Tuesday, June 9, 2009

boo hoo :(

a long and very fun 10 days is coming to an end. i am very excited to be home, but i dont want to leave! me familia told me that i could stay for another month so if i dont make it on the plane you will know where i am! the cabanas, the family that i stayed with, are some of the most amazing people ive ever met. every night we became closer friends and even with the very interesting spanish food that was served, every dinner was amazing! swimming with club natacio sabadell has been an amazing experience and being coached by coach albert and coach eloi has been awesome! also swimming with swim mac has been da bomb! i have made many friends from both mac and club natacio and im very sad that we have to leave.
today was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. being our last day, we got to do anything we wanted in barcelona. so, just like yesterday, logan, peter, juan rrrrrico miguel, and i walked around the city with the australian accents. im not very good at it so i was their friend from america. even though we were in spain, we ate lunch at burger king, and we ran into a very nice waitor. he liked us so much that he gave us refills and even called me beautiful! after the exciting lunch, we walked around the city and ran into a very nice lady working at the ice cream stand. throughout the week, logan and juan miguel fell in love with a popsickle called a twister. so we went to the stand to buy one. but this stand didnt have them. this caused us to begin a very nice conversation to the girl in the stand. after a few minutes of talking it seemed that this girl looked like she liked us (probably because of the aussie accents). it became a little creepy and we left the stand, but were happy with the ice cream and our new friend. but the best thing that happened today was that i found my new girlfriends (the turbo girls from the swim meet) on facebook! so now i can keep in touch with them even though im across the ocean!

see everyone in jville tomorrow night!
¡adiòs!
Ian Manzana

Adios Mateyyys!

I guess this here be the end to our wild and crazy adventure in the great country of españa! yet it was quite an amazing trip, in which i made me self a few mateys along the way, including my spanish family and a couple of little buggers on the swim MAC team! today was a great way to end an already great trip, by just running around and shopping and doing whatever in barcelona. i met me a couple of beauts that were quite friendly, and the family i stayed with had to be some of the nicest people i have ever met before! i would just like to thank all of club sabadell and coach sergio and coach jon for putting this great trip together, and i cant wait for me mateys from MAC to come swim in a meet at the bolles pool. Also i cant wait for the club sabadell guys to come visit us in the U.S it should be great amounts of fun
well i had an amazing time and thank you coaches for everything
see everyone soon!

p.s. everything i just said should be read in an australian accent :)

peace out mateeyyyyyyyys!

ONE MORE THING!

I FORGOT!! Thank you so much Coach Jon!!!!!! You were awesome to have for the first 6 days of the trip!! So happy you got to come!!! See you thursday!
Taylor

Thank You!

Hola! (for the last time)

Today was a fun, tiring, and very sad day. It started off with a pretty hard practice but then we went shopping! Dana, Casey, and I had so much fun shopping in Barcelona, eating an incredible lunch, and then getting our gelato at the last minute and having to run a mile to meet everyone. We headed to the pool and thankfully practice was not too bad! I am at my house now, packing unfortunately and about to have my last Spanish, family dinner! :(

I would just like to say though, that this trip has been absolutley amazing! It has been so fun, and so educating! Living and training with people from a different country has taught me so much and just made me realize so many things in my life and how thankful i should be! I first want to thank my parents, most importantly, for paying for me to come here, it really has been amazing! Coach Sergio, thank you so much for planning all this and dealing with us for the past ten days, your the best coach ever!!! :) Coach Stephanie, thank you so much for coming with us while your husband was in the US for the first time in a while, and Mrs. Bryan thank you for everything: the pictures, helping us with anything we needed, and taking us to the beach! I thank all the coaching staff at Sabadell so so so much! And lastly I thank my host family for having me, for preparing meals for me, and for providing me with a place to stay. I cannot describe in words how much fun this trip has been! It has definelty been an experience that I will remember the rest of my life and I will miss Spain so much!

Thank you to all!!!
See you guys tomorrow!
Taylor

P.S. Thanks to all the swimmers for making the trip so much fun and memorable!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Livin the life Aussie style!

Man oh man oh man! where do i even begin with this day, it started off great and ended even better! we all met up at the pool, but DIDNT have to swim. Then we caught the train to segrada familia, one of the nicest cathedrals i have ever seen, even though i have only seen two ha. after that coach sergio and coach stephanie had to leave us to go to a special lunch back at the club, i still dont understand why i wasnt invited, but i got to go to the beach along with everyone else. This day was probably one of the best days, as soon as we got to the beach all the guys stripped down into there speedos with not a care in the world that we were at a public beach and everyone could see us! a little later on logan, peter and I decided we would walk down the beach and try to find some mamacitas so we acted like we were from france and spoke some random gerberish that sounded french haha i guess you would have to be there. After this we went back to where we were all sitting and we met up with mi manzana a.k.a ian apple and matt schlytter and we went to get some lunch, lunch today was very interesting ian and logan and matt all got sodas which were 2.50 euros which is almost 5 dollars in america and when the cokes came out they werent even half the size of a coke back home, to top off them being mad mi manzana was trying to talk to the waiter in spanish when all along he knew english and got mad at ian. After lunch we went for another stroll on the beach this time we went a little father and acted like we were from australia this is where the fun began. We talked to just about everyone we could in an australian accent, we chased pigeons to see who could catch one first and we climbed a 25 foot rope structure and stood at the top with everyone watching, there was much more we did but i dont really know how to explain it but it was really funny! and we got to see something you wouldnt normally see on a beach in U.S. Later on we made our way back to everyone, where we noticed all the girls were trying to make a pyramid by stacking themselves on top of each other, they couldnt really do it, but of course the boys could cause we are just awesome like that. this was pretty much the end of our time at the beach, we caught the train back to sabdell we swam and then went home with our families. I'm kinda sad tomorow is our last day but it will be fun atleast for the girls since they get to go on a major shopping spree.
until next time, im out
yours truly, juan miguel RRRrrricooooo hayes

sun and gelato...nothin better

Hola Families in Jacksonville,

Today was probably one of the most fun days of our trip. We grabbed our bikinis and towels and headed to the beach! It was pretty cloudy, but somehow everyone seemed to get fried. Some girls and I were really hungry so we wanted to eat right away, but the place we chose didn´t open till 1, so we hung out on the beach with our lovely tan lines until then. As we were laying out, I am pretty sure that atleast 10 chinese ladies asked us if we would like a 5 euro massage, which Kendall almost said yes to, until we quickly told them we were not interested. Anyways, lunch was amazing, although rather pricy, totally worth it! Not to mention that it was American food. Ellie also found out the Caesar dressing is made with anchovies, I am not sure that she really enjoyed finding that out. After lunch, we headed out for some gelato/adventure. I am not sure if yall are aware, but some people in Spain walk around in the complete nude. I have nothing more to say on that issue. We ultimately found the best gelato plus about 100 more shops we saw on the way back. I was not really counting...but I am pretty sure I had 4 scoops of gelato today. Anyways, we then cut over a few blocks and found ourselves in an adorable part of Barcelona filled with resturants, surf shops, and cute houses. Eventually, we made it back to the beach in time to step into the Mediterranean Sea for the first time and take a picture of it! Today was filled with sun and gelato...whats better than that?

