Dartmouth Men's Swimming and Diving



2001 Training Trip to Puerto Rico

Each December, Dartmouth Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Teams take a training trip. In 2001, both teams trained in Puerto Rico.  Following is freshman Noah Zandan's account of that trip.

Monday, December 10: The Journey Begins

5:00pm - Dartmouth versus the University of New Hampshire, that’s how this all begins. After proving to UNH that the more divers you have the better the team you are, Jim Wilson, our coach, isn’t too pleased with our performance, but I think we had other things on our mind this night. We get back to campus at around 11:00pm, and by 2:15am, Andrew Biteen '04 has made sure to call every person on the team to remind us to bring the necessities on our winter training trip: a Frisbee and shampoo.

Tuesday, December 11: I Don’t Remember a Thing

2:45am – We’re all on the bus and ready to go. As I find my place in the back of the bus, I see what appears to be a small child get onto the bus and I wonder if Jim has a young son we’ve never heard about. But Scott Gabbard ’02 informs me that it’s Nikita Dubrovsky ’04, who has been off term for the fall, but is joining the team now and will be with us through the remainder of the season. He doesn’t look old enough to be in college.

It is nice of the women’s team to take up two seats per person, but we manage. Two plane rides, one disgusting plate of airline French toast, and 3.234 hours of sleep later; we arrive in Puerto Rico.

Once there, everyone decides to strip down to as few clothes as possible. This is the first appearance of the 'he-man’ T-shirt club. Founding members: Mike Hipps '05 and Chris Toepp '04.  Another bus ride out of the airport and we’re officially in Puerto Rico.

2:30pm - Jim decides that after being awake for almost twelve hours without food, it is time to eat our first meal. Little do I realize this might also be my last meal. As Nate Fidel '02 devours whole chickens, Pete Augello '02 comes to a startling realization; “I started talking to her in Spanish, and she quickly began to speak English”.

4:00pm - We soon arrive at our concentration….I mean training camp, the Albergue Olimpico.  Founded by a German after WWII, many of us are skeptical as to what we’ve gotten ourselves into. Barbed wire fences and armed security guards lead us to believe we may be in for something other than a Club Med experience.

5:00pm - First workout, 6500 meters (an easy one), and first meal. Grant Chang '04 remarks, “Shoot…..All the food is yellow.” I’m asleep, but apprehensive of what’s to come, by 8:30pm.

Quote of the day: “Nikita is terrible, he is worse than me” – Nick Baum '05

Wednesday, December 12: Look on the Bright Side, Only Nine More Days

5:45am - The real practices begin. Our fearless leader Jim gives us our second workout. 50 warm up, then 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200. The swimmers’ of the practice and the first people to use points on training trip: Scott Gabbard and Grant Chang. Graig Peterson '05 gets the death award for managing to get his eyes so swollen that he looks like he has double bee-stings.

9:00am - Highlights of the day include a three hour nap, a disgusting lunch, seeing Luis Barrera '02 less than fully clothed, hearing Andrew Biteen actually stop talking for five minutes, and seeing Mike Hipps open a book and read.

3:00pm - Time for everyone to pretend we are in the movie Rocky III.  Apollo Creed, alias Coley Stickels, our assistant coach, makes sure to find the smallest possible weight room at the Albergue and turn on the heat before we get there.  After a lot of sweating, and some lifting, Coley explains to us that rest between sets shouldn’t be rest at all, the time should be used to improve our medicine ball throwing ability.  Nate Fidel, his brother Louis Fidel '03, and Chris Toepp agree.

Swim practice consists of as many short sets as Jim could think of, except for the sprint freestylers, who sunbathe and do Cordz. 

7:00pm – Dinner…. No surprises? Later, Scott Brown ’02 introduces the idea of a DVD player to the Albergue.  The locals are very impressed.  I’m fast asleep by 9:00pm.

Quote of the day: “This isn’t fat camp, give me some seconds” – Louis Trotman '03

Thursday, December 13: Does It Ever Rain in Puerto Rico?

5:40am - Morning workout, and two and a half-hours of sheer bliss in the water. Breakfast includes…wait, I don’t want to remember.

