Things are beginning to heat up. All of our family was hanging onto their seats at the end of the Super Bowl. Thank God Green Bay won. It was so close. Now I don’t have to hear all those Viking jokes for a while I hope. The Brett Favre stuff finally quieted down. Even our teachers talked about Favre the past couple years.

Oh yes - the Spring River Penguins are now enmeshed in both dry land and water workouts. In fact the 3x10x150s are killing our team. After that we have 90 squats. There is nothing left of me after these workouts. The Olympic swim training would be easier! Our coaches say our training is just beginning to reveal dividends for the Penguins. I went to Rochester, Minnesota and competed in a class A meet this past week. Of course the Aquajets, Blackdogs, and many others including Rochester all showed up with their class A swimmers. The Penguins from Spring River did well and were in the mix. I almost received Zone time in the 100 back at 1.02.79. My 100 IM was decent at 1.03.4. And the 50 freestyle, old term, American Crawl, was 24.88. In fact the reason they call it the freestyle is not because of the alternating arm movement and breathing with a flutter kick; it is truly because one can do a stroke they desire - even dog paddle. The crawl is just the fastest. But that is truly why they call it freestyle – any style

Our teachers didn't show up a couple days in school. Word has it that they were protesting in Madison. This was just like a SNOW day. We are all wondering if this counts against a SNOW day. But our swim coaches took advantage. We had a special practice just on flip turns, starts, finishes, and stroke techniques - which our entire team needs vast improvement upon to win against top women swim teams in the Cities nearby.

School is going well. All my classes seem to be coming together and I've had time to practice my piano music for an upcoming recital and competition. My selections have been Canzonetta in a viola duet, a solo Sonata, from Bach, and Maple Leaf Rag from Scott Joplin. I recently discovered there is a Scott Joplin museum in St. Louis. His most notable song achievement that became famous modernly was “The Entertainer” in the movie “The Sting." My parents say that was a great movie back in the 70s.

I'm off to sleep. We have a big practice tomorrow getting ready for the next meet. It's tough, but I really love to compete in swimming. All this wet and dry practice is well worth it. I respect my coaches, but I'm not in love with them in any way. They are so tough on us and seemingly act at times as if we are at war. I guess we are in the trenches in a way, and we'll get the benefit from all this practice at Zones this summer. This winter has been so cold – and getting into summer is not close enough. I can't wait for the outdoor swimming of summer and Zones!

Jenn Smithson
Captain - Spring River Penguins Swim Club

Written by Jenn Smithson Tuesday, 08 March 2011 15:33