I cannot believe that our time is Spain is closing, I even started packing tonight! It has been an amazing experience and I look foward to having all of the Sabadell swimmers come to Jacksonville sometime!

But, tomorrow we are shopping till we drop, so parents be prepared.

See everyone very very soon
MTA
Casey

good day mate!

¡Hola!
being in spain has been one of the most amazing experiences ever! living with a bunch of spanish people has been tough but muy muy fun! im glad that ellie and i got to live in the same house because when the rest of the familia(the spanish family) started speaking spanish, i had someone to go talk to! however i have learned quite a few new words in spanish. actually i think ive learned more spanish here than i did in spanish class this year! jk!
swimming in an international meet was amazing! getting the opportunity to swim with some of the fastest swimmers in the world was definitly an unforgettable experience. during the meet i swam pretty good and got best times in both of my events! but the best part of the meet was meeting my new girlfriends: the turbo girls! during the first finals session i was being some what of a creeper and took a picture of the girls without them knowing. but on the second day i got a picture with all of them and i made 5 new girlfriends! i also met cullen jones and mark gangloff (us olympians from swim mac) and got to take pictures of cullen, ciesar, and fred after the 50 freestyle with cullens camera!
saturday night the familia took my parents out to dinner. we went to a very interesting resturant that was on a farm. it was good but when i saw a very dark salchicha on my plate i became a little concerned. but im always up to try new things. so i took a bight and almost threw up. little did i know it was made up of really grose parts of an animal. on our way out of the resturant we noticed that there wernt any rabbits in the cage (there were 5 or 6 in there when we got there) and realized that we probably ate those rabbits for dinner!
today we went to la playa! (beach). all of the guys were rockin their colorful speedos and quickly ran away from the girls so we didnt have to be seen with them and their horrible tan lines! me, logan, peter, and juan miguel ran around talking in austrailian accents and got many complements on our georgous swimmer bods and sexy speedos!
now we only have one more day in españa and i am very excited to be back home but at the same time am going to miss mì familia, and living with ellie (sike!). be aware that i might talk with some what of a spanish accent when i get home!

adiós!
Ian Manzana!

We found the best Gelato EVER.

Today was an amazing day! We went to see the Sagrada Familia, which is absolutely insane and huge! And it is still being worked on... after being under construction for the past two centuries! Crazy, I know! Then we headed to the beach in the Olympic Village in Barcelona. At first it was very cold and cloudy and we were all very disappointed but after sitting on the beach for a good 30 minutes and after about ten ladies came by and asked us if we wanted massages, it finally got sunny and hot! It was so beautiful! Some of the girls, Mrs. Bryan, and I found the perfect place for lunch. It was very expensive, being that my water was 5 euros where the coke was 3 euros (have you ever heard of such thing), but the food was amazing! After we had lunch we all really wanted gelato.

Since we only have two more days, now one more day :(, we are loading up on the gelato. Aubrey, Casey, Jen, Dana, and I decided to go on a hunt to find an incredible gelato place. We asked this nice frenchie and he told us there was a really good place about ten minutes away. So we went on a nice long walk and ended up getting to the cutest part of the village. We found the most amazing ice cream place ever. It had turning wheels of ice cream! It was so good and plus we got a picture with the Italian owner after. After we finished our ice cream we decided to continue walking all around the village, running into about three other amazing gelato places. We seriously had hit the jack pot in ice cream! Today was an awesome day! Sangrada Familia, beach, gelato and a not so bad practice was awesome! We only have one more day, but we are spending it in Barcelona and doing some shopping! We are all very excited about that!
See you guys soon!
Taylor

Sunday, June 7, 2009

So Far So Good - "Thanks!"

It has been a “Fantastic Week” so far here in Spain and I am very proud of everyone here with the way they have carried themselves so far. "Thanks!" The families of Sabadell are very happy with each one of our kids and they have loved every minute of this experience and I think the same for our swimmers. These past two days at the competition it was neat to see the three teams cheering for the same swimmers as if we were one team. Cullen Jones at the end of the meet came over to us (Sabadell-SwimMac-Bolles) and thanked the swimmers for the great energy that they gave him before the race, it make him feel very good to hear us cheer.

The meet went well for all of us; we had some great swims and some not so great but at the end of the day I can say with pride that our “Mission” was accomplished. I believe that the opportunity that we had to watch so many world class swimmers from so many different countries has been an eye opening and an incredible experience for our kids. At the end Dave Marsh had Ian Pope (one of the greatest All-Time Australian coaches) talk to our group about his swimmers (Grant Hackett, Michael Klim, Matt Welsh, etc..) and how strong mentally they were and gave us some examples of what they did and what mae them great. It was amazing and hopefully something that our swimmers will take with them and really think about it to help them with their lives.

Personally I am very happy with everything that we have been able to experience and also watching our swimmers enjoying every single day. I sure hope that this is the beginning of a strong relationship between the three clubs and that we can keep providing this type of experiences to our swimmers for many years to come. Swimming fast is very important since we work very hard and we are in a competitive sport but at the end the only things that really will last forever are the great relationships and experiences that we are able to have throughout our lives and I have no doubt that this experience has marked our swimmers (in a positive way) and hopefully they will keep the friendships that they have created for many years.

These past two days at the meet I have been able to see many of my friends that I had the privilege to train, compete and travel with as a youngster and that I have not seen for 10-15 even 20 years and I am really thankful. Life goes by so fast that we forget how many wonderful experiences we have been able to share with so many different people and how much they have helped us become the person that we are right now. It has been overwhelming going back to my past as a swimmer and I want to thank you all for giving me this chance to be here where I grew up as a swimmer and as a person as your coach.

We still have two full days ahead of us before we come back home and I have no doubt that they will be full of great emotions and memories. I know that I will be coming home being more thankful for the great life I have been able to experience with the good and that not so good moments and also ready to keep moving forward and experience many more as a father and coach. I hope that all of you back home are enjoying this blog and see you soon ;-)

