There was no relaxation for the WSU swimming team this winter break.

The Cougar swimming team spent 12 days working on their skills under the sunny rays of Delray Beach, Florida, over break. The team stayed at the Marriott, which was in a prime location right across from the beach.

The trip to Florida is an annual pilgrimage. Every winter the team goes for 10-12 days. Unlike when school is in session, where the swimmers have to split their time between swimming and schoolwork, when they are in Florida, their sole purpose is to train.

“Our athletes are students first,” Head Coach Tom Jager said, “(In Florida) they get to focus on athlete mode.”

While the first priority for the swimmers was training, the trip also functioned as a vacation from the stresses of competing at the collegiate level.

“It was a chance to get away from everyday stress,” senior Frederikke Hall said.

After waking up, the team would practice for two hours, working on different fundamentals. Then they were allowed to have some free time to enjoy what Delray Beach had to offer.

Their afternoons were spent doing “boot camp” on the beach. This was mostly dryland workouts, such as circuits. Two hours more were spent practicing in the evening. A main focus was underwater skills and strength, Jager said.

One day, the team trained in the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean swim provided a new kind of challenge for the swimmers as they battled currents.

Senior Michelle Berry said it was easy to get carried away as at one point she looked up and was completely separated from the group.

The team got the opportunity to bond with each other as well, focusing on just the team and nothing else. Every year brings a new special event as well, such as a Miami Heat game in during a past trip and a Broadway show this year.

The team’s leadership skills also had the chance to shine through after a brief travel mix up that separated the coaches from the team. The team went on to practice anyways and did so well that other coaches didn’t even realize that the WSU coaches were not present.

“I get a lot of satisfaction from coach’s feedback,” Jager said.

The team also left Florida in better shape than they went in, Berry said. When they returned to the much colder hills of the Palouse, they emerged a more cohesive team, with plenty of stories to tell.

The Cougars training in Florida was preparation for a meet against Utah in Salt Lake City on Feb. 13 and the Pac-12 Championship at the end of the month.