The Peddie Swim team returned to Ft. Meyers, Florida for the annual training trip during the second week of winter break. This year, the trip was longer than usual, running for ten days, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. to The training trip consisted of swim practices in the outdoor pool at Florida Gulf Coast University, as well as team activities around Ft. Meyers and within the Sandpiper resort. 

For many swimmers, the highlight of the training trip was spending time on the beach between practices. Others appreciated the independent experience. “I learned how to cook; that was the main thing. I cooked pasta, and I boiled everything; that was pretty cool. And I learned how to defrost meat,” said Isaac Kwon ’20. 

On the other hand, many swimmers found a less appealing part of the trip in “waking up at 4:55 AM to go swim practice.” said Avery Best ’21.

Despite this, the swimmers remained undeterred from their demanding workouts. “The practices were still very gratifying because we all worked hard and performed our best. We may have all been exhausted,  but we did it as a team and we were all pushing each other,” said Rachel Uy ’21. “However, the training trip looked a little different this year. The training part of it was really fun even though we didn’t have as many practices as we did last year, or as many doubles,” said Uy.

Although a few fell ill and could no longer train or had to return home, teammates agreed that the camaraderie of the team is what truly made the training trip rewarding “My favorite practice moment was our point set. Everyone got really hyped and we had a lot of good races. Not everyone was feeling great but we still went at it.” said Kwon. 

“We did this one set where if three people get best times we had a “get out” swim so that we didn’t have to do practices the next morning because we had to go to the airport and like five people got best times and it was amazing,” said Uy.

For members of the class of 2023, this was their first-ever training trip. “It wasn’t exactly what I expected but it was a lot of fun. We had a lot of team bonding that was a lot of fun. One of my favorite parts was the airboat tour with the alligators,” said Abby Brady ’23.

Overall, the 2019 training trip proved to be another success and the team members entered the new year with a stronger work ethic and stellar tans.