University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols' Continue Team-Building With Annual Biathlon
September 16, 2002 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Sept. 2, 2002
Biathlon Photo Gallery | Paddleball Photo Gallery
Tennessee's swimming and diving team enjoyed its annual running-swimming biathlon Aug. 24.
The biathlon is an event that always occurs the day after the squad's annual ski party. Team members rise at 7 a.m., stretch, have a great breakfast, after which the gun goes in the air at 8 a.m.
The swimmers run a two-mile cross-country-type course. Then after a dive into the lake, they turn westward, hugging the shore, for their four-mile lake swim.
"The biathlon, like the ski party is just another in a series of team-building events that we have done in our program for years," said head coach John Trembley. "Our team spirit and camaraderie we display during the season does not just happen on days we compete."
The winner of the run this year was Evan Fischer. First-year team member, Jason Thomas, was the overall winner with an outstanding performance.
As the swimmers are running and/or swimming, Tennessee coaches are checking times. Trainers are making certain everyone is healthy, with no injuries, and Trembley along with assistant Joe Hendee are creating as many waves in the patrol boat as possible.
Once Trembley's lake cabin is cleaned and the grounds are brought back to order, the team members are assembled for a brief meeting before caravanning back to campus.
The next day saw the men's and women's swimming team assemble at the Ocoee River for their annual rafting outing. The Ocoee River was the sight for the 1996 Olympic kayaking competition and is considered an outstanding Class 3/Class 4 whitewater river. It is narrow at points, steep and challenging.
"Our swimmers, divers, coaches and staff may tend to look a little bit like tourists," said Trembley "but at least we are having a great time and it we really had an outstanding rafting trip this year. We occasionally have a bump or bruise along the way. This year, everyone came out 100 percent healthy."
After an early morning water workout and breakfast Sept. 7, the Vols returned to the paddeball courts for a team tournament---another preseason team tradition.
Paddleball is known as the "Game of Kings," and speaking of kings, coaches Trembley and Hendee are the kings of the paddleball court, dismissing challenges from "the younger, allegedly faster, allegedly stronger team members," Trembley said.
Seriously, though, the team of Jamie Graves and Casey Dauw are great racquet players and actually beat the coaching duo in a game.
Paddleball is a part of our tradition and we look forward to testing future Vols on the paddleball courts at the University of Tennessee.
Players Mentioned
