STUDYING ABROAD (& SWIMMING)

Studying abroad during your junior year is a vibrant, well-suported and strongly encouraged piece of the educational experience at Colby. As such it is important for the swimming and diving program to not only support but also incorporate the prinicples of this opportunity into the program's design. It should be noted that not all team members choose to study abroad as their personal academic progress is better enhanced by remaining on Mayflower Hill. Historically about 75% of the team's junior class studies abroad during the fall semester of their junior year. Team members have studied ecosystems in Austrialia, art in Italy, Philosophy in England, government in Ireland, rain forests in Argentina, culture in China and economics in Japan - to name a few. These swimmers return to the team during the training camp in Florida or Puerto Rico during winter break and compete with the team during the second half of the season. As the success of our season is in many ways linked to the athletic success of the returning juniors, keeping them in shape while abroad and helping them regain their sophomore year form quickly is a strong focus for the coaching staff. Team members are able to follow our team's strength and conditioning program and obtain daily swim workouts through our team's wiki page and when they return special emphasis is placed on gaining speed as quickly as possible. Email, Skype and The Aqua Mule also help keep those who are abroad connected with the team during their time away.

Raymond Rieling '12 travels the country side in Ireland.

Many Ferguson '12, Jess Blais '12 and Jenny Reiner '12 training in Denmark.