, that I have an analytical green personality. Though we had representatives of all four colors (green, blue, orange, and gold), the majority of our team consisted of the compassionate and friendly blue personalities.

St. Thomas Relay Meet

Next weekend, we took on seven MIAC teams in the St. Thomas relay meet in some unconventional events. We stacked up well in most races, posting top finishes in the 300y breastroke (4^th), 300y backstroke (4^th), and 1100y animal relay (3^rd). The grueling animal relay, consisting of a 200 Fly, 400 IM, and 500 Free, was dominated by Bridget Perkins, Steff Jurusik, and Alli Witt. Though each of the events in that relay were tough and met with resistance by some, the trio could be consoled by amazing splits and an “all-conference” finish according to coach Nicole. The whole team is looking good and should continue to perform well at the Northfield Quad next weekend.

St. Kate’s Swimming Summer Fun!

All of the wildcat swimmers and divers have been busy this summer with jobs, internships, classes, vacations, and (hopefully) staying in shape. Despite the sometimes fast pace of the summer, the team was able to get together a couple of times to give back to the community and have some fun before fall.

On Sunday, August 14, a group of swimmers, along with Coach Shana, volunteered at the YWCA women’s triathlon at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. We were assigned management of the Bike Course and ensured both racers and spectators were aware of all the twists and turns of the course. We also provided moral support through our loud cheering as the racers competed through the grueling 15 mile bike. Many racers commented how important our support was to keep them going on strong. In spite of an early check-in time of 6:30am, the day was quite enjoyable and ended with an equally enjoyable free lunch at the lake!

In light of lunch at the lake, a week later the team got together for a little barbeque at Lakeside Commons Park and Beach in Blaine. Luckily, we had beautiful weather and the majority of the team was able to make it with their friends and family to enjoy the summer sunshine. The team spent the afternoon playing with the coaches’ children on the playground, mingling under the pavilion, and of course enjoying the delicious cornucopia of potluck foods. My personal favorite was Bridget’s mountain of prematurely cut brownies. Overall, the barbeque was an excellent time to reconnect with friends and family, exchange summer stories, and get excited for the awesome season to come!

-Mary

Facebook - "Like!"

St. Kate's Swimming & Diving is now on Facebook. Just search for us, and if you like us, then "Like" us! You'll find more photos and information about our current team and season, so check it out!

Fundraising Fun!!!

The team waiting for the instruction to begin!! :)

At the end of May we decided to get started on our fundraising for next season. We found a great program at Valleyfair!!! If we worked for 8 hours they would pay our team!!! Soooo...we got 12 of us together...and with four friends it made 16!!! YAY!!! We worked throughout the park at the different food stations.

Afterwards we got to go back in and ride the rides. With basically no lines we got to ride quite a few!! :) It was a great way to end the day!



Thank you to all the friends who came to help out!! We couldn't have done it without you!!