Coach Sergio

Coach Sergio: ´´It´s the Spanish Way of Life``

Today marks the first week the team and I have been in Spain. What a quick week! First let me start with the plane ride here. The five hour layover was miserable! But the eight hour flight was even worse because of many reasons. One, we were all too excited to actually be going to Spain. Two, we had ten hours to learn Catalan-their language. Three, Kendall sat behind me on the entire flight and her knees broke my spine in half. And finally five, what were we going to do, see, make, live, eat in Spain? Before you knew it, the plane was landing and we all looked like we were walking out of being in a coffin for eight hours not to mention I think at this point we had been awake for almost twenty hours. But hey, were teenagers, were invincible, we´ll just put on fresh makeup and sunglasses and were good to go! Forget about the six hour time change. We were so awake, Coach Sergio even made us go for a quick swim straight off the flight! Thanks Coach Sergio :) Even better, after we would walk a so called ten minute walk turned into twenty minute walk to eat lunch, we had to walk back to the pool and do the real practice.....practice makes perfect. After practice, it was time to meet our host families who were more than happy to meet us. But everything worked out so well that we knew some of our host before he called out our names because the girls who couldnt wait to meet us came and introduced themselves to us while we were changing! So then it was names being called and luggage being moved and we were on our own for the first night in a different country to live with people who barely speak english and who we have never met before in our lives.....EXCITING. I personally love oppurtunities like this and being in situations that we were in because its thrilling, the anticipation.
So my first night....
I am staying with another boy named Logan from SwimMac team along with our host family. The dad who i call Papi is Jordi. The mother is Theresa aka Mama. And my brother Jan!! and my sister Claudia!! We all live together. The father speaks perfect english. The mother speaks a little english and Jan and Claudia speak perfect english. LUCKY US! For dinner we had spanish tortillas and jamon serrano (ham) and something like fried yam. The food was VERY different but nonetheless filling and not bad at all! At dinner we quickly got to know each other: names, where are you from, how old are you, what do you swim, where do you work, is practice going to be hard etc. We all linked perfectly and we all have a great relationship with each other to this day, almost like a real family. Now it was time to pack get some sleep finally and prepare for our first morning practice and a day in the life of a Spaniard! But while I was packing my bag, I noticed medals and trophies all over Claudia´s room. I thought to myself ``hmm this girl is awesome, wonder what her times are like?´´ Turns out, she is the European champion in the 800 free, 400 free and 400 IM!......she´s 14 years old! Wow! Maybe Coach Sergio is trying to inspire me........
Morning practice
So morning practice aka try to kill Ashley workout. To be honest, I sprinted the entire practice.....just to keep up. First thing learnt, sprint warmup, main set, and warm down when swimming with a spanish team. Something else funny, the people in my lane do not speak one word of english. When I said, `` No please you go Im dead!!´´ they mistook it for `` Hey can i go before you?´´ So one by one they let me in front of them........my plan: don´t get in their way, don´t get lapped, swim faster faster faster! Estoy loca! Finally practice is done, Im done. And now to laugh at the group of people on our team who have to do our practice one hour after us because it depends on your host when you swim. But im too tired to laugh so Ill just go change and eat the breakfast my mama made for me :)
Journey to Barcelona, Lessups, and Sabadell
So our journeys to Barcelona and Sabadell and Lessups have all been incredible sight seeing adventures. Coach Sergio did a great job not making us feel like tourist with just putting us on a tour bus, but instead making us walk, go on our own to look around and actually experience it for ourselves. We could take whatever pictures we wanted, where we wanted, buy something for our families(at home and in Spain) or something we wanted to try..which turned out to be ALOT OF GELATTI ICE CREAM AND CHOCOLATE. Although, I dont think its a good idea for us to leave Taylor shopping on her own....she may just get arrested.....oh wait she did. Well we learned our lesson. As for me, shopping went well! I bought a new bikini bottom........
Spain is a beautiful country. The buildings are unique, as to the language and tradition.
Mare Norstrum Swim Meet
Well personally, I swam awful. But hey, who cares when you can watch people like Cullen Jones, Frederick Bousquet, Cesar Cielo, Aubrey Peacock :), Tamara Wadgymar go girl, Lauren Neidigh wohoo (some girls who finalled) and so on you get my point. The experience is amazing and worthwhile. Many records broken at this meet! We also bonded with the club we train with even more because they travelled with us! Speaking of travelling with, my family is close with Lauren´s and Aubrey´s family so we went out for dinner and shopping one night. Tomorrow night after our Beach day!!, our family is having a small ´´dinner`` aka party for the girls who have no host families and are living in the hotel along with Aubrey, Lauren, Matt and then Peter from SwimMac.
I cannot believe that this week has gone by soooo fast. I love everything that has happened on this trip. Its amazing to watch the way these people live and interact and so forth. You know, writing this blog isnt easy because you cant describe how this trip really is. I think you have to have a hands on experience to understand what we are feeling. Our last three days, we will make the best of it because here is where we find lasting friendships and build lasting relationships, with other swimmers, coaches, and people in general. I laugh everytime I hear Coach Sergio say, `` hey guys, its the spanish way of life´´ because now, I know what he means. This trip so far has been a cultural eye opener(good thing). To sum up our journey so far.....its the spanish way of life. Just agree with Coach Sergio, he knows his stuff.

An International Experience

Hello!

As all of you may know, we all competed in an international swim meet this weekend. For many of us this was our first international meet and it was an amazing experience. Seeing the different swimmers from all around the world, the different techniques and the way they were as a team was remarkable. Although we were not the fastest at the meet, it was a good learning experience. And it was neat to see some of the best swimmers in the world compete. Many of us had a chance to talk with some of them, including Cullen Jones, Cesar Cielo, Mark ( i dont know how to spell his last name), and many of the others. Getting advice from them was awesome. At the end of the meet the Australian Coach talked with us about who he has coached and what type of swimmers they were, dedicated and very self-confident. Cullen told us some of his techniques he uses at practice when he wants to go faster and how emotion really controls how you swim.

On top of seeing the best in the world compete and getting advice from them, I think we all had a really good time. Many of the girls had quite a time "sightseeing", if thats what you would like to call it, at the meet and I know the guys did that as well. There were some good races and some bad but the whole point of the meet was a learning experience and seeing how the fastest in the world swam. Getting into warm ups this morning, which I might say is a very hard thing to do with a million people swimming in only 8 lanes and many of them much bigger and scarier, I realized that although we weren´t the fastest at the meet and there were many others much faster than us and did not know who we were, we were all there doing the same thing: trying to swim at our best and be better than before. All of us, from around the world, were in the same pool trying to achieve the same goal (becoming better, faster) which when you look at it that way I think it is a very neat thing.

I have had a blast so far and am sad that our last days are approaching. We are going to the Cathedral and the beach tomorrow! It should be another fantastic day! Hope all is well! And see you soon!
Adios
Taylor

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Rrrricooo here! today was muy muy ¡muy fabuloso! we got up early (as usual) and headed to la piscina (pool) it is a pretty nice pool and people seem to swim fast in, but we´ll see just how fast i can swim in it since i didnt get to swim, but goodjob to everyone who did swim today!
when we first go ther me and mi Manzana (ian apple) saw cullen jones sitting with the MAC guys so we decided to head on over and talk to him a little bit, we told him that we were up and coming rappers and he said he wanted to listen to our music. so Mi Manzana went and grabbed his ipod and gave it to cullen, cullen listened and cullen liked very much he gave us some negative feed back but he critiqued us honestly and said we have the heart to be the next eminems, but to be completely honest i already knew we did ha just kidding but seriously it was sweet, to have an olmypian athlete tell you, your song is hottttttt! is cool.
being at a meet like this is probably one of the gratest experiences a swimmer can have besides the olympics, especially for someone like me who has never been out of the country, and when i do go it is to go all the way to spain is awesome, and getting to see all the different ways that all the different countries prepar themselves for their races is amazing! this trip has gone by so fast, but i am doing my best to enjoy every minute of it cause there are only 4 days left. but we dont have to think of it that way lets just have some fun while we are here :)

p.s for all the guys out there the ladies in espana es muy que rrrrricoooo

Friday, June 5, 2009

It was a hill not a mountain, taylor, you are just jealous because i beat you up the hill and did not break a sweat. Anyways, today being my last day i figured i would write one more blog. my time in spain has been awesome and i look forward to coming back again in the future. i was worried for a while when we talked about the trip that i may not get to go because of swim camp. turns out i worried for nothing other than i come back a little earlier than everyone else. that is okay because i did get to visit and experience the joy of Catalonia. I will definately go back again.

