The ISU swimming team returned from its winter training trip to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday. The swimmers spent the week training under the sun and building team unity on the road.

“It was a good chance to get in a lot of good training,” said ISU coach Duane Sorenson. “It’s always a lot more fun to swim in fresh air. It’s a good change of pace.”

“It was a really good week,” said senior Liz Holman. “It’s good for the team to be able to bond; we’re always together throughout that week.”

Sorenson said the team trained in both the morning and evening, leaving time in the middle of the day for the women to enjoy the weather.

“Most of them took advantage of some beach time,” Sorenson said.

There were many other teams present in the area as well.

“All over the Ft. Lauderdale area, there were probably 50 to 75 universities training down there,” Sorenson said. “A lot of colleges take advantage of the winter break time to get out of town and to get some swimming in the sun.”

The team was even able to make time for competition during the trip.

“On Friday morning, during our 10 to noon practice, we had a little relay meet against Hillsdale College from central Michigan. They’re a [Division] II school,” Sorenson said. “We swam four different relays, so all of our women swam each one of those relays.”

“It’s good for training and team morale, especially during the hardest part of the season,” Holman said.

While the swimmers were training in Ft. Lauderdale, the diving team was competing in the Georgia Diving Invitational in Athens, Ga., a meet in which they gained useful experience.

“I thought overall it was a success,” said ISU diving coach Jeff Warrick. “We got a lot of good things out of it. We didn’t compete as well as we might have wanted to, but that’s why we’re here: to learn these things. And now we’re going to adjust and move forward.”

The Cyclones return to the pool Jan. 27 for a dual meet at Nebraska-Omaha.