Freshman Firsts

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Hey everyone, I’m freshman swimmer Marlee Ehrlich. It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been here at Harvard for 2 months. Everyday poses new challenges, but also offers opportunities to learn and grow. As a freshman, I am constantly blown away by what Harvard has to offer both in the pool and out. In the two short months we have been here, there have been a lot of “firsts”, especially for the freshmen.

Last weekend was our first Head Of The Charles. Seeing the Charles Riverbank so crowded with spectators from all over was pretty amazing. The weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect opportunity to take a break and unwind from midterm week. It was also a perfect opportunity for team bonding, something we have done a lot of this year. Spending the afternoon by the river with teammates is definitely one of my favorite memories I have of this year so far.

View along the Charles River during Head of the Charles weekend

 

Another first from this week was our Crimson vs. Black Intersquad Meet. We split up our team into the Crimson team and the Black team. This was our first chance to “get after it” and really race. Both teams swam great races and were super enthusiastic. The feeling on the pool deck was electric. This was our first time racing as the 2012-2013 Harvard Women’s Swim Team. I think I speak for all of us when I say that this meet really got me excited about the upcoming season. It was also a great way for us freshman to become familiar with Harvard’s meet cheers and rituals.

A very special part of our intersquad meet was having Sophie there. Sophie is a four year old who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2010. We are so happy to have Sophie as one of our new teammates through Team Impact. She now officially has a team locker and a team warm up jacket! Sophie even got in the pool and swam the 50 free with us during the meet. Collectively cheering Sophie on during her race, really helped pull the team together, plus it was unbelievably cute to see Sophie holding Coach Steph’s hand as she stood on the blocks.

Even though there are so many firsts for the freshmen, our team is truly a real family. From floating as a mass blob in the diving well to having little “family” outings, our team has made sure that we are a close-knit unit. We put the team before ourselves, and I cannot wait to see what we do this season!

Becoming relaxed in the water with aquatic signatures

Feels Like Home

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As a freshman I am still trying to wrap my head around Harvard. The school, the team, and of course the weather, are new challenges that we face each day.  My name is Margaret Ramsey, and I swim mostly distance free with a weekly appearance in the mid-distance lane.  Over the summer my anticipation for school was uncontrollable.  The team sent the incoming freshman Harvard swimming caps that we couldn’t resist and emails to stay in touch.  The adjustment into college life has been surprisingly easy because of the cohesiveness of HWSD.  We always have someone to eat with in the dining halls, study with in Lamont, or push you in practice.  This amazing team creates a competitive family-like environment making Harvard feel like my new home.

This week at practice the yardage increased, dryland grew more intense, and Arturo, our yoga instructor, challenged us to use our “Ujjayi” breath outside of workouts.  In the pool, the distance lane tested their sprinting skills, the “flack pack” worked their underwater kick, the sprinters worked their power, and the divers have done a good job doing their optionals.  The week culminated with the infamous IM set (or the fly set).  I had heard whispers about this set and personally, I was dreading it, but right from the get go, everyone was vocal, focused, and fast.  After the set, Chris recognized freshman Kendall Crawford for killing it, calling attention to her effort and mindset from the beginning.  As the week drew to a close, Steph stressed the importance of “togetherness” in the month of October.  P-sets, papers, hard practices, and fluctuating weather characterize this month, but from what I am experiencing, HWSD is taking October by storm.  In this new family, I find it very easy to push yourself and your teammates to that next level.  Everyone holds each other accountable because in the end, “we fight together.”

HWSD's Class of 2016

Team Building

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Hello HWSD fans it’s sophomore Courtney Otto!! October has dawned the official start of our season, and coaches Steph and Chris have wasted no time whipping us into tip-top-ivy-champion form.  Yoga with Arturo, the new and improved zoo, and finally the distribution of separate groups means that the new season is fully underway! However, with all of these new changes, one thing has stayed the same – Saturday morning team sets.

In my personal opinion team sets are one of the essential building blocks of HWSD. The beginning of the season is extremely important as the entire dynamic of the team is different year to year. Sets like this give us the opportunity to integrate the freshman and instill in them the values that we all hold dear. They usually take about half an hour, and the entire set is centered around the idea of giving your all for the team. This past Saturday we did a 150 point set. Essentially, everyone would do a 100 free all out, and for every second under 1:00, we would get one point.  The beginning started out with the banging of kickboards and echos of “ go Harvard!” as the heats began. Exceptional swims were swum, especially Sara Li pushing a 53 from a push! Round two followed the same pattern, and by the end of the heats we were only about 20 points away from 150.  Like true teammates, those who felt like they had a little extra to give stepped up to finish off the points. It was pretty remarkable to see the team come together to finish of the 150 points, and there were some crazy times swum. Ana Anaya blew everyone away as she came off the third turn sprinting fly.  It’s swims like this that inspire us as a team.

