Diary

Tracy
Shessler

Past Entries

February 2, 2004

Last weekend's meet against Georgia Tech was our last dual meet of the season, and the seniors' last dual meet ever. That sounds so sad.

Walking in we knew it was a great place to have that final meet because the Georgia Tech pool is amazing. The Olympic pool from 1996, it is a 10-lane, 50-meter pool set up as two 25-yard pools back to back, with another huge diving well behind the blocks. The space is huge and it has all been redone since the Olympics.

Personally I thought it was a good place to end my dual meet career. As I stood on the bulkhead with my fellow seniors it gave me a moment to really reflect on what we have gone through. An unusual class, we started out with 17 women in our class that has been whittled down to four, and 13 men now only three. We all came in with the same high hopes, and we stuck with it.

Though sad to be done such a huge part of our lives, I was proud to be standing there with Jess Burley, Jen Kanetsky, Donley Zifkin, Richard Kinnet, Colin Roussil, and Brian Seymour. There was no crying today, but then again we still have the conference and national meets.

The meet itself went well, everyone swam well and there were a number of best in-season times recorded. The faster everyone swims now, the more excited we are getting to see each other taper.

This meet was also a great one because it was so close. After driving to Kentucky last week with a seven-hour drive both ways, Georgia Tech's convenient locale only took us 10 minutes to get to. There are few away meets that we can leave Emory at 9:45 a.m. and be back at 3 p.m. the same day.

But after sorority rush last weekend and with taper under way everyone needed a little extra time to catch up on work because no one was doing much on Super Bowl Sunday. The six ladies of the Densley House were kind enough to host a party where we all got to gorge on food and cheer on the Pats!

Another thing happening in our world at the moment is the Woodruff PE Center's roof project. It is well underway and driving everyone crazy! The top of the Woodruff PE Center has been gutted out, and they are building a new roof. Underneath the roof, they have designated space for classrooms, meeting room, multi-purpose areas and, lucky for us, a new varsity weight room.

This is exciting news for us because the varsity weight room we have now is pretty small and gets really crowded, especially when you have a team of 70 people. So the project is underway and has been since mid-December.

Let me set the picture for you; scaffolding everywhere outside the WoodPEC, scaffolding inside the WoodPEC, and some of the most horrible pounding noises you have every heard in your life. The pounding really hasn't been too bad during practice times, but I can't imagine working the entrance desks during this semester. I think I'd invest in earplugs. The end however will be well worth the means.

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