9:00am - Everyone tries to sunbathe all day, but it is rather difficult in the rain, yet somehow, Scott Gabbard still gets burned.  Mike Tanana '04 complains to us all about how hard the divers have been working, saying, “Practice was really tough today, my nose got sunburned a little.”

2:00pm - Afternoon practice is the highlight of my training trip, the team terrorists versus the dirty Americans in speedball. Uncle Sam wins this thanks to our own redneck from North Carolina who spells the number ten like he says it, “tin.”  Luis Barrera hits on some girls while Scott Trubisz '04 gets jealous.  Workout is stroke sets.  The Butterfly group loses with a 20 x 200s fly set.

7:00pm - Activities of the night consist of Coley talking, Luis and Nate Fidel wasting $11 on a teenage mutant ninja turtles video game (and not winning), Coley talking, Grant Chang giving away Andrew Biteen’s food, and Coley talking.

11:00pm - At the end of the night, as we all pile into our room, number nine, we realize Scott Trubisz is missing. Sean Robinson '05 decides to go look for him in the bathroom. Sure enough, that’s where he is, again.

Quote of the day: “It must suck to be a male lady-bug” – Sean Robinson '05

Friday, December 14: The Day of the French Revolution.

5:30am – Workout is two hours and 45 minutes of kicking. Swimmer (kicker) of the practice: Ben Cassady '05, who makes all the underwaters incredible. The breakfast award goes to Paul Schned '03, who downs eleven boxes of cereal.

10:00am - Luckily, we get to go on a hike and take team pictures. After all, why take a picture in front of palm trees and flowers when we can take them by the front gate of the Albergue? Through close examination of the picture with a magnifying glass, one can observe that Chris Toepp is actually flexing his guns.

2:00pm - Afternoon practice, where Coley manages to find a weight room for us to lift in instead of a sauna. Louis Fidel shows off on every machine, while Andrew Biteen shows me his newly acquired 12 pack. Next comes workout, and the much-anticipated 10,000-meter IM set, but wait…according to Jim, the captains are worried about us. So instead of swimming, a deal is made.  Jump off any of the diving boards and swim to the corresponding lane underwater and you’re out of workout. (For instance, a 10-meter tower jump means you swim underwater to lane 10, a three-meter jump means you swim to lane three (farther than lane 10)).  Almost everyone makes it. Andrew misses it by four lanes (low sugar level I guess), Bryant Ho '05 misses it by only one (he couldn’t see), and then there is Nick Baum '05, who decides to not even try to get out of any swimming and do the whole 10,000 meters.  Bryant is excused for his mistake, Andrew swims about a 500 fly, and Frenchy (Nick’s from France, hence the nickname) appears dead after the first 2000 IM and is excused.  The rest of us celebrate like “three-year-olds in a cracker barrel” according to Mike Hipps.

5:30pm - Dinner consists of what the Puerto Ricans call beef (cow parts we’re not too sure of). That night, West Virginia University arrives. Later, the '02s have senior dinner, where Pete Augello addresses Jim as “Son.”.

Quote of the day:  “I hate outer-space. It just sucks” – Sean Robinson '05

Saturday, December 15: I Wish I Was Home So I Could Celebrate Hanukkah.       

5:20am - While we try and switch the lanes from short to long course, Jim flips out and yells at us all, the pool guy gets scared and runs away.  I can’t speak for the freestylers, but the IMers do 6 x 500’s IM. After completing that and a few more sets, Jim tells us to warm down, but to also make it a warm up, because directly after practice, we are swimming a meet against West Virginia University. Two relays later (400 Medley- 2nd and 3rd, and 400 Freestyle- 1st and 2nd) Coley proclaims, “Wow, they’re even worse than we”.  In other words, we win.  It wasn’t voted on, but swimmer of the meet should go to Paul Schned.

10:00am - A few of us go down to the aviary, where we find a rooster who resembles Jim, a sickly African Canary we label Nick Baum, a bird with a fro like Graig Peterson (puffy eyes too), and a fat chicken that looks like Luis Barrera and went “Uh-Oooh”.

2:00pm - Afternoon dryland consists of running up the Everest of Puerto Rico. Pete Augello does a great job, while Grant Chang calls the hill “Vertical,” Matt Sueoka '04 proclaims it “The worst thing ever”, and Mike Hipps adds “A centipede has a thousand legs and a millipede has over a million.” Who knew?

