Swim teams return to pool after two weeks in florida

The men's and women's swim teams got to spend two weeks of winter break working on their strokes in one of the best vacation spots in the country -- Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

"We had a great showing before break, and then we spent 14 days in Florida," head coach Bob Thompson said. "Since we've been back, we've worked hard for two weeks in practice and now look forward to finding out where we are."

After good early season performances by both teams during the fall semester, the Blue Devils have not competed in a meet since December 10. The teams get their first opportunity to mark their progress in a competitive situation this Sunday against Old Dominion. The meet is at 2 p.m. at the Duke Aquatic Center.

Thompson said that he was looking forward to seeing how the individual members of the teams had improved, with the winter practice helping some members of the team get into top shape.

"The exciting thing about it is that we haven't had a meet since December," Thompson said. "Some of our swimmers who got off to a slow start are in a lot better shape now than they were then."

But don't think that Duke is just out for the sake of individual performances or is only looking ahead to the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships to be held in mid-February. ODU will be in the same pool as the Blue Devils and team members want to start the spring season off with a victory.

"It is a big deal because it's a chance for both the guys' and girls' teams to win," junior swimmer Pamela Morris said. "Our next three meets are going to prepare us for ACCs, so that's really the focus right now. Each meet is a practice for that."

Thompson said he hadn't altered his team's practice regimen in any way that might prevent team members from being in top shape in the upcoming weeks.