Tracy Shessler

Past Entries

Entry 1

Entry 2

November 3, 2003

Halloween arrived. That meant one thing, apple bobbing!

Last Thursday's practice contained our annual swim team bobbing for apples contest. Ten apples are thrown into the pool and it's no holds barred to be one of the few to get an apple out of the water without using your hands.

The stakes? Permission to skip the next practice set, this year being 1,200 yards. The apple bobbing is really a lot tougher than it sounds and absolutely hilarious to watch.

Upperclassmen were triumphant as four seniors and four juniors got apples while only one sophomore and one freshman pulled out apples. Not too bad for some old fogies.

The festivities continued on Halloween night when the costumes came out. For those traveling to UNC-Wilmington, we were offered a one-time chance to get out of travel attire and into Halloween costumes for the drive.

There are some creative people on this team and the whole gang was there: Captain Kirk, Kelly Kapowski, Sunshine Care Bear, Queen of Hearts, Kobe Bryant, God's gift to women, a whole slew of super frosh, and many more.

As for the drive, well, that was long and… well, long. We had two buses, one with sophomores and juniors, and the other with freshmen and seniors. Other than some arguments over which movies to watch and stealing of those between buses, the nine-hour drives to and from the meet were largely uneventful.

As for the meet, well, Emory has proven once again that it can swim under any circumstances. The highlight of the meet? Shortened team warm down!

The weekend also was pretty exciting for those at home. Halloween on a college campus can't be beat.

Saturday morning brought a lactate dive set complete with a get-out swim. At the end of the set four people were given four times to beat and if any two of those went under their times, the team got out of the next set.

The catch was that no one knew who was picked or what times till they were done with their swim. Everyone hit below their times and practice got out early (or at least with less yardage). All in all, it was a good week for Emory swimmers.

Tracy Shessler is a senior from North Andover, Mass. She would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.