Imagine arriving 5 a.m. at the Patty Center’s front door motivated to jump in the pool and swim lap after lap. Nanook swimmers are committed to this routine six days a week.

“It’s worth it,” says junior Amanda Hartman who was second on the team for the best 100 free stroke time last year. She seemed optimistic about this grueling schedule, after admitting to an intense first week of classes and practice. Hartman strives for a social life because she forces herself to be in bed by 9:30 p.m. at the latest. “All my swim meets have been early in the morning and your body just gets adapted.” Hartman has competed competitively since she was 5-years-old.

Joann Kump, junior, says that sometimes she falls asleep in certain classes. “It depends if it (the class) is fast or slow.” And some days Kump finds it difficult getting out of bed. “I struggle in the morning, especially during the end of the season.” Nonetheless, she enthusiastically looks forward to the competition with teams like Seattle in conference.

The athletes sign a contract of their commitment, or a “code of conduct,” at the beginning of every season. It includes attending classes, staying away from drugs and alcohol, and getting their 20 hours a week of practice time. About three swimmers leave practice early on Tuesdays and Thursdays for classes, but have to come to the afternoon sessions for their 20 hours by the end of the week.

Swimmers arriving after 5 a.m. can still practice, but they have “door duty” for a month. This means they have to stand by the locked door every morning and let every one of their teammates in before they can get suited for practice. However, Hartman and Kump claim it hasn’t occurred this year, and it happens on rare occasion.

Not only do these athletes have to get up and endure a two hour morning practice, but they often have to come back to the pool after classes from 2 to 4 p.m. Head coach Scott Lemley stresses the difficulty of practices, and it being mandatory to have spaced out sessions. “Training is challenging and if we don’t separate practices from 6 to 7 hours, they don’t recover enough.”

This year, one of the earliest practice times in UAF sports is women’s volleyball, which have the gym from 8 to 11 a.m. Hockey skates anywhere from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Women’s basketball shoots from 11:30 to 3 p.m., and men’s basketball has the gym from 3 to 5 p.m. It is common for these sports to practice once a day, and their schedules may vary.

Even among other athletes, swimmers have a reputation for high commitment.

Volleyball players didn’t begin practice until 2 p.m. last year. Korlyn Bolster, a junior UAF volleyball player, got a taste of the swim team’s early efforts when she roomed with Hartman last year. “It’s pretty rough,” Bolster said of the swimmers practice schedule, “but they’re determined athletes. We can definitely learn something from them.”

With this type of rigorous training schedule, it’s no surprise that the girls face injuries and leave practice tired. The most common injuries swimmers face include shoulders and ankles.

Kump is a distance swimmer. “Distance swimmers tend to swim about 12,000 yards per day.” After practices they get to look forward to going to class and working on homework the rest of the night. Kump says sometime her shoulders get tight, “mainly due to overworking.”

As hard as it is getting up at 5 a.m., there is also another technique used by coach Lemley. Every practice, swimmers have to use “fist gloves.” They are a type of rubber gloves which the hand fits in, and only the thumb sticks out. The glove forces the athlete to keep their fist closed which makes them use their forearm to create their momentum. Kump explains, “all great swimmers use more of their forearms and keep their elbow high.” This technique can make arms feel heavy and sometimes sore.

Lifting is not mandatory, but the girls make it a point to go unless their classes or other large commitments interfere. They lift Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, or sometimes Friday if they miss one of the three times. Hartman explains that they mainly go as a group, and there tends to be “eight to ten girls there.”

Swim meets are also held early in the morning. When the athletes travel there is usually a time difference, so the early practice is considered a form of training. Hartman and Kump seem to have a large respect for their coach and understand the reasoning behind their practice schedule.

Most swimmers find it extremely difficult to sleep in anymore.

Hartman “kind of” misses sleeping in, but she focuses a lot of her time on homework Sundays.

Kump laughs, “Even on my days off I get up at seven.”