Junior swimmer Frances Calzada was just one of numerous Iowa State students to travel home over break, but as she flew back to Puerto Rico, she was not alone. The swimming team took its annual winter break training trip and chose to go with Calzada back home.

“It was great to be with all of the girls and my family at the same time,” Calzada said.

The trip wasn’t your typical vacation, though. The trip was classified as a training trip, and that’s exactly what went on as the Cyclones had two practices almost every day.

“Each one of us got much better at training,” Calzada said. “We know how far we can push each other and we really got strong mentally,”

The one-day that the team did take it easy on was New Year’s Day. The whole team went to an island off of the east side of the big island of Puerto Rico. The day was spent hanging out on the beach and working on tans.

“It was a good experience to be all together there in a different place with a different atmosphere where most people don’t speak the language,” Calzada said.

Because no one on the team spoke the native language, Calzada had to be the translator and she had fun doing it.

The Cyclone swimming and diving team returns to action Friday as they travel to St. Olaf in Minnesota. St. Olaf has gotten a couple wins in the year and a couple of decent finishes in bigger meets. Lauren Snyder, freshman sprinter, is the Oles’ best swimmer with 5 wins this season. With only 4 meets until the Big 12 Championship, the Cyclones will be looking to build up some momentum starting this second half of the season.