Throughout the month of January, Kimberley Medina, a senior swimmer for the University of Nevada will
write a weekly blog on her teams' progress and what it's like to be a student-athlete in-season. Check back each Monday to read a new entry.
Photo Gallery
Monday, January 31, 2011
Hey
WAC fans!
Well,
it's only the end of the second week of school and my homework is already piled
high. The Wolf Pack swimmers had another hard week's worth of training. I'm
still trying to get back in the swing of things. All this school work makes me want
to nap all the time, but I can't do that. The Conference Championship is almost
here, just about three weeks away until the start of the meet. I get nervous
just thinking about it. I was telling my head coach, Mike Richmond, that after
I saw the countdown on the WAC home page, I started to freak out and I was in
the middle of class. (Don't worry I was still paying attention to the lecture.)
Twenty-three days until the start of my final swimming competition, ever.
Yikes! I don't want to think about it!
The
Pack and I traveled to Seattle to dual Seattle University in our final meet of
the season. We had to wake up early Saturday morning, fly to Seattle, then
compete. It was a bit exhausting, but I knew we'd never give up. The meet went
by so fast and the score stayed close until the very end of the meet. The
Seattle team has definitely gotten better since we dueled them last. They swam
well and so did we. We didn't win the meet, but we have a few Washatonians
(this is what they told me they were called way back when I was a freshman) on
the team whose families came to see them swim. Gabby Guieb and Karli Howe got
to see their families and got to be home for less than a day. Leslie Foley's
family traveled from Oregon to see her swim, too. For being so far from home, Nevada
actually had quite a large fan section. My favorite fans we're two of our
alumni, Larissa Cadag (now Larissa Lumb-Mielke) and Samantha Neff. Cadag was a
fifth year senior my freshman year, but I didn't get to swim with her. She
helped coach. She is such an inspiration and an amazing person. I’ve missed her
so much since she moved! I was glad to have her behind my lane cheering her
head off. Sam graduated last year and shares my love of sarcasm in which we are
both fluent. She has been through it all and still swam through it. I love them
both very much.
Now
that I have checked off almost all of 'The Lasts' on my list for senior year, I
only have one thing left--the WAC Championships. It's been a crazy year and a
crazy career swimming for Nevada. I have no regrets. I'm just going to miss my
teammates so much after I graduate and move in May. Who wouldn't love having
more than 20 instant friends? :)
Well,
WAC fans, this is my final blog for January. I hope you enjoyed reading it as
much as I did writing it. I also hope you liked all the pictures. I'd like to
thank the Western Athletic Conference for giving me this opportunity. Good luck
to all the teams and athletes in the WAC. Play Up! Go Pack!
-Kimberly
Monday, January 24, 2011
Hey
WAC fans!
I
hope everyone's first week of school went well! We started back on Tuesday and
I didn't know I could sleep this much. One month off of school and it feels
like I haven't been in school for years. Well, although school just started,
the Nevada swim and dive team's season is winding down.
We
didn't have any meets this weekend so that meant straight training. I know we
all are a bit sore from getting back into the swing of things and I don't just
mean classes. We had our first weight training workout since break began in
early December. We also started 6 am workouts again. Over break, practices were
at 8 am. I know it's only a two hour difference between the workouts, but that
two hours is magical. It was rough getting up for Wednesday morning practice at
6 am.
Although
the swimmers didn't have a meet this weekend, the divers had an eventful
weekend. Routinely, the divers head out to Stanford to train on their platforms
since there aren't any platforms in Reno or the surrounding areas for our girls
to train on. I know our divers are tired from the training and traveling, but
they dive so well at the conference championship so it'll be worth it to see
them nail their dives.
Besides
that, the week was pretty basic for the team. Two practices a day with class in
between. I know it sounds like a lot to handle, but I'm so used to it that I
need a packed routine to be able to get everything done. Too much free time on
my hands and I don't know what to do with myself.
This
coming week we're preparing for our last meet of the season against the
University of Seattle. It'll be a quick and exhausting travel meet, but I'm
excited none the less. It's my last dual meet, ever, and some of our alumni who
live in Washington are coming to watch. I can't believe my career is almost
over. I cannot wait until the conference championship which is only four short
weeks away!
Well,
that's it for now. Thanks and see you next week!
-Kimberly
Senior Day Photo Gallery
Monday, January 17, 2011
Hey
WAC fans!
This
last week of our Christmas training has been intense! We had one week between
our training camp in Puerto Rico and the start of semester, but just because we
were in Reno didn't mean the coaches were going to back down.
Saturday,
the team had a double dual swim meet against UC Davis and Cal State University
East Bay. I know we were all sore and didn't feel our bests in the water, but
we got pumped up for this meet. We had already swam UCD earlier in the year and
lost, but this time we were going to show them what it means to be 'Wolf Pack'.
The
score was so close the entire meet. Sometimes they would be ahead and other
times we would, but it was usually only a matter of one or two points. After
one of the diving breaks the score was 86-85 Nevada! It came down to the final
relay, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Our girls were pumped up. The rest of the
team was lined up on the side of the pool cheering. I almost lost my voice from
screaming so loud!
