Follow the Clemson diving team throughout its Winter Training camp in Coral Springs, Fla. on Dec. 10-16. Different members of the team will post each daily journal entry, sharing their thoughts from the trip.
Dec. 16We survived! This morning everyone woke up with mixed feelings: proud to have made it through the week, happy to see our families, sad to leave our friends, sore from a hard week of training, and optimistic to return for Training Trip Part 2 at the end of December. Overall this week taught our team many lessons. We learned to not be CC’s (chronic complainers), we discovered that getting out of our comfort zones is the first step in accomplishing our goals, and we all grew closer, not only as teammates, but as friends.
Our team is very thankful for the great coaches we have that allow us to train in such a fun environment. During this holiday season, we are more aware of our many blessings and will not take for granted the opportunities Clemson provides us.
Happy holidays from the Clemson dive team!
-Allison Brophy & Megan Jendra
Dec. 15We started off the day with our usual morning practice. Today, however was an hour longer because we did not have a second practice. For our water practice our goal was for everyone to learn a new dive. After the end of water practice we went to the gym and did cardio for half an hour.
After practice, we went to a place called Bakery 2000. It was a Brazilian bakery that had pretty good pastries. Then we all went back to the hotel for lunch, naps and beach time.
While some stayed and played at the beach, the sophomore squad went with Assistant Coach Kevin Lawrence to the theater four hours early to make sure we got good spots for Rogue One. While we waited, we played Catch Phrase. Later, the rest of the team joined us and we had a great time watching the movie together.
-Jaya Brown & Erin Lee
Dec. 14We started off this morning with a light one hour practice to get our bodies moving and ready to compete in the afternoon. We worked on some basic line-ups and drills to help our technique. We had a short break to recover and eat lunch before heading back to the pool to compete against Florida Gulf Coast.
We began the meet with 3M springboard and then proceeded to compete on the 1M. In addition, we had a few girls compete in the Platform event. This was a great meet for everyone and a lot of progress was shown. We had some girls competing new dives for the first time in competition which was very exciting. Florida Gulf Coast had some great girls on their team, and it was nice to compete against a group of girls with such great sportsmanship.
It was a beautiful sunny day here in Florida and we all got some nice tans, and a few sunburns. We are all excited to head into our final day of training tomorrow.
-Sarah Blank & Morgan Fiske
Dec. 13Today was our third day of training here in Florida. We met for breakfast downstairs in the hotel at 7 a.m. and headed to the pool at 7:30 this morning. The team had a productive training session – we all worked hard to prepare for our competition tomorrow.
After practice #1, we headed back to the hotel for a few hours of beach time while we ate our lunches. Today was the second full sunny day here in Florida and it was good to get out and be in the sun for a little while, while enjoying the beach.
Practice #2 for the day was a combination of practice and a mock competition to prepare for our dual meet tomorrow against Florida Gulf Coast. With a partner, we practiced all of our dives in as close as we could get to a “competition setting.” It was challenging but a fun way to mix up practice for the afternoon. It was fun to see everyone on the team supporting each other as we went through our lists. After practice, we completed our strength training and dryland practices at the gym located at the aquatic complex.
After practice and workouts were complete, we headed back to the beach for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was special, so we got dressed up and headed to JB’s on the Beach, a nice restaurant near our hotel. The food was incredible and the ocean view made it even better! We ate lots of food and we are feeling ready for our competition tomorrow.
-Caylin Hirapara and Megan Hays
Dec. 12It is the morning of December 12, 2016. The team and I met downstairs at 7 a.m. for the continental breakfast. Before we knew it, we departed the hotel for Coral Springs Aquatic Complex. Based on the weather forecast, it predicted that today was going to be another rainy day. To our surprise we were greeted with clear skies and a warm sun.
