Tuesday, April 8, 2014

PT and Swim Lessons

A beautiful spring day on campus!
Whitman came back to life last week at the conclusion of spring break and now we're off and running for the final six weeks of the semester!  Although things are busier than ever, there is good news: spring has arrived!  Last week we saw sun and temperatures in the 60's and today things are even brighter, with highs in the 70's.  Needless to say, everyone is enjoying the off-season by getting outside for some much needed fun in the sun!

The Women's team going through core exercises
Last weekend, we had the privilege of welcoming Sara Behrens ('13) to campus to give the team a crash course on the importance of core strength, flexibility, and stabilization.  Sara graduated with a degree in biology and has been working as a physical therapy assistant in Seattle since graduating last May.  She plans on getting a PhD in Physical Therapy and will be applying for graduate school in the fall.  Sara met with the Men's and Women's teams and sent everyone away with better awareness and appreciation for the details that lead to better productivity in the pool and weight room and fewer injuries.  Many of the strength, flexibility, and posture exercises that Sara showed us will be incorporated into the team's dryland regime for the off-season and the 2014-15 season.

Swim lessons in the shallow end
It's time for swim lessons again!  Each year during the Walla Walla Public School's spring break, the Whitman Swimmers offer one-on-one swim lessons to local children.  With no public swimming facility in the city, this week-long event offers the community access to a much-needed resource and is a great way for our team to make a positive impact on our region's youth.  Aside from the community impact, the swim lessons also give our student-athletes a great perspective one just how challenging and remarkable it is to train and compete at such a high level day after day.

Finally, today regular classes take a pause while the campus hosts the Whitman annual Undergraduate Conference.  This annual event gives Whitman students an opportunity to make presentations to their peers and discuss their academic pursuits.  The unique, day-long event is centered around community learning, giving everyone on campus the opportunity to better understand what their classmates are passionate about.  Several of our swimmers are presenting throughout the day.  

As spring rolls along, there is no sign of things slowing down!  With prospective students visiting almost daily, outdoor program trips every weekend, intramural ultimate frisbee, softball, and volleyball underway (the swim team has a team in each), the annual spring triathlon just around the corner on May 3rd, and not to mention all the academic demands inherent to this time of year, the season may be over but free time is never as abundant as one might expect!  The energy on campus is high