News from Day 5

We have officially passed the halfway point in our epic journey through the waters of the Claremont-McKenna pool in Claremont. So far our progress has taken us to the end of the pool...and back, and forth, then back again, and forth, yet again. You get the picture. Yardage total: approx. 36,000 yards and counting. 

Days four and five were marked by exciting new tan lines, great quantities of IM and kick work, obscene consumption of a certain Chinese buffet's sugar doughnuts, depleting room supplies of peanut butter and tortillas, and countless between-practice episodes of Four Weddings and What Not To Wear.

More photos from our nearly amphibious team of swimmers in California:

Pre-practice STL.

The sprinters gear up for some fast 25s.

Dane leads the way on some IM work. 

Grudge matches with bungee cords made for an excellent practice-viewing experience.

Erin packs up for the morning.

Fruit snacks cheer up Sam after a long workout.

Cupcakes from Puerto Rico!

Yesterday, in celebration of Three Kings Day, Loic's parents ordered the most amazing cupcakes to be delivered to our hotel! The team thoroughly enjoyed chowing down on maple syrup-drizzled, bacon-topped, vanilla buttercreamed, and dulce de leche-d cupcakes after a full day's workout and Chipotle dinner. A big thank you to the McGiverins for such a scrumptious surprise! 

I stopped eating just long enough to snap a photo of my dulce de leche bonanza. 

Claire's shirt says it all.

California Lovin'

It's January again and here we are, back in the land that knows no winter! After meeting up at the hotel in Pomona, we got right down to business with a sprint meet against the University of Redlands and Linfield College on Thursday afternoon, where we had our first taste of competition and blazing California sun. Since then, we've had three workouts, numerous sunburns, 42 plates of pasta, and many many sore legs. 

After lathering on the sunscreen, the team gets ready to hop in.

This week we've also gotten a chance to welcome a few new teammates into the fold! Ellen Banks and Keller Hawkins '14 are back from fall semesters abroad in Grenada and Bali; Dane Kawamoto '15, a transfer student from Whittier College, is bravely jumping straight into life with the team before starting at Whitman this semester.

Ellen tackles the morning workout.

Dane's all smiles at practice!

Keller, being Keller. 

Here are a few more snapshots from this morning's practice. 

Will and Sara LOVE arm circles!

    

Lane love. Jo, Elise, Genay and Claire give out some smiles between sets.

Tyler and Charlotte enjoy a little social kick during their distance set.

Katie Chapman and I get fancy.