Today we went to see one of the most famous soccer stadiums in the world. it was impressive, i can only imagine what it would be like to play in that stadium with 105,000 crazed yet passionate soccer fans cheering for or against you, plus who knows how many watching on tv. must be awesome.

the competition pool is not bad but seeing a lot of the top swimmers in the world was impressive. though many of them swim only the 50 and 100, which means it is easier to qualify in the longer events.

it is sad that i must leave but my wife and kids are dying to have me back home. the little ones have been counting down the days till daddy gets home. i am excited about going home and seeing the family but will never forget the amazing time i had here in Catalonia.

i hope all the rest of the swimmers and sergio get back safely and have a great time for the duration of the trip.

good bye for now, until the next blog.

Juan Miguel´s Queer Eye for a Straight Guy

John Michael wanted me to tell yall that he found the cutest guy at the swim meet from Norway. Juan Miguel (John Michael´s name) said not only does he have the perfect tan, but also the perfect blonde hair. We (Jess, Ellie, and me) all agree and think Rico (John Michael´s other spanish name) should go on the show, queer eye for a straight guy.

Sorry for making you read this irrelevant blog.
adios, casey

Somos Uno

We`ve been in Spain for about 5 days and I still el the rush of coming to Europe for the first time! Everyday I meet someone new or see something I`ve never seen before or learn something I didn`t know the previous day. So far this has been the most interesting and amazing experience of my life.
Today started out with a little bit of rain which scared me because of course I decided not to pack a rainjacket :P haha I was just planning on it not raining on me during our trip! But the rain stopped and we began our busride to the pool we`re swimming in this weekend. We did a meet warmup but the team had to split up because there isn´t organized warmup... so of course I end up in the lane with the Australian national team! (which was swimming the other direction(on the left side of the lane)) All if not most of the Bolles swimmers in that lane were freaking out! But who wouldn`t? We were swimming with Eamon Sullivan!! We couldn`t exactly figure out which one he was, but we knew he was there :) It was so cool to see all the world-famous swimmers there and of course all the cute boys! ;) I`ve seen famous swimmers at meets before but never so many in one place! I met a girl in the locker room from Germany.. she just happened to be 6`5``!!! She was very nice and I`m sure I`ll talk to her some more/ hopefully meet some more international swimmers!
We also went to the FCBarcelona stadium today... all I can say is it is HUGEEEEE!!! Lots of stairs and lots of seats!! And some more seats... And then some more!!!
My family has been amazing! My host family`s father works in France, so for the most part it`s been my mom, my sister Andrea, and my little brother, Joel! Joel is adorable! Strangely, I`ve bonded with him the most. It`s probably because we both have limited vocabulary and our conversations are very simple. My Spanish has gotten much better too! I took Spanish until the end of tenth grade but stopped, so I haven`t had practice in a while. But being forced to speak as much Spanish as I possibly can has really improved my speaking skills, which I am very excited about! The Mexicans on our team know what I`m talking about ;). On a food note-I`m a little scaredof some of the meat I`ve gotten on the trip, all of it has turned out to be very good!
I`m sure there is sooo much more that I`ve experienced but I can`t think of it right now.. especially with my Spanish mother cooking such a delicious-smelling dinner! (at eight o`clock). I miss everyone at home, but I am enjoying every second of this trip and I don`t want to leave mynew friends/new favorite continent :(. I can not wait for the meet tomorrow!! It`s going to be amaazzzzinnngggg!!!!
Mom, you`re still feeding the fish, right?? <3 Ñelle

Club Natacio Sant Andreu in Barcelona with retracting roof


fcbarcelona - more than a club - wow!


These People Never Stop Eating...

Today was a fun day! We went to the Stadium and it was very interesting! It was so neat to see the stadium up close and go through the locker rooms. You can definetly tell that Spain is very proud to have Barcelona has reigning champions in el futbol (soccer). We practiced at the meet pool this morning and this afternoon. It is a nice pool and I think we are all very excited to swim in an international swim meet. We got to see Nimrod and Pablo! ( former swimmers of Bolles).

But what I really wanted to mention, as Dana, Ellie, Kendall and I were talking while sitting in the Cafeteria after returning home from Barcelona, is that people from Spain are always eating. We were saying how we were getting so sick of seeing boqadilla after boqadilla (sandwhich). These sandwhiches usually consist of some sort of meat, with tomato juice, and oil all on french bread. And then there is the famous nutella, which is like a chocolate and penut butter mixed on bread. It is very different than American food. But what is so weird is that they are always eating and always handing us food. Breakfast in the morning, a packed breakfast and lunch for during the day, and then after afternoon practice another snack ready for us! Everyone is so skinny here so it is so weird how they can eat so much! I can barely finish dinner at night because I am so full. And my host mom told me the other day that I am a small eater, and that I have never heard before!

Well the meet begins tomorrow so that should be very interesting! Miss you guys All!! Oh and Coach Jon´s post the other night about the "small" hill was false. It was a huge hill! And the only reason he ran up the stairs was because he didnt have a hard practice that morning. :) We will miss you when you leave tomorrow!

Taylor

all smiles at the pool in Barcelona!
















Coach David instructing


the end of a great day in Barcelona!


Thursday, June 4, 2009

Que Rrrrico Suave!!

España es mi pais favorito! as you can see i am already mazing at spanish, those are just a few of the words i have learned while being here besides almost every word in the spanish dictionary, but me being fluent in spanish already after 5 days is beside the point.
Spain is amazing! i am staying with a family that speaks very very very little english, but obviously that is ok for me since i can still comunicate beautifully. today was a little different then the othere, we actually got to relax and not walk a marathon around town, even though it is worth it! we had practice very early, and then got to et and relax for about 2 hours before havig to go for another walk. we all fell asleep on the patio up stairs ubove the pool, it was good to catch up on a little sleep! then we went to a strip in sabadell and me and mi manzana (ian apple) got my brother a little gift, so dont worry patrick i got you something! and im still working on my my 2 sisters, other brother and mis padres! i cant wait for practice toorrow morning, and seeing new things! so far this has been one of the most amazing experiences and i hope it continues that way!
con amor! Juan Miguel "rico" hayes
p.s. that is my new name so for eveyone back home reading this, you now know what to call me! gracias!

