Swim team trains in Puerto Rico

CHRISTOPHER BLAKE STAFF WRITER CRB724@CABRINI EDU

Although a trip to Puerto Rico sounds like the perfect winter escape, the Cabrini swim team was not spending its time on sandy beaches lying in recliners. Instead they set out with a goal in hand: to bring an up-and-coming program even greater success.

Now in his fifth season at Cabrini, Coach Mike Kernicky was the initiator of his team’s winter excursion. His son, Michael Kernicky, swam at Villanova University from 1999-2003 and his team made the exact training trip Cabrini made.

“I did not want to recreate the wheel of trying to find a new place. If Villanova found success training away from campus so could Cabrini,” Kernicky said.

The only major difference between the planning of a trip by Villanova and Cabrini is the finances.

A major Division I program has the necessary funds to send its athletes on trips without taking money out of their pockets. A Division III program on the other hand, has limited funding and it is up to the coaches and athletes to fundraise for their trips.

From the spring to fall of 2007 the swimmers did their best to fundraise money for their trip. These efforts included selling 40 raffle tickets for $10 a piece for either a Philadelphia Flyers or 76ers game in a luxury box, sending letters to family and friends with personal notes and pictures through a program on Mysportsdreams. com and holding swimming clinics every Friday afternoon and Sunday morning teaching children from ages 5-15 the fundamentals of swimming.

Without fundraising, the most one athlete would have to pay was $850 but after all of the team’s hard work many only had to pay a small fee and some nothing at all.