This morning’s practice was in total two hours long and was a difficult practice for most of the team because we were either on the platform or the 3m springboard. At this practice, we were to complete our dive list (consisting of the hardest dives we know), learn new dives and/or work on a dive that is mentally challenging. In addition, we are all training in an environment that most of us have little exposure to. Who knew it would be so challenging distinguishing water color from the sky while flipping? However, I am fortunate to be on a team that fosters a supportive environment and optimistic thinking. The top dive for this morning’s practice goes to Megan Jendra for surpassing mental barriers and performing a new dive (405c) off 7m platform.
Once 11:30 a.m. rolled around, we were back at the hotel and either on our way to take a nap or escape to the beach. At 1:15 p.m., we were all in the vans heading back to the aquatic complex for the second training of the day. Second practice seemed to go a bit smoother. Hence, Jaya Brown performing a difficult dive (107b) off 3m springboard along with Megan Jendra 305C (a new dive) and Hannah Phelan performing her options of 3m. Water training lasted from 2-4 p.m., and afterwards, we had weight training or dryland from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Dinner was held at Bru’s Room and the freshman were introduced to our team chant called the ‘hooray song’. Tonight was the first day of this year that the wooden cube was awarded to one of the divers. The cube is given to a diver who has exhibited bravery and determination, and the diver who received today’s award was Megan Jendra! By the time dinner finished and we were all back at the hotel, the squad disappeared to their rooms in preparation for a good night’s rest.
~Danielle Reitsma
Dec. 11Today was the first day of our training trip! We started off the day with a weight lifting workout. There was a swim meet going on at the pool, so we had to change our schedule a little bit. After weight training, we had a 2 ½ hour break to do whatever we wanted to do. Some girls took naps, some went to the beach, we made our lunches with food we bought from the grocery store; it was really just time to ourselves to explore or catch up on some sleep!
After our break we headed back to the pool for our second training session, and this time we were able to get in the water. As we were warming up, we started to see the storm rolling in, but we kept positive attitudes and toughed it out through the elements. For the first hour of our training it was raining extremely hard and was very windy, so we were diving in conditions we were not used to. Regardless, we kept going and enjoyed every moment. It started to clear up a little bit in the middle of our workout and then it started raining extremely hard again. Despite the weather conditions, it was a great first practice in the pool and a great practice to kick off our week of training.
After the second training session we went back to the hotel and headed out for dinner at Bru’s Room and then were treated to Kilwin’s ice cream, which was an awesome surprise! To finish off our day the team got together to watch some of the movie Frozen to relax before we all headed to bed. Our first day of training trip was a great one and we are looking forward to the rest of the week ahead of us.
That’s all for now,Hannah Donovan & Hannah Phelan
Dec. 10, 2016It’s 4:45 a.m. on December 10 and all of our Tiger divers and staff are on the bus ready to go to the GSP airport to depart for our Winter Training camp. It’s been a great start to the day, getting to see all of their smiling faces once again after a week off for final exams. Each year, we travel as a team to train and compete after final exams have concluded and before the holidays begin. This year we are headed to Coral Springs, Fla. which historically been our training spot. We will be training and competing at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex. It’s an outdoor facility so we are hoping for great weather while we are there.
We are currently halfway through our season and the time between the fall and spring semester is a crucial training time for our team, as our championship season will be here before we know it. A typical day for our divers at training camp consists of training in the water twice a day, strength and conditioning sessions, dryland sessions, mental training sessions and team building activities, as well as reading a book as a team. This year’s book is “The No Complaining Rule” by Jon Gordon. We are looking forward to reading and discussing the book throughout our trip.
This is always one of my favorite times of the year. It’s a time when we can be together as a team, get to know each other even better, train hard, learn new dives, push each other to higher levels, get out of our comfort zones to become better versions of ourselves, and create memories together that will last a lifetime. I am looking forward to our Florida adventure and I hope everyone has fun following us on our journey! 🙂
-Head Coach Leslie Hasselbach Adams
December 4, 2024
December 3, 2024