As we grow as a team throughout the rest of the year, I’m so excited to see how truly unstoppable we become. The focus, and goals of this team are extraordinary, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will become a force and be ready to defend our Ivy League title.

HWSD after winning 2012 Ivies

First Week Back

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Okay it isn’t REALLY our first week back… we’ve been practicing as a team since the beginning of September when captain’s practices began. But as of October 1st when our season officially started and we were all on deck for an opening team meeting with our coachesat 6:20am, the energy at the pool has been intoxicating. Our goals are aligned, our dedication engaged, and everyone has been working incredibly hard this first week in an effort to prove that HWSD is not letting anything stand in our way.

I’m Brittany Powell, a senior diver and one of this year’s HWSD co-captains. Coming off of a big championship win last year, we have taken a step back to re-discover our passions for our two sports and have come to realize that our team this year is new and exciting. We cannot let last year dictate how THIS team is going to compete, fight, and train in order to achieve the goals we have set this year. We have eleven fast and fearless freshmen joining our team, and after only one month together, we have already formed friendships and bonds in and out of the pool. Swimmer training groups were split up on Monday and the divers have taken to the boards to get their optional lists back from last season. Additionally, the entire team comes together twice a week for Yoga sessions with our new instructor, the ever-motivating Arturo.

At this point, we are working on keeping our focus on the process and not the outcome. It is going to take hard work day in and day out to ultimately get where we want to go. But championships is a long way off, five months in fact, and we are going to swim and dive every week with consistency, dedication, and persistence in mind. This is only the beginning for HWSD 2012-2013, and we are ready for whatever is in store.

Adding strength and flexibility to our training with yoga!

Olympic Trials

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So, for the first bit of intellectual work that I’ve done since school let out, its sophomore Courtney Otto here to express my deepest feelings about one of the most exciting competitions known in the swimming world. The Olympic Trials was an experience that surpassed all of my expectations. From the brand-spanking new pool, to the athlete lounge equipped with homemade smoothies, and finally the 14,000 nightly spectators, Trials was a spectacle that didn’t cease to amaze.

Throughout the weeks leading up to the meet, veteran Meghan Leddy gave some great advice in helping us newbies prepare for the event. Through her pictures from ’08, and stories of her past experience, myself, and the rest of the squad were anxiously awaiting for our chance to race with the best.

Within an hour after our plane landed, we all excitedly made our way over to the venue to check in and grab our goody bags. The spoils from Nike were incredible as we each got a backpack full of athletic gear and suits. We then made our way to the pool where I literally stopped and stared with my mouth gaping for an awkwardly long period of time. I foolishly thought I wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the venue since I had been to Nationals a number of times. However, it took about an hour of meditation back at the hotel to calm my racing heart rate.

Monday dawned the start of the meet, and my first race – the 400 IM. That definitely did not go as well as I would have hoped, but the support from the rest of the girls, helped shake out the nervous energy, and we were all looking forward to the next day where we had 3 girls in the 400 free. Ziggy, Kelsey, and incoming freshman Margaret Ramsey swam extremely solid times and each improved their placement, which just excited the rest of the group. We also got the chance to watch Janet Evans swim in the prelim heats of the 400. While her times were not what they used to be, it was such an honor to be able to watch a legend come back and race against girls half her age.

The most exciting day of Trials was definitely Thursday, which was the day of the 200 fly. Harvard had 5 girls representing, and three of which were all in the same heat. Dani was right next to me, and prefrosh Connie Hsu was a couple lanes over. Having one of my best friends swimming next to me made me feel so comfortable and excited to swim. Everyone turned in solid times, and alum Kate Mills, and graduated senior Hilary Roberts also showed off Harvard’s fly depth throughout the course of the event.

Trials was an incredible adventure and I’m so thankful that I was able to experience it as a part of HWSD. The way we trained, and raced leading up to Trials emulated our previous, and I have no doubt that the lessons we learned will carry over into next season!

Go Crimson!

HWSD Summers

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Hi, Brittany Powell here! I am a rising senior diver on HWSD and an honored captain for the 2012-2013 season. Exam stress is finally over and summer is off to a great start, which means a variety of exciting adventures for HWSD. Some of us choose to train hard, especially in the Olympic Trials year, and others are traveling home and around the world. Because our season runs October to March, many of the girls see the summer as an opportunity to travel or study abroad. There is such a wide variety of interests and plans! No matter where we all are, we have HWSD on our minds, and are getting pumped up for the upcoming season.