BEPO AND YAHKSGKJDSKJ. our story for the day

HOLA EVERYONE!

I think that Taylor and Aubrey pretty much covered the entire day, but I kind of just wanted to write on here. Tonight I helped Carla (my host) put all of her music that was on a limewire-type thing onto iTunes and the onto her Ipod. I guess I should mention that the whole computer is in Catalan. I actually had to call Morgan and ask her how to do it and w were successfully able to complete the task. And Carla is extremely happy because she got the iPod for Christmas and has not been able to use it because they did not know how.

Anyways, I was a witness to Taylors shop lifting scandel. She was kinda freaking out, but we thought it was funny. We went to gelato and got two scoops, ate it, and then decided that wasnt enough and went to another gelato shop two doors down to get another scoop. We also found some Spainish boys who were cute from far away, but a disappointment close up.

MRS. SIERON YOU MAY NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE 18 YEAR OLD BROTHER BUT KENDALL SAID SHE KEPT MAKIN EYE CONTACT WITH THE SPAINISH BOY AND SMILIN AT EACHOTHER

As we crossed the street we were taking a picture in the park of all of us and Taylor and Jessica decided to motion over the boys and oddly enough they came. They introduced themselves as Bepo and Yahbdkjlfbskd. We did not really catch their names, but Kendall was able to communicate beautifully with them! We then said adios and met up with the team. As we were leaving we saw them conveintely waiting by their car (obviously waiting for us to walk by) and we said hola and adios again. THEN when we were crossing another street, who do we see? Yes, Bepo and Yahaskjfbisk at the stop light. So again we say hola and adios.

Thought yall might like to hear about this
talk to yall later
MTA
ADIOS CASEY

Mi manzana ( ian apple) and juan miguel rico, just having a good time in the tunnel where they filmed americas next top model

Taylor´s Mark On The World

Hola!

Today was a very interesting shopping day with Taylor Josserand. A bunch of us girls got to go shopping, which of course made all of us very happy, and in the process Taylor decided it would be a bright idea to make the security alarm go off. Taylor always seems to find a way to leave her mark on the country she visits. In Mexico, a 4-wheeler accident, in Spain, almost accusted of shop lifting!

After plowing through the store, trying on everything possible and purchasing many items, all the girls decided it was time for lunch and a gelato (we are aming for one gelaot a day :) ). Upon leaving Taylor decided to cause a scence, just kidding she was completely suprised, by setting off the securtiy alarm. The man, who spoke Spanish, had a tough time commincating with us, as many of us spoke broken or no spanish. Thank goodness Jen was there! Well, it ended up being that Taylor never cut out the security tag in her short and it casued the alarm to go off. In order to show the guy what it was I had to dig through her shorts to find it. Yes a pleasant scence! :) He thought it was funny, laughing while staring at the ceiling. In the end we all got out, Taylor still red faced.

The rest of the day was relaxed. We headed back to the club around 3 and rested until practice at 5. After practice we all went with our host families. My host family took me to the store, where i got to pick out fruit and items to try. I got my favorite chocolate sauce/spread called nuetella.

Tomorrow we are going to the stadium! Should be fun. Until next time.... :)
aubrey

So Hungry, I Could Eat a Horse...

Fyi, Mom, I am eating more than enough food, but this one experience was definitely a first for me. Wednesday night, the amazing family I am with made what I thought was regular steak. As it turns out, it was horse. Totally unexpected to me. However, the horse meat tasted very good, but different than cow meat. Whenever I told some friends here with me that I ate horse, they all cringed but they would have eaten it too if they had not known until after they ate it.

Spain is great so far and no problems have come up except that I have yet to buy a single gift for anybody. But I plan to get it done so do not worry, Paige, I will get you your stuff.

Hope all is well back in Actionville (Jacksonville) because all is great here in Sabadell.

-Colin the Champion =)

A Day in Sabadell

HOLA!

Today was a very relaxing day. After a pretty hard, but short :) practice, we all ate breakfast and then most of us took naps up on top of the building for a good hour. After our rest time we headed to some shops, department store, and food places in Sabadell. Some of the girls and I went into the boutiques on the side of the street but found the best shopping in the department store called La Corte de Ingles. I am pretty sure every girl found something in there they liked. When we were in the dressing room, Kendall had to share one with me and we had a pile of clothes everywhere that we were trying on! When we decided to leave the department store, the alarm system seemed to really like to go off on me everytime I went through it. After about three different people had checked my bags and purse, and after I had thought I was going to get arrested, we realized it was the tag in my shorts that said please remove before wearing. Aubrey had to find the tag and show the guy. Very funny but scary part of the day. So please cut those tags out cause they really can set an alarm off.

After some shopping we went to a restaurant called Vienna and most of us got pasta. It was very good and then the gelato afterwards made our day that much better! While we were enjoying our gelato we saw some very cute Spanish guys that were friendly and we ended up taking a picture with them, very exciting! After that we headed back to the pool for another practice. That is pretty much our day,but tomorrow we head to Barcelona to see the Olympic Pool and Stadium! Hope all is well!
Until tomorrow,
Adios!
Taylor

Post by Logan Heck - Family Fun

This has been a great experience for me. I have learned a lot about the Spanish culture and how they live life over here. The host family I am with is great. At first, it was a little awkward to be in a house with someone you don’t know and doesn’t know you. After the first day I was able to kick it off. The family is very friendly; they always think of the guests first then themselves. They also help out a lot. They always volunteer to help carrying my bags and to help me with Spanish words. They speak pretty good English so I don’t really have trouble communicating. They also offer to me to speak Spanish so I can practice the Spanish I know with them. The food is great. There is always enough to eat and it is usually always good. The family makes great dishes that so far I have enjoyed. I played Play Station with the little boy at my house (I won), he is pretty good though, but of course, I came out on top. The traffic is crazy, people drive like maniacs. The five second rule is not put into affect here, ride the bumper is what happens. It has been fun and I’m enjoying it.

Post by Peter Brumm - I'm Getting Lots of Sleep

This entire experience with the host family and getting to know the city along with swimming hard and fast is very fun and exiting to have at age 15. I love the people I am staying with and am having a great time trying to speak Spanish. A funny thing happened last night as I arrived home from practice. The mother, who speaks very little English, asked me if I wanted to sleep a little before dinner but since it was in Spanish I just said yes and went out to play Play Station. I guess it was funny at the time but I guess you had to be their. In Spain they eat dinner very late, around nine o’clock but they have adjusted their eating schedule and I’m getting a lot of rest even though I’m getting up at 5:45, which is 11:45 your time I think.

Post by Dillon Love - Don't worry mom- I'm getting lots to eat!