3:00pm - Practice is another stroke workout, and for the first time in his life, Tom Sanford '04 gets really angry and yells at Jim for not telling him that the flags were gone. Over half of the team is injured from pulling on the very sharp lane lines during backstroke. Then, we get trivia questions for early get-out of workout.  All groups win especially Trotman who answers the question correctly before it is even given.

6:00pm - At dinner, Coley tells us how to gamble, and starts a secret society (not too secret I guess). That night, the circus act that is the Albergue continues, featuring:

Quote of the day: “Chachi turned our room into a gas chamber.” - Grant Chang '04

Sunday, December 16: Time to Go to the Happy Place.

5:30am - Morning practice is 30 x 100’s freestyle as a main set, not too bad.  A high five to Mike Hipps for making the intervals. Kiss the place of not so beautiful women, no sun, no people, and our divers goodbye.  We are out of the Albergue.

1:00pm - We arrive at the beautiful Days Inn Hotel in San Juan. Real beds, housekeeping, restaurants, casinos (go Toepp), and clubs galore.  While Bart rushes off to the Internet café, everyone else decides to explore. Andrew Biteen, Graig Peterson and I decide to hop on a random bus, and when we get off, some happy tourists thinking that we’re locals, ask Graig for directions. He proceeds to blatantly lie. Funny how Americans can’t figure out that three guys who can't speak Spanish probably aren't locals, not to mention Biteen’s new Puerto Rico hat. The rest of the team venture to the beach. After leaving the beach, it’s off to Walgreen’s where we see John Rocker from the Cleveland Indians.

6:30pm - Arriving at the pool, the entire team gets excited. It seems as though Mother Nature has finally come to our rescue. Thunder and lightening and rain means no practice right?  Wrong says Jim. Jim forces us into the un-chlorinated pool without hesitation. Practice consists of 8 x (200, 150, 100, 50) freestyle.

10:30pm - After practice, we head back to the hotel and a few adventurous souls head off to a club.

Quote of the day: “You know what would be cool, if they put snow on a mountain and you could go down it. Oh wait, that’s skiing.” – Sean “Einstein” Robinson '05

Monday, December 17: If it Tastes Like Coke, it Must be Rum.

6:45am – (Jim calls this sleeping in). Time to head to workout. Breakfast consists of barely enough soggy cereal and warm milk to feed a muscle man like Nikita. The women’s team comes in a few minutes late and is angry and hungry.  After all, they need their food. Practice is 4 x (100, 200, 300. 300, 200, 100). Thank God for Nathan Fidel, using ninety of his points to let the entire team out of a 300 free. One question though Nathan, why didn’t you choose the 300 fly instead?  Relays follow, in which Jim does everything possible to prevent the dominators (room nine, my room) from winning.

10:00am - After a short break, we head to Old San Juan for some sightseeing and shopping. Highlights include El Morro, which everyone got to see, but most people were too stingy to pay the $2 entry fee to actually go inside. Winnings at the casino that day include Graig Peterson $58, Me $26, Chris Toepp -$500, and Paul Schned -$50. Then it was off to the Bacardi Factory.

6:00pm - We head to workout. Time to lift weights again, so we attempt to fit thirty guys in a closet that is the weight room. Practice is a get-out set for three different groups. The sprinters swim a 50. The IMers yell real loudly, and the freestylers swim real far. We go back to the hotel, watch Monday night football, and fall asleep.

Quote of the day: “Ooh, Ooh pull over.” to a car of girls by Grant Chang ’04.

Tuesday, December 18: Worst (almost) Day of My Life.

6:45am – We don’t even bother to go to breakfast. This is the morning from hell if you swim IM (Jim interprets IM as anyone that can do breaststroke without sinking). 6400 meters IM. Grant Chang, Scott Trubisz (when he isn’t at the toilet), and I have good sets. Nate Fidel does well on freestyle.

