LOS ANGELES, California, November 11. KALYN Keller concludes her week-long blog as the first of a time-to-time "A Day in the Life" series on SwimmingWorldMagazine.com. First off, we want to thank Kalyn for starting the series off on such a strong note. It has been great to get some insights on such a classy swimmer.
In her final entry, the University of Southern California senior wrote about heading into a dual meet against Arizona and relates how important swimming has become in her life.
Friday, November 10
Well, it's been a great week and I've had a great time writing this blog. I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to share my knowledge (or not!) and thoughts with the swimming world… if only I could be this excited to write papers for my classes!
Today was very exciting. It was our first big dual meet of the season, and I was so proud to be a part of such a great atmosphere. Our girls did an awesome job at finishing their races; we even had a few best times! This is very promising for our upcoming Texas Invite in December. It is important to get a solid warm-up in while you're in the middle of heavy training. As much as we'd like to sit on the wall and discuss K-Fed's future and how to sneak my dog on deck – we know it's important to prepare. We had a little morning workout and then a few hours later we marched onto the deck with purpose, did a few stretches and belted out some obnoxiously loud cheers. We were FIRED UP!
Warm up:
The usual 4x4x4
400 swim
4×100 swim
4×50 swim
and then…
300 kick (emphasizing 4th 25's)
3x (150, 100, 50) heart-rate
9 x 50 variable build ups
then some dives and pace and practicing bubble rings (you think I'm joking… I'm not)
The meet went well and we are happy with our progress. Tomorrow, we swim ASU and then have alumni activities. It is so exciting to see our alumni. I love talking with them and hearing great stories about Coach [Mark] Schubert and other former swimmers. But more than the silly stories, what I enjoy most is seeing how swimming has affected everyone's life in different ways. Everyone can take something out of it…high school swimmers, collegiate swimmers, Olympians or even my "I finally made it to the other end" dad. It's a discipline that you will carry with you forever – one that can be applied to nearly every part of everyday life.
Swimming is and always will be a major part of my life. I live to compete and I swim to feed that competitive hunger. I've traveled all over the world, made some amazing friends and will forever have some pretty fantastic memories. I am stronger, more disciplined and more dedicated than I could have ever dreamed of being…and I wouldn't give that up for the world!
Fight On!
Kalyn Keller