Dani Schulkin is training for Olympic Trials in Boston and then will head off to Cambridge, UK for a study abroad program after her swims in Nevada. Caroline Weaver is gearing up for a Trials qualifying meet, and after she swims at Trials, will return to Cambridge to proctor in the Harvard dorms. She will be busy taking a summer course and working on her thesis research in Human Evolutionary Biology.

Rising junior Taylor Foster is headed around the world to Beijing to work for a tutoring company with other Harvard students, and to study Chinese for half the summer. Then she will return home to Minnesota for an internship with ArgosRisk.  Laura Evans is working as the CEO of an upcoming startup out of the Harvard Innovation Lab and will spend her evenings DJing.

Diver Schuyler Moore is flying to London to work at a law firm and the BBC, and then will take her skills to work at a military institute in Germany. Rising senior Mackenzie Luick will be in Cambridge training for her Trials swims and then is working in Cape Town, South Africa for a month with an organization called One Heart Source. She will be teaching in a classroom as well as providing after school activities, and HIV/AIDS community awareness/education.

Kyle Kruger is heading to Trento, Italy with a Harvard Summer School program there, studying psychology and neuroscience. She hopes to fit in some sightseeing while she’s there! And one of our graduating seniors, Margaret Fish is working at Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio for the summer before enrolling at the University of Michigan for graduate school in the fall.

As for me, I’ll be in Cambridge doing some training and studying for my MCAT, and then will be working for Partners In Health in Neno, Malawi during July and August. That’s just a taste of all the crazy places we’ll all be this summer, and there will certainly be a lot of stories to be told when we get back in the fall.

Senior Reflections

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Hi all! My name is Alicia Lightbourne and I’m a senior sprint freestyler and breaststroker on HWSD. Below is a short excerpt from my senior speech, and then some:

It was one of those mornings where you seem to run on automatic without really thinking; put on clothes, grab phone, pocket keys, walk out front door. As I quietly eased the door shut behind me at six in the morning, an unsure “Hello?” echoed up the central dorm staircase. Not used to anyone that’s not used to smelling like chlorine being up at this hour, I spun around only to find my floor empty and every door closed. I walked down the stairs only to be intercepted by the third floor proctor, “Didn’t I just see you come back two hours ago from the library?” Still perplexed as to why he was awake so early, I remained mute. He continued, “No, I’m serious. Did you literally just get back and now you’re on your way to practice? Man, your schedule scares me.” I started to edge away, a signal that this one-sided conversation was over. With a shake of his head as he turned to open his door, he muttered “I don’t know how you girls do it.”

Though the all-nighters and midnight treks to the library are now largely a thing of the past, the awe in this sentence has always stuck with me. I had always known that what we do seems near impossible to those who aren’t used to our lifestyle. In high school, we, as any other Harvard student-athlete, were used to doing it all and doing it well. We had priorities and we stuck to them. But life post-high school has proven a lot more difficult. I had always been not just capable, but invincible, yet the addition of rigorous academics was a serious blow to what used to be my unwavering love for the sport. But something even more beautiful and inspiring arose.

I had become so obsessed with asking myself why; why do I put myself through all that I do – the 6am wake-ups, the Vo2 max sets, the unbelievable pain that comes with a change in the GH (or growth hormone) phase, and of course the no-I-can’t-because-I-have-practice’s- that I had stopped remembering HOW I did it. And the answer is, with each and every girl on HWSD. The endless hours in a dining hall, the excitement over new frozen yogurt flavors, The Zoo, the dancing on deck, the training trips, la nueve cuatro, the diver’s Halloween practice, the what-should-we-call-me’s, the look in your teammate’s eyes when you know that she’s got this, the feeling of anchoring a winning relay, of being Ivy League Champs 2x, and of finally being Ivy League Dual Meet Champs. Every time I thought I couldn’t, or questioned my motivation, I was given 36 reasons why I could. So the next time someone tells me, “I don’t know how you do it”, the only response I can think of is “I don’t know how you don’t.”

As my countdown to graduation gets dangerously low, it’s easy to get lost in the untimely end of it all. This past Wednesday marked the last day of official class, which means the last day of undergraduate class ever for the 10 of ’12, the steadfast senior class that has stuck together through it all. As the semester winds down, it seems as if not one day can pass by without a reminder of our “lasts” – the last problem set, the last house formal, and ultimately, the last practice at Blodgett. However, I can confidently say that instead of just looking back on this time at Harvard with sorrow that it is all over, the class of ’12 can also look back with pride at what we helped to create. #shots fired

Ivy Champs

A Senior Moment

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Hi everyone! I’m Hilary Roberts, a graduating senior 200 flyer/400IMer on the team.

