The Alabama swimming and diving team went into the winter holidays preparing for hardcore training. Unlike practice during the fall semester, the Crimson Tide took a trip to Boca Raton, Florida, for a week 
to train.

This annual trip has become a staple in coach Dennis Pursley’s training schedule. He said the trip is a critical training period for them. He and his coaches train harder and push for more in preparation for the upcoming months.

“It’s just kind of more of everything,” Pursley said. “It’s the highest volume week of training of the year. We spend more hours in the pool each day and the work itself is not a whole lot different from what they do in a typical training week during the school year but it’s just higher volume beyond the volume of work they’re normally used to. It’s a challenge. We try to throw at them as much as we can in that week. It’s probably as much of a mental test for them as it 
is physical.”

Pursley said his team responded well to the test and continued to improve since that week 
of training.

Now, fresh off of a break, the Crimson Tide will travel Saturday to College Station, Texas, to face the Texas A&M Aggies in the first meet of the new year.

Throughout the course of Pursley’s time at Alabama one thing has been clear: swim tough. Preaching that motto, the Crimson Tide has undergone constant changes in order to become successful.

Though it’s been a long process, Pursley said the team is on course for the championship meets and continuing to improve. The upcoming meet is one of the last meets before Alabama goes into the 
conference championships.

Freshman Mia Nonnenberg said she valued the intense training over the break. The butterfly and individual medley swimmer recently placed third in all-time IM records.

“We’ve definitely put in a lot more intensity and a lot more yardage,” Nonnenberg said. “So in this meet, I don’t really know what to expect because we’re coming off of a lot of heavy training as opposed to earlier on in the season we weren’t coming off as much. But in the long run, I do think this will help me towards the end of the season more than it will help me now because it’s just going to make me stronger later on.”