10:00am - Everyone is exhausted, so Jim decides we should go on a hike. After eating at Ponderosa, it was off to the rainforest. It is fascinating that you can put about fifty Ivy League students together and not a single one prepares for rain in a rainforest. The good news is, there was a cool waterfall to go swimming. Chris Toepp gets up close and real personal under the waterfall with the Chupacabra. The team is also happy to learn that Coley “Superman” Stickels actually has a weakness: he is deathly afraid of bats.

5:00pm - Jim decides to take us all to the beach.  Beaches aren’t very much fun when it is cloudy though.  Graig Peterson and Mike Hipps dominate the upperclassmen in speedball once again.  Nate Fidel breaks his toe playing soccer.  Jim goes with him to the hospital, giggling on the way that not even broken bones will get someone out of workout.

Quote of the day: “How does that water get from the bottom of the waterfall back to the top” Bryant Ho '05

Wednesday, December 19: Only Two More Days.

6:45am - Second kick workout of the trip.  After about two hours, Jim and Coley realize the workout is thirty minutes too long. But why cut workout short when the bus driver will wait?  We finally escape their wrath.  After doing 500 or so lunges, nobody can walk to the bus.

10:00am - A free day to do whatever we please. The women’s team and Scott Trubisz sunbathe, some guys sleep, and some go to Old San Juan again.

4:30pm - Afternoon workout time, but Jim says this workout will be special. He tells us to put on our suits and wait in the lobby. Most of us expect an ocean swim. As I view the lagoon, I realize I would never be as clean as I was at that moment. The seniors only had to swim across twice, the juniors three times, and the sophomores and freshman four times. After the swimming comes dryland.  One exercise was hitting a volleyball in the air as a group as many times as you can.  Louis Trotman decides that this is the most important drill of his life and does a face dive onto concrete to try keep the rally alive.  He ends up landing on his finger and dislocating it in a rather disgusting way.  Trip number two for Jim to the hospital.  Then the bugs came out and decide to feast on our American blood, especially Luis’ and Sean’s.  It is a race to the showers and calamine lotion, and then to sleep.

Quote of the day: “Are there two Nikitas?” Alyssa Hochman '05

Thursday, December 20: Will He Ever Finish?

6:30am - The set we have all been waiting for: 100 x 100’s. While the women’s team complain about their 5000, all the freshmen reach 10,500 meters, and everyone on the team gets to 10,000. Ben Cassady decides freestyle is not a big enough challenge and switches to backstroke. Sean Robinson tries to count to 100.  Bryant Ho misses the first three but makes the rest.  Pete Augello puts in a valiant effort. But the highlight is seeing the old guy, Jim, get in and keep up for about 15.  It is safe to say that he is past his peak.  While Coley, our younger and more in-shape coach, decides sitting on the wall is enough of a workout for him.  After 105 for the '05’s the swimming part of training trip is over.

11:00am - Everyone celebrates by trying to get skin cancer.  The divers return from the Albergue, and Dan Olson '04 comes back with a new fashion sense straight out of “Night at the Roxbury”.

5:00pm - Team dinner is the next adventure.  Hipps almost looks respectable in a tie.  Jim decides we haven’t spent enough time at the pool, so he decides we should eat team dinner there too. The meal is all the Puerto Rican food Jim could gather.  Highlights of the night include Sean Robinson telling us about his two loves in life, Erin and bread, and Bryant Ho proves to us that he can fit an entire soda can into his mouth.  Next was secret Santa time. Thumbs up to Olson’s man-towel, Sean’s New Jersey versus the world map, and Matt Sueoka’s statues.

9:00pm - We have the entire night free.  No morning workout, no Jim.  So we settle for the second best alternatives: gambling and clubs. Tim Millikin '05 and Paul Schned manage to lose all of their money, but help others win. Thanks for taking one for the team guys. Tom Sanford makes a very special friend at the kareoke bar. Bart Singer '05 and Nikita Dubrovsky sit in their room and watch the home shopping network till 4am. And just like that, it is all over.

Quote of the day: “Is it going to be a nude beach?” Louis Trotman '03

Friday, December 21: The Day We Have All Been Waiting For.

9:00am - The flight home.  It was the best day of my life.  I would like to finish with a quote by Mike Hipps, “Training trip is like butchering your first cow; it ain’t fun while you are doing it, but once you are done, you feel all warm and tingly inside.”