Each year, while the rest of the Georgetown population is at home singing Christmas carols and opening presents, the Georgetown University swimming and diving team is nervously anticipating its annual winter training session.

This eight-day adventure usually takes place in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where the swimmers are able to train for many hours, but where they also get to enjoy the sunshine and acquire a golden tan in the first days of January. This year, however, was a little different.

On Jan. 2, 40 swimmers and six divers boarded a bus and drove 15 hours to Vero Beach, Fla., where they trained for three hours a day in the water and two hours on dry land.

“Most swim teams go on a training trip each year during Christmas break because this is the last time teams have the opportunity to train very hard before Conferences at the end of the season,” Megan Harvey, a junior on the swim team, said. “Teams like to go someplace warm to train and be able to train in a long course, [a 50-meter pool, instead of a 25-yard one].”

Unfortunately, expectations of lying on the beach and soaking in the beautiful Florida sunshine were never realized by the swimmers this year. During this particular week, Florida had record-low temperatures of 30s, 40s and occasionally 50s on a lucky day.

“This was very different for all of us because in Puerto Rico, the temperature is always in the 90s with sunshine and little-to-no clouds,” Harvey said.

With such dismal weather, the swim team’s training was inhibited. Normally, they would have two two-hour practices a day in the water, but the Hoyas had to shorten it to one three-hour practice from 12 to 3 p.m. in order to train during the warmest – or in this case, the least cold – part of the day.

“Training trip is no vacation. It is the height of our training and ensures that we are ready for the rest of the season,” senior Francesca Pirog said. “There was also one day where it was sunny enough to lay outside, and our coaches gave us the afternoon off to enjoy the sun.”

Both Harvey and Pirog talked about the intense training that occurs during this trip in order for their team to be successful. The trip is also an opportunity to strengthen team bonds.

“We all eat as a team every night, we room together in groups of four, and we all work really hard as a team, so the team usually comes away from the trip bonded and focused on our team goals for the rest of the season,” Pirog said.

These eight intense days of training help the Hoyas prepare for the Big East conference. But when the trip was over and the team trekked back to Georgetown, the swimmers were relieved to be back on campus.

“I am a senior, so I think the last day it was a shock that the trip was over,” Pirog said. “I have been on a training trip every year of high school and every year of college, so I was just shocked that my last one was over. . I was very proud that I was able to get through all four training trips and that I worked as hard as I did every year. You are amazed at the things you put your body through.”

Needless to say, with the uncharacteristic Florida weather in the rearview mirror, the Hoyas are ready to get back in the pool.

Meredith Cox is a senior on the women’s basketball team and a consistent contributor to Hoya Insider. Inside Look appears in every other Friday edition of Hoya Sports.”