Spain so far has been an amazing experience! The culture is so different from the US but its nice being able to experience it. It seems like the people here eat so much food but they are all in incredible shape. We eat a big breakfast before practice, a sandwich after, lunch before practice, a snack after practice and then dinner. I feel like I’ve been eating half of the trip. But with the amount of time we spend walking around visiting places around Spain it’s hard to not be hungry at all 5 eating periods. But so far this trip has been amazing and I’m taking in everything and making the best out of the 10 days we have in this amazing country.
Dillon Love

CLEAN CLOTHES AND A HILL!

You know you overpacked when you pack for 6-7 days and end up only using 3 days worth of clothes, that is what i call living green. Now that i have clean clothes i feel like a new man, extra bounce in my step and all that good stuff.

The swimmers have been having a lot of fun and doing a pretty good job in the pool. The practices in have been pretty hard and that in addition to all the walking, they are fairly tired. At least until we see a gelato shop then you would think they are tapered. We have walked a bit, even up a small hill. Now granted it was kind of step, the last quarter of the way up was all escalators. Now yours truly (that's me) does not do the escalator thing, i walk up and i walk up with pride. Listening to the swimmers huffing and puffing up the small hill, you would think they were all smoking 3 packs a day, i thought it was an easy walk with a slight rise in heart rate.

At the top of the HILL, the view was magnificent. you could see the whole city and the Mediterranean. after coming back down we went into plaza d catalunya for lunch and free time. sergio took us to great tapas place for some interesting food. delicious it was.

This mornings practice was brutal for the distance swimmers (kyle and tamara), they had to do 1800 meters at their mile pace. they were pretty tired and were not quite at mile pace but were putting an excellent effort and did a very good job. after practice they got to rest a bit at the club before heading into sabadell for lunch and free time. then back to the pool for some rest and another gut buster of a practice.

that is all for now 'fins dema'

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

THAT´S NOT CHICKEN?

HOLA from Espana :)

The experience so far has been one that I will always remeber. I absolutely love my family! I am staying with Julia Mas who just got back from Portugal, where she swam in a swim meet. Spain is definelty different from what we are use to. Some of the foods are weird but REALLY good. I don´t think I have found anything that I don´t like, other than our first lunch. We had soemthing that looked quit similar to chicken, so most of us ate it. It was served with french fries so we assumed it was fried chicken patties and fries. Well all the people on the team who can speak and understand spanish failed to tell us IT WAS NOT CHICKEN! Shortly after I inhaled two pieces one of the girls informed me it was cow lining, EW!!!!!!! It actually tasted like a mix between pork and chicken when I was eating it, So I am going to continue to think it is still chicken¨:) After that experience I decided that I would not eat any meat unless I could clearly tell what it was or it was translated for me.

The first night was hard, after being extremely tired from the plane ride (my sleeping medicine for the plane failed miserably!), the time change, and Day 1 I got very homesick. Although I still miss my family it wasn´t long till being homesick disappeared. My family has done more than enough to make me feel right at home and I fell in love with Barcelona! Walking around the city was well worth every blister on my feet :)

Today was one of those days where you love it but at the same time you hate it. Don´t get me wrong, how on earth could you hate Spain? Its more of the pain of the gigantic hill, wait no MOUNTIAN, we climbed up today that we hated. Around a mile up the steep hill was enough dryland to last me the year :) The top was well worth it though. Not only was the view gorgeous, but we got to see, and walk, in the area that America´s Next Top Model Season 7 Caridee did her runway finale. It was neat to be able to see it on t.v. and then be there in person walking the same path that people like Tyra Banks had been on a couple years ago.

In the process of trying to get there Marina, Hailey and I got lost. We sat down in the shade to rest, thinking that the group would walk down the same way we went up. We were worng! haha :) Well decided were not really lost we were just "slightly seperated" from the group. We looked hilarious trying to find the group, attempting to speak spanish, asking "grande groupo?" while pointing to my bolles swimming t-shirt. The fact that not one of us new any spanish, other than hola was awesome. Finally Dillion Love answered his phone, laughing at us for getting left behind. Why he thought us being lost in a Spanish "forest/park area" was funny I still have yet to figure out. We found the group with success and headed down the mountain, another mile, and took the subway back to Cataluyna for lunch.

Casey, Jessica, Taylor, Kendall and I decided to eat lunch at this nice Friday´s like resturant. We all ordered a refreshing coke light and a pizza, which were amazing! Congrats to Taylor and Kendall who saved the rest of us when asking for the check in spanish, after waiting forever for them to pick it up.

For desert us girls had our mind set on gelato´s. After we attempted to get gelato´s we ended up on a wild goose chase, Taylor pretty much covered the marathon in here blog but summarizing the event, we ran through the Plaza all holding hands, weaving in and out of the crowd. Earlier, while traveling back down the mountain earlier we saw numerous gelati shops, but when we were looking for one it was no where to be found. We had to be back at a meeting point by 2:40 and Casey and Taylor decided they were NOT LEAVING without a gelati in their hands. Well we found a store along with some teammates. Everyone made it back by 2:40 which was good :)
After our lunch festivities we headed back to the pool for practice.

I look forward to tomorrow, as we are going to the "mall". Since we have not gotten much time to do a lot of shopping, I think I can speak for all the girls when i say we are excited to go the the mall tomorrow! Until next time :)
Aubrey <3

Our Dryland for the Summer was Accomplished Today...

Hello Again!!!

My host is studying for a big exam on Friday so I thought I would write another blog! Today we went on a very long hike to the top of a mountain. And when I say a long hike I am talking 10 miles( not really maybe only like 5 or 6), but it was very long, especially the up hill part! But once we got to the top it was so worth it! It was called The Lesseps ( do not know if that is correct spelling or not), and it was absolutely gorgeous!!! There was a monument with crosses at the top and then a park, and you could see all around the city, it was incredible! Oh and I would just like to mention Olivia did this all on crutches, which amazes me!!

After our 5 mile hike, we took a train to the Plaza and had lunch and a chance to walk around for a little bit. Casey, Aubrey, Jessica, Kendall and I went to a little cafe and surprisingly all ordered pizza, but it was incredible!!! We all ate everything on our plate and have pictures to prove it! We were starving! After our lunch we really wanted gelato, because its the best kind of sweet you can find in Spain, plus most of our host families have fruit for dessert so its our only chance to get some good sugar in us! :) We asked the waitor where a good helado (ice cream) store was and he told us, however, come to find it had everything but gelato. We had to be back at a certain spot by 240 and we were not going to leave the Plaza without gelato. So we decided to run about a mile to find one! We looked very strange but people already look at us like we are foreign, because we are, so running like a crazy person didn't really make any different. We finally found one, and I have to say its the best gelato I have ever had!

