Diary

Alex
Emerson

Past Entries

February 3, 2005

Last weekend, a phenomenon occurred in Atlanta. Although I wouldn't quite call it a blizzard, the sky was full of ice, sleet, snow, and hail, a combination described by the local meteorologists as a "wintry mix."

While those of us from north of the Mason-Dixie line just got out our scrapers and moved on with our days, a childlike curiosity filled the minds of the southerners on the swim team.

The city of Atlanta was completely shut down. Campus was closed, movie theaters were closed, and restaurants stopped serving. Our meet against Georgia Tech was even delayed for a day. While the city panicked, most of us just watched with amusement.

Speaking of the Georgia Tech meet, the team really swam well against our cross-town opponents. Although Georgia Tech ended up winning the meet, Emory was able to race the Yellow Jackets in many events. We always tend to swim fast during the Tech meet because it is one of our few opportunities to race against a fast Division I team.

Aside from the weather excitement, everything is starting to gear up for the end of the season. The swimmers going to the UAA championships in Chicago are in the middle of their taper, which means that they are gradually decreasing their yardage in order to rest for the meet. Those swimmers that are swimming at the Emory Invitational have also started their taper.

The only swimmers that are still swimming long workouts are those focusing on nationals in March. Although it's hard for them to see everyone else get out of the water before them, they only have two or three more weeks of hard work ahead of them..

Alex Emerson is a sophomore from Fishers, Ind. He would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.