Team Black Leads After Two Days of OKC Challenge
November 19, 2011 | Softball
Nov. 19, 2011
Day two of the Oklahoma City Challenge began with a text saying, "Meet at the pool by 6:00am. Bring sweats and a change of clothes." Why we would need to bring sweats and a change of clothes if we were going to be getting in the pool? I don't know how everyone else does it, but where I come from we normally take off our bulky items before we get in the water, not put them on. Nevertheless I followed orders and showed up bright and early to the Natatorium with all of my clothing.
Our mission - and we have to accept it
Once both teams had gathered on the pool deck, Teena took the captains aside and explained to them what we would be doing for day two. All events would take place in the pool at a depth of 18 feet. Instead of having one giant competition worth a hefty amount of points, there would be four smaller competitions worth 50 points each. For the first challenge, eight members from each team would be required to swim 50 yards. Each member would go twice for a total of 16 repetitions per team. The first team to successfully complete this would be the winner. But there was a catch, there's always a catch. Not only would the swimmer be required to wear their hoodie and sweatpants, but also be carrying and eight pound medicine ball. If at anytime the swimmer let go of the medicine ball their team would be penalized.
I believe I can vouch for my entire team in saying that adding an additional 30-35 pounds of drenched clothing while you're swimming makes this competition a lot more difficult than it may seem. In addition to the extra weight from your clothing you were limited to using only one of your arms because the other had to be holding the medicine ball tight to your chest. With all of these factors working against us, what we thought would be an easy little 50 yard swim turned out to feel like a marathon. Through the process of trial and error we discovered the one-armed back stroke was the most effective way to swim.
Off to a soggy start
As the first competition began both teams were neck and neck for multiple reps. The black team then took a quick lead following an impressive performance by senior Kristin Austin. Both teams continued to battle but in the end the Black team came out on top defeating the Red team by 25 yards.
Things are getting pretty heavy
With the first competition in the books, we moved onto the second event for the day. This event was very similar to the first except the swimmers would not have to be wearing their hoodie and sweatpants. Hallelujah! Each team member would swim 25 yards with the eight pound medicine ball before passing it off to their teammate at the opposite side of the pool. The team to swim the furthest distance in ten minutes would be the winner. This event was all about strategy because not every team member had to swim. In fact, your fastest swimmers could swim as many laps as they could in order to gain a lead. This was great news for the Red team because we had a secret weapon: Chelsea Leonard. Leonard's high school swim team experience really paid off and gave the Red team the extra boost they needed to defeat the Black team by about 20 yards. Finally the Red team got a win and was on the board!
Chain Chain Chain...
For the third event of the day the swimmer would be wearing a hoodie, no sweatpants and no medicine ball. The name of the game was the "human chain" and is a little confusing to explain so listen up!
The first swimmer for your team would jump into the water and swim 25 yards to the opposite side of the pool. There they would be greeted by another teammate who would link arms with them. Both would swim back together another 25 yards. After each set of 25 yards an additional member from each team would jump into the water and link arms. The first team to successfully link eight team members together and complete the swim assignment would be the winner. This meant however that the first few "links" of the human chain would be completely exhausted by the end because they would have swam nearly 200 yards. Not only were the swimmers weighed down by their drenched hoodie, but they also had limited use of their arms because they had to be constantly latched to their teammates.
Halfway through the race both teams were neck and neck going into latching on the fifth link of their chain. I couldn't tell you what the Black team's secret to success was because I was too busy unintentionally swallowing pool water. However, I do know somewhere in the mix of things they took the lead and ended up defeating the Red team by 15 yards. Sophomore captain of the Red team Katie Keller was quoted saying, "The hardest part of today was the human chain because trying to communicate and keep everyone calm in the water was difficult. We overcame some difficult tasks today by listening to each other for better strategies."
Sink or swim
The last and final event of the day consisted of six members from each team forming two separate circles in the middle of the pool. Each team had one eight pound medicine ball that they could not let touch the water. The team would have to collectively tread water while holding the weighted ball above their heads. The first team to let their ball touch the water would be eliminated. Needless to say this was the shortest competition of the day. About two minutes in, the Black team's ball slipped into the water and they were eliminated giving the Red team its second win of the day. This tied up the daily point totals.
Black team ahead
At the end of day two the Black team leads with 200 points compared to the Red team with 100 points. With the competition stiffening it is important that both teams take this weekend to let their bodies recover so they can be 100 percent for the final two days on Monday and Tuesday. The point values increase each day so at this point it is anyone's game. Unfortunately for both teams, strength coach Teena Murray would not let us earn additional points at the end for best trick off the high dive. My vote would have gone to Maggie Ruckenbrod without a doubt.
