Christmas night I got onto a plane to fly to Puerto Rico. I had to be at the hotel before our 6 o’clock practice. I am on the swimming and diving team here at Marist College. Being from California, I had to leave on Christmas while most everyone else was able to leave early the 26.

We had practice twice a day, from 8 until 11 in the morning and then from 4 until 6 in the afternoon. But the time in between practice was for doing whatever we pleased. Although I was always tired and taking naps during the breaks, I also went to the beach and pool. We were lucky we had great weather, only raining a couple times while we were there.

Practice was held at the San Juan Natatorium, an indoor-outdoor pool. The pool had a roof but there were no walls to the facility. Although we could not get tan during practice, when it would rain we were kept “dry”.  There was also a workout facility where the swimmers would lift each day. The facility was very nice and kept clean.

The beach was a couple blocks from our hotel. The sand was free of seaweed and the water a decent temperature for being the middle of winter. The pool was nice, and many of us got a great tan! One day we were given afternoon practice off. Some people went to Old San Juan, but I stayed at the hotel and went to the beach. I ended up going jet skiing and had so much fun. We all loved having the afternoon off!

While the week included some fun, it was mostly hard work. I would love to go back for vacation one day!

— Kimberly Tobias