Tonight´s practice was very short and a nice recovery from our marathon today. Maybe Coach Sergio will give us another break before the meet :). Tomorrow we are going to the mall, which should be very fun of course!! Friday we are practicing at the Barcelona pool and then the meet on Saturday and Sunday which we are all very interested in, especially the different teams that will be there (the foreign guys). Well I miss you guys! And Talk to you soon!
Adios!
Taylor

early morning with Coach Sergio and Coach Stephanie


early morning practice


a stack of swimmers waiting for the train to Barcelona







pics of park guell







The climb to the top was worth it!


poising for pics in the tunnel







group photo at Parc Guell


Tuesday, June 2, 2009

How to live 3 days with two shirts and 1 pair of shorts

My trip is a little more exciting than the rest. Since i have to get back to Jacksonville for the start of swim camp, i got to go on ahead of the group. A little scouting expedition if you will to trip all the booby traps waiting out there. You know, like sitting in immigration for 1.5hrs. in Lisbon, Portugal so i could catch my connecting flight to Barcelona. Having your luggage spend a few extra days in Lisbon so you could really learn how to wash clothes with some detergent in the bathroom sink so you do not smell too bad the next day. Things like that. So needless to say it did happen to me and not anyone else, so i guess the scouting expedition was worth it.

Any ways once the airlines that lost my luggage gave me my complimentary kit (for people whose luggage they lost), you know the one with the cheap toothbrush, deodorant, toothpaste, razor, shampoo, shaving cream, brush/mirror combo, and this awesome plain white t-shirt (normally used as an undershirt). Oh and laundry detergent. These were the instructions for using it - fill sink with water, pour detergent in water, put clothes in water(this is straight off the package). I added the scrub and agitate part myself. Oh and it took them a day to find my bags in Portugal, then they decide to send it over on the lastest flight to Barcelona, then bring it to the hotel middle of the day today, after we have left for the day. So 3 days same clothes, tomorrow -FRESH CLEAN CLOTHES YEAH!!!!!!!, and my extra books, was running out of things to read.

Anyway now that Murphy has done his duty, i can get on with enjoying Spain, (though i did have fun already just did not smell very good). I met the head coach of Sabadell, Albert Tubella, great guy with a passion for swimming. He brought me to Sabadell and helped check me into the hotel.

Since i was by myself the first night i figured i would check out the sights. After scouring the area and checking out many restaurants a few times, I finally decided on one and enjoyed my self in a restuarant where i did not understand one word. It was great to people watch. The Spanish are very different. Especially since i thought the restaurant would be closing soon since it was already 9pm and it was starting too empty. So i thought, by 930 it was packed. So were the streets, everyone and their brother (literally) were outside enjoying the weather and the socializing.

I slept very well that first night. The next morning i walked to the pool using my trusty city map. Since the team had not arrive yet i had the opportunity to meet with and talk to many of the coaches of Club Sabadell and watch their morning practice. In talking with the coaches i learned a lot about their thoughts and ideas on swimming. Very educational. Once sergio arrived the rest as i say "is already posted".

I have really enjoyed this trip very much, even with the lost luggage i still have had a great time. Barcelona is a beautiful city and one i recomend all should see if they get the chance.

at the capital


at the Market :)




taking a break and exchanging currency




Walking the streets of Barcelona







Meeting with Coach Sergio at the club


First Days in Spain

Hola everyone!

Right now, I am actually using a Spanish computer. It has all of these symbols and different key, so excuse all of my litte mistakes, but I wanted to tell you guys back home how Spain is going. The flight was good, but very very long. As soon as we got off the plane we grabbed our luggage, got on the bus, and went straight to none other than our second home, the pool. We swam and then headed to lunch by train. We were all soo tired and were falling asleep on the tables and on the train, so we all took a nap in the weight room after lunch. After swimming ANOTHER practice, we met our families and left our comfort zones.

My family speaks very little English, although today it is a lot better. After a fairly silent carride, we arrived at their flat, about a 15 minute drive from the pool. They showed me the house and then I was left to unpack until dinner. I cannot even tell you what I ate for dinner. Someone told me the name of it today, but I forgot. It looked like potatoes and tortillas. On the table also sat an oil and vingar salad, bread, and these toast things that had a purple looking topping on them. I was not planning on eating that, but when asked if I wanted one I felt bad and decided to try it haing NO idea what it was. (Tonight I believe we are having pizza!!). My parents and Mrs. Sieron are probably very proud. Since Sergio had told the parents we were very tired I headed to bed at 10:20 (we ate dinner at 9.30ish).

Today we headed to Barcelona and that was very hot, but very fun! We went to a Spanish Market and saw dead pigs that were smiling? Defintely did not understand that, but I guess in a Spanish Market that might be normal. We all got gelato (I happen to be living on top of a Gelato shop) and then headed out to walk around Barcelona some more.

After getting back from Barcelona, we practiced and now I am writing this. So I hope yall enjoyed reading this eventhough it is mostly about my family, atleast my parents will enjoy it. And my mom is probably going to be really mad at me, but I am not going to proof-read this because dinner is almost ready and I have to go. Spain is really giving me a great experience and I will try to write again!

MTA Casey

A Culture Wake Up Call

Hola!
The end of our second day in Spain has arrived, and all I can say is that it has definetly been a culture wake up call. First everything here is so small! The people, the cars, the roads, the houses and many other things are so small compared to things in America but one thing that is big here is the people and the pride for their country. Never have I seen so many nice, welcoming people in a country. For example, these families are always handing us food! Breakfast, Pre-made breakfast and lunch, and then a snack ready for us when we get out of the pool. Its incredible how welcoming these families are with many of them not being able to speak very good English.

But not only are they welcoming and always offering us food, a nice place to stay, and trying to make us feel comfortable, but they have so much pride for their country. In America people are so consumed with materialistic things, here that is not seen what so ever. The people are happy to have what they have. They do not need big houses, or fancy cars to make them happy for a living. They live with what is needed and thats it. I think its something we all can learn from this trip and living with these families, to be less materialistic and enjoy what we have in life.

Living with a family is a very new and different experience, but one I will never forget. On top of the families and the people around us, we visited the beautiful city of Barcelona today. We went down many of the popular streets, took a visit to the Fresh Market and saw the Cathedral. The fresh market was so neat minus some of the meat parts that were shown. But the gelato was so good! We ate lunch at a Olympic Mall in Barcelona and got to see all the different shops. Barcelona is absolutley gorgeous with all the different, ancient architect on the buildings. We will return to Barcelona tomorrow and see more sights. I am very excited and cannot wait! We are all happy to be here... oh and we are all surviving with the training ( the most important part). :) Hope all is well in Jacksonville! Miss you all!!!
Adios!
Taylor

Monday, June 1, 2009

Great Travel Day and 1st day in Sabadell!

As you can see in the in the pictures posted below we made it safe and sound to Sabadell. In my opinion it was a very smooth travel day and also a very long first day.

From the airport we went to the pool had a mini practice (2000 meters) to relax from the trip and from there we took the train to the other older site of the club where we had lunch. Many of the swimmers could barely make it through lunch and were falling asleep in the tables so we got them up and took the train back to the pool where they were able to sleep for an hour in the gym before we had a practice with the Senior group of Sabadell. Tonight practice was very good and our swimmers did a very good job considering that they had barely no sleep for the last two days.

After the practice we meet the rest of the swimmers and host families and everyone left to rest.

