Done with Day One

Wow, what an exhausting day! It all started with waking up at 6:20 to finish up packing and shower up for the day. After a nice send off from our teammates, we boarded the bus and then headed to the airport. We flew into Chicago for our first layover. Bennett sat next to a group of people who were on their way to be on the Jerry Springer show. He said they spent the entire flight talking about how excited they were to be on the show and saying how mad they were that the one guy's girlfriend cheated on him with his brother or something like that. Anyways, after a quick lunch, we took a short 59 minute flight to our final destination... Minneapolis. We were on the plane with the girls from Westminster, and Peterman went on a little "moving sidewalk date" with Natalie Rambish- love was in the air? :o)

After getting to Minneapolis, we settled down into our rooms and then headed over to the pool to sign in and do a little swimming. Every guy on the team received a NCAA beanie, blanket, pillow, and water bottle. It was great to be back in Minnesota for the last meet of my career. We ended the night with a trip to the Spaghetti Factory - no throwing up from over-indulgence this time around (ahem* Timmy* ahem* Mitch*).

Tomorrow will be a relaxing day- hopefully we'll stir up a little trouble too...

We're here!

Yep!  Two flights and a short drive later we're at the hotel.  It's been a fairly uneventful day.  The trip is being well documented, so look for photos and videos later.

2009 Nationals

It's that time again... after another successful PAC Championships for both the men and the women, Grove City College will be sending 11 men to the 2009 NCAA Championships... it's the most the college has ever sent to the big show. The bus will depart for Pittsburgh International Airport Monday morning at 8 AM, and we will officially be on our way to Minneapolis. There will be plenty more to share in the days to come, so stop back frequently for news, stories, results, and photos from the trip. Every guy on this year's championship roster is able to post, so you'll be able to hear about the trip from a variety of perspectives.

Grove City's 2009 NCAA Team:
Caleb Courage (SR)
Peter Larsen (SR)
Drew Snyder (SR)
Tim Whitbeck (SR)
Cam Coppelli (SO)
Bennett Keefer (SO)
Nate Nielsen (SO)
Clay Beckner (FR)
Ben Bowser (FR)
Kirk Gagliardo (FR)
Nick Hamilton (FR)

Day 1... Here We Go

We'll be leaving for the pool in about thirty minutes so that Timmy can warm up and get ready for just one race this morning- the 50 free. He's the top seed, and he is looking really fast. I can't wait to see how he does. He'll be swimming it around 12:30. Send me a text message (724.766.0144) if you want me to let you know immediately how he does. Otherwise, you can check out live results here: LIVE RESULTS!

Timmy mentioned all of the flooding, so I thought I'd stick a few pics up of the flooding and other stuff that happened yesterday...

[a sticker we found on the ground that just screamed TIMMY]

[coach made a face out of his salad]

[an underwater greenhouse]

[no, that's not a lake - it's a field alongside the road]

First post!!!

Hi all. Yes, in the last two years, this is my first post. So...
It's been an interesting trip so far. The rain here is crazy. Drew has plenty of pictures of the flooding, so I'm sure you'll see some at some point.

The pool is great. I've only seen it half-lit, so it'll be even better when all the lights are on. The water is 10 ft in the entire competition pool, and we're swimming wall to wall. No creepy bulk-heads. And the blocks are wide and long, with great grips. Those are the most important parts for me. Also, we got a nifty one-strap backpack and a fold-up chair for our free stuff this year. Not bad!!

I just got out of the bathroom after shaving for an hour and a half. But it feels oooooo so good. The sheets are so smooth on my legs! Yeah! I'm ready to go, so we'll see how the 50 goes in the morning.

I'm really glad the prelims don't start until 11:00, and the 50 won't be until even later. So we can get a good night's rest, a nice breakfast after a leisurely morning and still get there on time, even though our hotel is 45 minutes away from the pool. We're already used to the drive.

So many people have told me they're praying for me. It's humbling and very encouraging. Keep praying that God will use me during this meet for His glory. My nightly devotional (Spurgeon's Evening by Evening) just reminded me that "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you." (John 15:9). That means 3 things:
1) Christ's love toward us has no beginning.
2) Christ's love toward us has no end.
3) Christ's love toward us is immeasurable.

Goodnight.

Are Dogs’ Mouths Cleaner than Human Mouths?

We just arrived safely in Middletown, OH after a long afternoon of driving. Ohio sure is a big state! Timmy has been waking me up at 7 AM every morning, which it way too early. I got up, showered, and then went back to bed until 8:30 when he woke me up for breakfast. We drove to Sheetz and got SHMOSTER breakfast sandwiches and fruit smoothies. Subway for lunch and then Timmy practiced, which only lasted 34 minutes. We left for Ohio around 4 o’clock and drove straight through until we reached Euk’s house. His mom cooked us an amazing and gigantic dinner, where we each got our own stuffed hen to eat. Euk made an awesome ice cream dessert for us as well. We had a good time talking about swimming and Grove City and other fun stuff while stuffing ourselves. Coach also checked out a puppy, which we’re going to pick up and take back with us after the meet and give it to his kids for Easter. I think its name is going to be Alvin. They had another one as well, which seemed pretty fond of Timmy and licked his face a lot. While we were standing there, Timmy’s buddy pooped on the floor and Alvin proceeded to lick it up… all of it! But don’t worry, because Timmy informed me that dog’s mouths are cleaner than human mouths. After another hour of driving, we reached our hotel and checked in for the night.

Meet Site

The women's meet is well underway, with Kenyon sitting on a comfortable lead heading into the final day of competition. There have been a lot of new national records set at the meet thus far, with 2 set on Thursday night and 6 more set Friday night. Click for Live Results.
They also have the Men's NCAA Championship Site up and running, with all kinds of useful information like psych sheets, meet resources, and Miami University info.
Timmy and I will soon be the only two students left on campus, and we're trying to think of some fun things to do while we have the who school to ourselves...