Just about a week ago, HWSD had the senior banquet at the Harvard Club in Boston where a season recap was given, awards were given out, and all the seniors gave their senior speeches. I of course put it off to the last minute. How could I put what I felt about this team into words? My entire swimming college experience compressed into a span of 4 minutes? What did I even want to say?

I ended up sitting down at breakfast the morning of, and writing my speech out in a notebook. It started with a, “As most of you know, I’m not the best public speaker…” and ended with all my thank yous. I’m not sure if I said everything I wanted to say though, as talking of my experiences got me carried away on tangents. So here is my speech, rewritten, and hopefully an adequate expression of my love for HWSD:

This team means so much to me. Coming from high school, you don’t really get a sense of team. At swim meets you don’t have that sense of family, like you want to do something so bad. Not because you want it, but because others need you to. The team needs you to. I remember when this realization came to me (of course only 3 and a half years into college swimming …). It was during the first couple of events at our meet at Northwestern versus Iowa and Northwestern. I remember thinking, my team needs me, I need to do something, I have to do something. I had never put that into a concrete thought before. Earlier in the season, we raced Columbia in what ended up being the most intense duel meet I have  ever raced in. I remember feeling butterflies in my stomach, heart racing even though I was sitting down, and sweaty palms. At that meet, we 200 flyers needed to go 1, 2, 3 in order to bring us back into the lead. And we did.

What I’m trying to say is, I can’t imagine I will find this feeling elsewhere. All of us train every day in a sensory deprived world where the only thing your performance depends upon is you. Your attitude, your technique, the effort you put in mentally and physically. If swimming is such an individual sport, how can we just know that when someone steps up behind the blocks, they’re going to give it their all. And, even more importantly, they will do it because they can. All of us train every day with each other. We are a constant reminder to ourselves that we do need to go that extra mile, put in more than we thought possible, so that we can be someone that the team can depend on. It was said at Ivies this year by someone that [she] could look at everyone in the room, and be so confident that that person would step it up and do what was needed to be done in order to win. Not just because of their mental toughness, or fierce determination, but because she had been training with all of us, every day for the past season, and knew that we had put in the training needed to be capable of holding that rope.

Freshman year when my shoulder injuries took me out of the water, there was no doubt of me returning. How could I not return? (Part of it was my well known slight insanity when it comes to training and liking to do too much.) But an even more so reason was that every day on deck I would watch everyone practicing, pushing each other. How could I not want to be a part of that atmosphere? How could I not want to contribute to that attitude, to an environment where the concept of backing down from a challenge didn’t exist?

On this team, if someone needs help, whether it be in finding the right outfit, or writing a french paper, another is there. Not to sound too corny, but if something is wrong, we’re there for each other. I haven’t found anywhere else where there is an entire team of people that give me a sense of family, support and friendship. You all have something special, something to treasure. Know that, and take advantage of it every day. Time in college flies by, and before you know it, you’ll be going off to be a real world person.

So when I graduate from Harvard, things will never be the same. I won’t just be leaving my college life, I’ll be leaving this team. This team has taught me so much about how a group of people can be much more than the individual sum of everyone’s talents and abilities. Being on this team has been an incredible life changing experience, and I couldn’t imagine college without it.  When I think of all of you, I can’t find one person who hasn’t inspired me to work harder, or to be more than I thought I could ever be. I will miss every one of you. Thank you all for giving me one of the greatest experiences I will ever have.

You all rock.

HWSDlove,
Hilary
Senior Banquet

Seniors at the Banquet!

Operation Omaha

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Hello all!  My name is Mackenzie Luick and I’m a junior breaststroker on HWSD.

Spring has officially arrived at the pool, and even the weather has been much nicer.  Our spring training is always a great time to build a solid foundation for the next college season, and this year has been especially strong.  With a large group of us training to qualify for and attend Olympic Trials this June as part of our Operation Omaha, workouts have been just as focused, intense, and difficult as they are in season, giving us an early advantage on the next college season.  I’m sure you follow @HarvardSwim on twitter, and have seen how creative our Friday cross training has been!  We have been back at our dryland circuits in “The Zoo” too, and have transitioned to doing workouts in our main stroke in the 50m course in the mornings.  It’s been a nice change to be done with tapering and back to training hard, and many of us are enjoying feeling sore from dryland and tough workouts in the pool again.

