Ryan Hackman
Contributing Writer
The North Central College men’s and women’s swim teams visited St. Lawrence, Barbados in December for the Barbados Amateur Swimming Association’s Short Meters National Championship.
The teams arrived in Barbados on Dec. 7 and left on Dec. 14. Sophomore Julie Albright and senior Lauren Gorski competed in the 200-meter backstroke in their respective age group and earned first (2:36:55) and second (2:43:14) place.
On the Men’s team, Sophomore Jacob Nesemeier earned first place in the 100-meter backstroke finishing just barely under 1:30. Loreli Patschke, graduate assistant of both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, said that if there was just one lesson to take away from the 7-day trip, it’s to be tolerant of people in other countries.
“Keep an open mind and be open to different cultures and how they work,” said Patschke.
Patschke said that the folks down in Barbados were extremely courteous and willing to help. She also said that it took the team awhile to adjust to the fact that Barbados is a British Colony and citizens in that country drive on the opposite side of the road compared to the United States. She mentioned that the swimming and diving team go on an international trip every four years. In late 2010, the teams went to Costa Rica.
Patschke goes on to mention that the Barbados swim meet met the requirement that the teams attend a training trip for swimming and diving. Nesemeier said what he enjoyed the most about visiting Barbados was that he and many on the team had the chance to go surfing and had the chance to swim out about 200 meters on a shipwreck and snorkle among others.
“I made sure I was hydrated days before practice,” said Nesemeier.
While the team was down there, they would wake up a little after six in the morning, and then, after eating breakfast, they would go to a pool and train for about two hours. They would then be given free time to partake in activities such as finding seashells. Nesemeier also said that he would go back to Barbados in the future.
