Hawaii, for many tourists, is a place to take in the sun and have some fun. But for the Michigan women’s swimming and diving team, it will be a place to train. That’s right, the Wolverines will spend this winter break in warm Pacific islands, only to complete one of their most rigorous training schedules of the season.
On Dec. 26, the team will travel to Honolulu, Hawaii to train for the rest of winter break. The trip will culminate in a dual meet with an undetermined opponent.
Workouts for the Wolverines have increased in both length and intensity these past few weeks, and they hope to maximize their workload by the end of this trip.
“The nature of the work is becoming more specific and rigorous as the season progresses,” Michigan coach Jim Richardson said. “Training times have been increasing, and we are gradually increasing the practice time spent in the water.”
Richardson has arranged quite an itinerary for this “vacation.” The team will start its day at 6 a.m. with a 45-minute run. This warm-up will be followed by a one-hour stint in the ocean with surfboards to work on the lower back and deltoids.
“We will paddle out, catch a wave, and then paddle back out, over and over again,” Richardson said. “The paddling is a really good workout.”
From 9 to 10 a.m., the team will start its strength and conditioning dry-land workout, followed immediately by in-water endurance swimming.
“We want to touch base on the two areas of the energy continuum – endurance and speed,” he said.
The team will then have a chance to enjoy the island surroundings that Honolulu provides. But Richardson also expects that the team will be indirectly involved in some sort of training during its free time.
“One of the pleasures of being in Hawaii is the ‘hidden’ training,” Richardson explained. “The team will be outdoors and able to do other activities that they wouldn’t be able to do in Ann Arbor. This a very good place to train from a climate standpoint.”
But the day is not complete just yet for the Wolverines. At 6:30 p.m., the team will regroup and build abdominal strength until 7 p.m. At that time, the Wolverines head back to the pool for another two-hour session. This time, the team will work on specific races, consisting mostly of middle distance lengths.
To comply with NCAA rules, Michigan must end its trip with formal competition of some sort. The Wolverines were scheduled for the Jan. 2 Rainbow Invitational. But due to travel conflicts, they decided to withdraw and arrange a single-day dual meet with another visiting team, possibly Purdue, Iowa or Stanford.