For the Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams, exam week provides more of a break than Winter Break. Indeed, once finals end, the Cavaliers will enter one of their most intense training periods of the season.
"We are going into four weeks of high intensity and high volume -- probably as tough a training stretch as we have had since October," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "It is a pivotal time for us to re-establish our aerobic foundation and then get right into a lot of speed work and race-based work."
Unlike the month of rest most of the student body will enjoy, the Cavalier swimmers will only have about 10 days before they get right back in the pool.
"We will stay until [Dec. 21] and have our annual Christmas practice the day that we leave, which is a lot of fun but challenging at the same time," senior Kenton Harris said. "Then we are back here by January second."
Shortly after returning to Charlottesville, the Cavaliers will depart for Costa Rica for a training trip. Over the course of a week in Central America, practice will be held twice a day at an elevation of 3,500 feet.
"We haven't done an international trip in quite some time, so everyone is really enthusiastic and really excited," Bernardino said. "I don't know that the elevation will matter or if the oxygen is really any thinner than it is in Charlottesville, but maybe we will get some very subtle benefits from training at that height."
The trip also provides the Cavaliers with the opportunity to leave the distractions of Charlottesville behind and focus 100 percent on becoming stronger swimmers. It also promotes team bonding and unity as the team gears up for the second half of the season.
The women's team in particular is looking forward to practice time in Costa Rica.
"I am so excited to be going and swimming together and pushing each other and encouraging each other," freshman Claire Crippen said. "We spend four to five hours together every day already, so we know each other pretty well. But in Costa Rica, it is going to be 24 hours a day for eight days, and it'll be a chance to learn so much more about each other and to set some more team goals."
Although this year was touted as a rebuilding year for the Virginia women, the team has already exceeded all expectations. This past weekend the team fell to No. 1 Georgia by a narrow margin, and 14 Cavalier women posted NCAA "B" qualifying times.
In recognition of her performance at the Georgia Invitational, Crippen was named ACC Co-Performer of the Week Tuesday along with Georgia Tech diver Stephanie England. Crippen won the 400 individual medley with an NCAA "A" qualifying time of 4:11.87, the fastest time in the ACC so far this season and the third fastest time in league history. She also posted three other NCAA "B" qualifying marks.
"Honestly I went into the meet not knowing what to expect," Crippen said. "This was my first opportunity to be rested and swim all my best events with a fast suit and just see how fast I could go. I am happy with how it went -- I pretty much swam all of my best times, and it makes me look forward to ACCs and NCAAs."
Given Crippen's performance and the solid second place showings of both teams last weekend, Bernardino said he feels he has a solid foundation on which to build over break.
"Winter Break allows us to ensure we have a good last half of the season," Bernardino said. "Going away, we will be all to ourselves so the team can push one another without any distractions, and we can see what we can accomplish"
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