While Courtney and Meghan were getting ready for NCAA Championships, a core group of Operation Omaha attended a sectional meet in Wisconsin.  While we didn’t see any Trial times, everyone had good swims and learned a lot about what we can work on going forward.  We also did win the meet (combined and women, even though we only had women), proving once again our strength as a team.  We also sent a group to Canadian Olympic Trials two weekends ago, where seniors Helen and Ali and freshman Sarah represented HWSD on an international level.

As a rising senior, it has been so fun and different from normal spring seasons because we still get to train with a good group of our seniors from this year.  Having their leadership continue into the spring has been a great way to build an even stronger team atmosphere.  In addition to our standard off-season training, our focus on Operation Omaha as a team has really brought purpose, focus, and intensity to the pool.  Everyone on the team, whether they are a part of Operation Omaha or not, has a higher level of focus as defending Ivy League Champions.  Looking to repeat that and gain an ECAC title next college season will not be easy, and the hard work we are putting in now will go a long way to helping us jump start the next season when we return in the fall.  Sharing a goal as a team in addition to our individual goals of success is what has made us such a formidable force all year, and seeing that continue into spring training has been amazing.

April is always a busy month at Harvard, and we are looking forward to not only the end of the year banquet, but also Junior weekend and pre-frosh weekend in the upcoming weeks.  For Operation Omaha, we have a few more weeks of steady training with meets coming up in the end of April and into May.  We’re especially looking forward to attending a big meet in Tennessee in late May/early June, as this will be a chance for many of us to make our first or additional Olympic Trial qualifying times.  It’s going to be a great spring and summer, so stay tuned for exciting updates!

National Championships

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What’s up HWSD fans?!  It’s rising sophomore ( Gasp! No longer a froshie!) Courtney Otto here to tell you all the imminent details of life after claiming the Ivy Championship trophy. Well, our post- victory celebration mentality was given until Tuesday to calm down, and then it was back to reality. Senior Meghan Leddy and I found out on Wednesday that we were invited to the NCAA Championships to be held in Auburn, Alabama! While the meet was scheduled for March 15 -17 which happened to fall right during our spring break, I can’t really say that I was disappointed to be spending my time off racing in one of the fastest meets the US has to offer.

The week and a half that Meghan and I trained in Cambridge was definitely a little difficult. Most of our team went to Wisconsin for Speedo Sectionals, and due to our different event line-ups, we had to practice by ourselves a bit too often. Needless to say, with the help of a manicure date we pulled through and were both so excited to be able to represent Harvard at Nationals.

We left Cambridge on Tuesday giving ourselves about a day and a half recovery to prepare for the start of the meet on Thursday. My relationship with Coach Steph grew rapidly on the flight down as her shoulder served as a wonderfully comfortable pillow. The next couple days also proved to have some very beneficial bonding time. I finally got Meghan to color from my Disney coloring book, she in turn gave me nightmares while making me watch Criminal Minds, and eating Hibachi with some very Southern folk also proved to be an interesting experience. Along with these outside-the-pool activities, inside both Meghan and I were feeling great in the water and were eagerly anticipating the start of Day One.

Thursday was the start of competition, and while Meghan had the day off, I had my bonus race, the 500 free. The morning started off with a feel-good wake-up swim, followed by a delicious breakfast and then back the to pool. My nerves started to get the best of me however, and I shakily swam to a 4: 51.  We came back later that evening to watch finals, and while I was inspired by the amount of girls who could break the 4:40 barrier, I felt inferior in comparison to the rest of the girls, and it was a feeling not easily shaken.

Friday dawned a beautiful new day as Meghan prepared for her 100 Back, and I, my 400 IM.  Meghan’s 55.72 was just a bit off her personal best, and my 4: 14 400 IM was equivalent to my best time prior to Ivies. While we both swam solid morning swims, there was still an air of disappointment because really, who likes to just watch finals? While I didn’t want to admit it at the time, coming back each night and watching finals really taught me a lot. The way the All-Americans handled themselves with a calm, cool confidence was admirable. Frankly, it was an eye opener.

The final day of competition on Saturday brought forth the best out of Meghan and I. She had her 200 back, while I finished up with the 2 fly. We both ended with solid time in 1:58 and 1: 57 respectively.

Swimming at the NCAA Championships was definitely one of my most memorable experiences. While it wasn’t a huge team celebration like Ivy’s, I still felt the HWSD love daily as my phone, and email blew up with congratulatory messages, as well as good luck wishes.  Also, being able to share my first National meet experience with another teammate was also special, and I can’t wait for the coming years. I know having more individuals at the meet is definitely a team goal in the years to come and I have no doubt that my teammates want it just as badly as I do.  I’m so excited for spring training, and watch for HWSD as we compete in both the Canadian and US Olympic Trials!

Sendin y’all some HWSD Love <3