Madilyn Sindelar, a sophomore media and journalism major, will be blogging as the Coyotes swimming and diving team takes part in their annual training trip during the holiday break.

DAY SEVEN & EIGHT

These last two days have been a doozy! Both days were jam-packed with doubles and let me tell you four difficult practices in two days is a lot. How did we recover from the pain? More ice cream of course. 
After Sunday's swims we headed up to Carlsbad to visit alumni Hunter Padgett, his family hosted a delicious team dinner for all of us. Once we got back we fell asleep fast because doubles are very tiring. 

Monday we tanned in between swim sessions and after our last practice of the day everyone went about San Diego to enjoy their last night in California. We went to a cozy Mexican resteraunt that was delicious and the decorations were super cute and fun. After that we went to an ice cream shop calf salt and straw which had vegan ice cream! 

Now everyone's packing up and getting ready for the last practice Tuesday and a flight home Tuesday night. Go Yotes!



DAY SIX

It feels like we have been here for a while now, days go by fast but this week seems endless. We are down to just five practices now during our next three days on the west coast. We started off the day with a nice hike up Cowles Mountain. It was steep at parts and had a couple switchbacks but the views at the summit were beautiful! 

We took a team picture and headed down the slope, a couple people ran and ended up with some scrapes. Overall everyone had a pretty good time. Due to practice being optional today a majority of the team laid by the pool or hit the beach while the rest headed to the pool for a recovery type swim. All in all the afternoon was well spent in the California sun. Tonight I finally ate sushi so I would call today a success. 

We cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings with another set of doubles and a team dinner. Go yotes!



DAY FIVE

Today we had a 7-9 swim and that hurt a lot, I think everyone is starting to feel pretty sore as of now. After swimming we pretty much napped by the poolside, beachside or in the hotel room. 

At 3 p.m. we reloaded into the vans for our hour of dryland. We ran, did abs and then played capture the flag! We were pretty into it because coach Jason Mahowald said whoever won didn't have to warm up. My team one the first point easily and then after a lot of teamwork we were able to pull away with a second point. 

After dryland we headed to the pool for another two hour swim we got to see a pretty sunset over the pool. However those of us that didn't warmup quickly regretted it. It was a stroke night and the morales were high but everyone was also pretty tired. 

We had a team talent show and pizza night. All the newcomers to the team had to do a trick or show off something funny that they can do or learned. After that coach Mahowald said tomorrow's practice is optional per NCAA rules, but there will be a practice happening. So the night was spent debating if we're going to the pool tomorrow. We also stopped by Baked Bear for more delicious ice cream sandwiches. 
Here's to another day in San Diego, go Yotes!



DAY FOUR
Happy New Years! 

Today we were able to sleep in because we didn't have practice until noon! Swim was pretty hard; not gonna lie, I think training trip is finally catching up to us. We were happy to swim at the peak of the UV rays though, hopefully the sunburns turn into tans quick. 

After swim we took off to La Jolla and the divers met us there. We scarfed down food, and found our way to the cliffs to watch a beautiful sunset and take some pictures. 

Now we're headed back to the hotel to hangout and go to bed early because we start back up on the doubles grind tomorrow. 
Go Yotes!



DAY THREE

Today we got to sleep in finally!!

We awoke to a text from Coach Jason Mahowald saying we were doing goal 50s and 100s (sorry distance crew), a test set we do four times a year. We all mentally prepared for the practice to come.

We headed to the pool at 8:30 a.m. and began warming up for our set. Everyone was super upbeat and cheering everyone on, I think it was from the fresh air and sunshine beating down on us but that's just me. We made 98% of our goals when we were only supposed to make 90%. We celebrated with a group picture in the dive well and then headed off to my personal favorite fast food spot In-N-Out.

Everyone tried it and most enjoyed and after we headed off to enjoy the sunshine. We hit the beach, watched Cooper Fuchs and Tanner Espersen surf, and then went to the hot tub to warm up from the ocean breeze. Maddie Lavin, Lucie Anderson, Kristen Quigley and I headed to a cute coffee shop called Better Buzzed and hung out and made some New Year's Eve plans. Most of the team is headed back to downtown San Diego for dinner and to sight see. See ya in the next decade. 