Today is also Dillon Love's (SwimMac) 17th birthday and the whole group sang Happy birthday to him once during our train back from lunch and once in Spanish when we met the host families. Congratulations Dillon!

Tomorrow we will have a very busy day and I sure hope that it is not as humid as today since we will be walking a lot once we get to Barcelona after morning practices. Tomorrow we will be going to the old part of the city and we will be seeing the famous "Las Rambles", "Olympic Port", "La Plaza Real" and "The Cathedral".

Enjoy the pictures that were taken by Mrs. Bryant (SwimMac chaperone) and I hope all of you are having a wonderful day back home.

Before I said goodnight I also want to say "GRACIAS" to the head coach from Sabadell Albert Tubella, his coaching staff and all the Sabadell families for helping us so much today and in making this a reality.

Well, I will write some more tomorrow.

Coach Sergio

waiting for the train after a great lunch at the club







Waiting for the train...meeting new friends


Working together in Sabadell


June 1, 2009 Group Photo


Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Working Together / Trabajando Juntos

Hello Everyone,
Saludos a todos,

In less than two weeks we will be traveling to Sabadell, Spain for what I hope is the beginning of our relationship with one of the best clubs in Spain and what I believe is one of the best in the world. Swim Mac from North Carolina will also be traveling with us to be a part of this great experience.
En menos de dos semanas estaremos viajando todos a Sabadell (España), con lo que espero que sea el inicio de una relación con uno de los mejores clubs de España y me atrevería a decir uno de los mejores del mundo. El club SwimMac de Carolina del Norte estará viajando con nosotros para ser parte de esta experiencia tan especial.

When I first got the job at Bolles two years ago I spoke with Dave Marsh (head coach at SwimMac) and we talked about creating some type of relationship between our clubs so our swimmers could benefit at all levels. Last year was our first year for both of us at our new clubs and because of the adaptation and also the Olympic Games we did not have time to arrange anything between both clubs. At the Olympics I spoke with several Spanish coaches about creating some type of exchange program and after few months of talks we finally set it up.
Cuando obtuve el trabajo de Bolles hace dos años, en un encuentro con Dave Marsh (director técnico de SwimMac) comentamos la posibilidad de iniciar algún tipo de relación entre los dos clubs para que así los nadadores se beneficiaran a todos los niveles. El pasado año que fue el primero para ambos en nuestros respectivos puestos de trabajo no tuvimos la oportunidad de compaginar ningún evento entre los ambos clubs de natación debido al tiempo necesario de adaptación y al hecho de coincidir con los Juegos Olímpicos. Durante los Juegos Olímpicos estuve conversando con varios entrenadores Españoles sobre la creación de un programa de intercambio que después de unos meses de conversaciones, pudo establecerse para ser llevado a cabo ahora en nuestro viaje a España.

There will be a total of 46 people traveling to Sabadell between swimmers, coaches, chaperones and parents. We will be leaving May 31 and coming back June 10. During our time in Sabadell we will be training with the CN Sabadell and we will be visiting places like the Sagrada Familia, Parque Guell, Picasso Museum, Olympic Museum, Beach, downtown Barcelona, and we will be competing at the Marenostrum meet in Barcelona.
Viajaran a Sabadell un total de 46 personas entre ellas nadadores, entrenadores, monitores y padres. Estaremos viajando hacia España el día 31 de Mayo y estaremos de vuelta a US el 10 de Junio. Durante nuestra estadía en Sabadell entrenaremos con el Club Natación Sabadell y estaremos visitando lugares como la Sagrada Familia, Parque Güell, Museo Olímpico y el centro de Barcelona, además de participar en la competición Marenostrum en Barcelona.

I am very excited about this trip because I believe that there is more than training hard and swimming fast when you are a swimmer. I really believe that this trip will give our swimmers a chance to experience a totally different culture first-hand. They will be staying with families that many of whom speak two languages (Spanish and Catalan) and for 10 days they will have an opportunity to learn first-hand how they live and how they think. In my opinion the most important thing is that we learn to appreciate what we have at home and we also learn to understand that the way people live in other parts of the world is not better or worse, it is just different. I have no doubt that when we come home our swimmers will have a much better appreciation for everything we have back here at home.
Estoy muy entusiasmado con este viaje ya que creo firmemente que hay más en la vida que solo entrenar duro y nadar rápido para un nadador. También estoy seguro que este viaje les dará a nuestros nadadores una oportunidad de experimentar una cultura muy diferente a la que están acostumbrados. Los nadadores estarán hospedados con familias que la mayoría hablan dos lenguas (Español y Catalán) y durante diez días tendrán la oportunidad de observar cómo viven y como piensan. En mi opinión la cosa más importante es que aprendamos a apreciar lo que tenemos en casa y que también aprendamos a entender que la manera que otras personas viven en otros países no es mejor o peor, solamente diferente. No tengo ninguna duda que cuando regresemos a casa nuestros nadadores tendrán una mejor apreciación de las cosas que tienen a su alcance o se les ofrece aquí en casa.

I have set up this blog for our swimmers to write their thoughts and experiences before, during, and after the trip. Our goal is to create a partnership between the three clubs that will benefit all of our swimmers for years to come. Right after we come back from this trip SwimMac will be traveling with 80 of their swimmers to participate in our June meet (25-28) and hopefully next Christmas the swimmers from C.N. Sabadell will be coming to Jacksonville to be with our families. What a once in a lifetime experience!
He creado un “blog” para nuestros nadadores para que ellos escriban sus pensamientos y experiencias antes, durante y después del viaje. Nuestra meta es crear una relación entre los tres clubs que beneficiara a todos nuestros nadadores en los años venideros. Justo después de volver de su viaje SwimMac estará llevando 80 de sus nadadores a participar en nuestra competición del 25 al 28 de Junio y está programado que en Navidades los nadadores del C.N. Sabadell viajaran a Jacksonville para estar con nuestras familias. ¡Vaya experiencia sin igual!

Here are some links to some websites with pictures and videos of some of the places that we will be visiting. Enjoy this blog and THANKS to all the parents and coaches for making this a reality.

Below I have posted a video that I think shows some good things about Barcelona, a link to pictures of the city of Sabadell and some few links to some of the places that we will be visiting while we are there. Enjoy!
A continuación pueden ver una serie de “links” a algunas páginas de internet con fotografías y videos sobre alguno de los lugares que estaremos visitando. Que disfruten este “Blog” y GRACIAS a todos los padres y entrenadores por ayudar a hacer este evento una realidad.

Video of Barcelona, I think it is good ;-):



Pictures of the city of Sabadell: Aqui!
Official site of the "Sagrada Familia": Aqui! Very nice pictures.
Very good pictures and videos of the "Sagrada Familia": Aqui!
Olympic Museum - Barcelona - Aqui!
Picasso Museum - Barcelona - Aqui!
Park Guell - Barcelona - Aqui!
Olympic Mountain Montjuic - Barcelona - Aqui!
Olympic Port - Barcelona - Aqui!