Jan. 12, 2005
As the Notre Dame men’s swimmers and men’s and women’s divers continue their training and competition trip to Ireland, junior Tyler Grenda concludes the swimming diaries by recapping the final days of the journey, which featured a lot of time in the pool, as well as touring Bunratty Castle. Check back to und.com for the final installment of the divers’ diaries, as well as a final jumbo photo gallery.
Tuesday, January 4th
The “Good Morning, Irish” phone call [from head coach Tim Welsh] came a little later this morning and it’s off to the mall for a few hours to get our last bit of Dublin. A nice traditional full Irish breakfast at Burger King is no match for the Little Chef.
11:45 Ireland
We are back on our way to Limerick after some shopping at the mall.
15:45
We are already checked-in at the Kilmurry Lodge (again) and have to walk to the pool due the “best bus in all of Ireland” not starting … again. After a short walk to the University of Limerick, dryland and lifting begins. Following is a two hour “welcome back to training” workout.
19:30
It’s dinner time at the Kilmurry Lodge. Tonight we have a choice of chicken or beef and the usual suspects … potatoes and vegg. Everyone finishes up and makes their way back to the rooms to watch movies or wander over to the gas station across the street. Even though Club Kilmurry is heating up downstairs, it’s a pretty easy-going night for all, sitting around watching TV.
Wednesday. January 5th
6:00
“Good Morning Irish” is real early this morning. We are on the bus at 6:40 and at the pool by 6:42. “We are in” at 7:00, and practice lasts for 2 hours and 10 minutes. After, we head back to the hotel to eat and relax for a few hours before the next big practice.
14:40
We are back on the bus and heading to the pool. Another two-hour practice takes place, followed by dryland and lifting. We eat dinner back at the Kilmurry Lodge following practice. Tonight again features the usual suspects: meat, potatoes, and vegg. Blue (Justin Barber) especially enjoys his vegg, but is disappointed by the fact that it was served to him by a waiter rather than waitress Eileen. Dinner was followed by a little much-needed rest.
Thursday, January 6th
6:00
“Good Morning Irish” comes at 6:00 again this morning. We take the usual two-minute bus ride and “we are in.” Practice lasts for the usual two hours and then it is back to the hotel for the full Irish breakfast. We relax in between practices, get some lunch with the per diem Jenny (our manager) gives us.
14:40
Once again, we are back on the bus. Practice lasts for two hours and then dryland/lifting ensues as usual. It is the last day of double practices, but there is a three-hour practice coming tomorrow. Dinner as usual tonight.
Friday, January 7th
8:30
We are up and eating our breakfast before practice. The three-hour pain train rolls through today. We are in the water at 10 and even are given a small snack by coach Doppler (Matt Obringer) between sets during practice. After the three-hour swim, we get out and finish up the day with a lift/dryland.
17:30
Dinner as usual tonight and then we are off to the mall for a movie. White Noise seems to be about the only movie playing that has been out in the U.S. for at least a month, so we decide to see that. Afterward, we hang around the mall for a while until it is time to head back to the hotel for the night.
Saturday, January 8th
8:00
The last day of training for the trip has come. We all know that some number of fast 200s are going to be on the menu for practice today, and we are correct. Plenty of intensity for the last practice.
11:30
Practice is over, and we are all getting decked out in dress code B for our trip to Bunratty Castle. We eat a lunch of beef stew and some dessert at Mac’s Pub. Then we wander around the medieval village for awhile before taking our tour of the castle. The tour of the castle included seeing the dungeon, the towers, and the secret viewing holes into the ballroom that coach Obringer seemed to enjoy very much, while Jenny was tricked into touching a fertility stone that now has her slated to give birth to twins within the next year. After the tour concluded, it was off to do more shopping and then head back to the Kilmurry Lodge.
19:30
We have our last dinner and then pack up
Sunday, January 9th
6:20
It’s an early wakeup, and we are packing the bus. The luggage never seems to fit under the bus no matter how tight we pack it. It’s a good thing there is extra room on the bus in the “shame box” to put extra luggage bags and all the equipment bags. We arrive to Dublin in record time and say bye to bus driver Eoin. Next, we are on our eight-hour flight to Chicago.
9:00 p.m. South Bend
We finally arrive back in South Bend. All the guys that left their cars by the baseball field have been plowed in. Without shovels, everyone is forced to dig out in any way possible. Clap (Dave Moisan) uses a baseball bat, while captain Matt Bertke uses his training paddles.