Happy New Year and go Yotes!



DAY TWO

We started our Monday off with a bang waking up at 6 a.m. to make it to the pool by 7 a.m. Each group had their own set, but overall the key word for everyone was yardage. The distance kids did a whopping 24x200s, mid-distance did 12x300s and sprinters like myself did 15x100s. Everyone was pretty beaten down after those hefty sets but spirits were still high.

After we got back to the hotel most people headed to breakfast, I tried another açaí bowl because fresh fruit is necessary after being deprived fresh fruit a whole semester (no thanks to the muc) and it was amazing! Everyone keeps asking where this loud group of teenage kids are from and when we say South Dakota we always get a funny look. After that a nap was in store to prepare for this afternoons practice. Tonight was speed focused for everyone, thankfully. We all had a great time cheering each other on and getting loud supporting our teammates. After some sprints were off to the Gaslamp Quarter to explore downtown San Diego. We are all starving so hopefully there's some good restaurants! As always go Yotes!

DAY ONE

The alarm began beeping at 6:15 a.m. but my roommates and I hit snooze a couple times before getting up around 6:30 a.m. We threw our suits on and made sure our gear bags were packed and headed down to meet the team in the lobby for our 7 a.m. departure. Our coaches hopped in four large vans and we chaotically climbed in and headed to the San Diego State Aquaplex for a morning swim and dive practice. Thankfully Coach Jason Mahowald let us off easy and we used the practice to get back into the swing of things. After about an hour and a half and 4,000 yards later Jason said we'd be ending with a 400 social kick which is music to any swimmers ears on top of getting out early!

After practice we scrambled back into the vans and enjoyed the sights of Southern California. Some of the funny things I heard from my midwestern teammates about my home state were as follows:

"Look at the hills, I'm so used to everything being so flat, and there's trees all over."

"What are those things (tarps) over the pool."

"I can't believe people actually swim outside year round."

"I have never seen the ocean before."

"Are there alligators in California."

"The houses are all so close together that's so weird."

After arriving at the hotel most people ditched their training suits for two pieces and board shorts and ran to the beach or the next door smoothie shop for a post practice snack. I felt bad for the workers of Cafe 20/20 as a group of 20 hungry college athletes walked in the door. We all devoured our açaí bowls and smoothies and went our separate ways. You can catch me chilling by the hotel pool trying to get any sort of color the sun will allow. 

After getting slightly burnt my roommate Kristen Quigley and I headed up to our room to get ready for our double of the day. We ate a small lunch and repacked and rechanged and we headed to our 3-5 p.m. swim hopefully it's not too hard. 

After swim:  
Today our double practice was pretty good! In sprint group we did speed work after a hypoxia set. We spent the afternoon in the watching the sunset, attempting run dives and using parachutes. Now it's time for dinner I think most of the team is headed to sushi. We're looking forward to day two, as always go Yotes!

TRAVEL DAY

Now that the holidays are almost over, which means it's training trip time for the South Dakota swimming and diving team. The swim team travels to a warm location to spend a week dedicated to swimming and team bonding without the stress of classes. This year we're headed to San Diego, California. A portion of the team is staying back to train with Coach Jake Knowles, and the rest of us flocked from all over the country to meet at our hotel, The Catamaran Resort.

Being a Californian myself, I had a short one-hour flight from Sacramento to San Diego, however some people came from Canada, Texas, Michigan, or Virginia which means long flights and time differences. We all arrived earlier at random times based off our flights and headed to the hotel via Uber. Walking into the hotel that is surrounded by palm trees, the first thing you notice is the giant water fountain inside the koi pond in the indoor lobby. Walking outside to the "tower" where our hotel rooms are, there are paths with so many plants it looks like a jungle, more ponds filled with koi fish and ducks, as well as a cage boasting many exotic birds. After we threw our luggage in our rooms we headed straight for the beach, scoping out perfect places to eat and hangout. About 15 of us spent the day hanging out waiting for our fellow Coyotes. Once we made it to the hotel last night we walked a few blocks to Ralph's, to stock up on groceries for the week and then we went to bed pretty early due to a day of long travels.