Nevada
won the relay, but that wasn't enough to secure the meet's victory. The final
score was UCD-123, Nevada-120 and Nevada-203, CSU East Bay-28.
Even
though we didn't win both, the meet was special for me because it was Senior
Day, the last home meet of the season and the last home meet ever for the
graduating seniors. I had my own little fan section, complete with embarrassing
signs, to cheer me on at my last home meet. I said I would cry in the last blog
and I didn't disappoint, I was the one senior to cry as I accepted my flowers
and during Head Coach Mike Richmond's blurb about my years as a member of the
Wolf Pack. What can I say? I love my Wolf Pack and although I'm excited for my
future, I'm going to miss all the amazing girls I have met and all the amazing
times I have had. It is a happy time in which I should celebrate because as an
incoming freshman class of 10, only 4 stuck it out, but also sad because this
team has been my family through thick and thin these last four years.
My
family and friends have gone home now and I have one more day until the
semester starts which means I need to get back into the grind of classes and
swimming.
No
more four hour naps in between practices for me.
Five
weeks until we leave for conference.
My
last semester as an undergraduate student.
I'm
ready.
Thanks
and see you next week!
-Kimberly
Puerto Rico Photo Gallery
Monday, January 10, 2011
Hey
WAC fans!
I
hope the first week of the New Year has been as good for you as it has been for
me and the Nevada swim and dive team!
We
just got back from a week in San Juan and Rincón, Puerto Rico for our Christmas
training trip. Although we were having fun in the sun, it was by far the
hardest training trip out of all my years at Nevada. But, it wasn't all work
and no fun. Our hotel was right on the beach, we swam at an amazing facility at
the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, we did our annual beach run and swim
on a little island just off of Puerto Rico, Gilligan's Island, and we visited
one of the best areas for surfing in Puerto Rico called Boat Crash Beach.
We
arrived in San Juan on the first and we got right to work. We first swam at the
San Juan Natatorium. The pool was amazing. Everyone was in awe at the size of
the pool. Unfortunately, we would not be training here the rest of the week. On
January 2nd we practiced at the Natatorium one last time before we packed up
our gear and headed to the other side of the island to Rincón.
I
could go on forever, but I won't. The rest of the week was just as exciting as
the first couple of days. During the week we even swam against the University
of Puerto Rico. They had never competed against an American university before
and we had never swam against an international school so it was exciting for
both of us.
I
have a nice one-piece tan going on with a beautiful tanned circle on my back,
which will go away in a few days now that I'm back in the cold of Reno, but I
will admire my freckles as long as I can. It was one of the best weeks the team
has had. Every swimmer and diver worked extremely hard and we cannot wait for
the Western Athletic Conference Championship in San Antonio at the end of
February.
Although
we're tired, we can't stop now. We have one more week until school starts which
means as much training as we can get without worrying about school work.
Classes may have stopped, but our season never has. We have a double dual meet
on Saturday, January 15th against UC Davis and Cal State East Bay. This will be
our last home meet of the year which means it is our Senior Meet. I'm so
excited for my parents to come watch me compete for the last time at OUR pool.
I'm a bit of a crier so I know I'll be the most emotional.
Well,
that's it for now! The girls who aren't traveling to the Kraft Fight Hunger
Bowl are going to watch the game together. Nevada supporting Nevada! Go Pack!
Thanks
and see you next week!
-Kimberly
Monday, January 3, 2011
My name is Kimberly Medina and I swim for the
University of Nevada. I started swimming competitively at six, but that was
only because my three older siblings all swam. I didn't become serious about
swimming until I was in sixth grade when I began to qualify for fast swim
meets. I realized I could actually go somewhere with swimming. I chose Nevada
because it was far away enough from home, Las Vegas, but still a short hour or
so flight back. During recruitment, I fell in love with the team and the
campus, so Nevada became the perfect choice for me. Three years later, as I'm
half -way through my senior year, I still love the team and the school.
Spending New Years Eve on a bus ride from
Reno to San Francisco and then on a plane from San Francisco to Philadelphia
doesn't seem like the funnest way to ring in the New Year, but are destination
and the week ahead is well worth it. Like my mom has told me for the past three
years, "You have several New Years Eves ahead of you to get dressed up and
celebrate all night and morning."
The Nevada swim and dive team are headed to
San Juan and Rincón, Puerto Rico for a week of intense training and sunbathing,
well, as much as we can get in between our two practices each day. During the
week, we will also swim against the University of Puerto Rico. We have never
swam against an international team, so I will let you know how it goes. The
coaches will make us work extremely hard, but they also have some fun
activities planned for us. In Rincón, we are going to take a boat to Gilligan's
Island, just off of Puerto Rico.
Right now, we just landed in Philadelphia and
grabbed a bite to eat. We are all sitting at our gate trying to connect to
PHL's internet or watching TV shows or movies on our computers. Glee is my
roommate's and my favorite. Lounging about on the airport floor, we eagerly
await our plane's arrival. Puerto Rico, here we come!
Thanks and see you soon!
-Kimberly