Sports

Whether it was vacationing in exotic destinations, taking classes at elite institutions, working internships, or serving the community, most of Stuyvesant’s student body seems to have had a busy and productive eight weeks off from school. Despite all of these typical summer endeavors, however, some of Stuyvesant’s students were faced with yet another lofty goal: athletic training.

After a long nine-month hiatus, the fall season for PSAL athletics is finally back with full force. With the Peglegs kicking off the official start of the season on Sunday, August 17, fall athletes have been busy with extensive summer practices.

One of the more traditional, and popular methods of training is attending athletic summer camps and clinics. Senior football captain Dionicio Herrera went to a three day clinic at the University of Pennsylvania in late July, designed not only for getting into shape but also possibly being recruited by college coaches. “We practiced three times a day for about two-and-a-half hours each time. By the end of the second day, I couldn’t feel my feet,” Herrera said.

Both the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams follow a steady tradition of attending the weeklong Winged Foot cross-country camp in Copake, New York. “We ran twice a day, a minimum of four miles in the morning and two in the afternoon. The point is to get a solid foundation of mileage for the beginning of the season,” senior and co-captain Molly French said. Defined by their “short and sweet” methods of training, camps and clinics offer athletes a small amount of time to complete intense workouts and get into shape.

Another common method of preparing for the fall season is competing on a summer or year-round (also known as“club”) team. Especially popular amongst swimmers, these teams offer workouts and schedules similar to those conducted in a regular Stuy season. “I swam for my club team, the New York City Aquatic Club, five times a week,” senior girls’ swimming team co-captain Kei Okochi said. “I did a half-hour of dryland exercises at each practice, followed by an hour and 45 minutes of swimming.”

The Penguins’ other captain, senior Abby Erickson, swam for the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics (AGUA) team. “I swam two two-hour practices a day for a month, then swam single practices every day for the rest of the summer” Erickson said. Working out with teammates and a coach for the summer is beneficial for swimmers because it exercises the same skills they would implement during the fall PSAL swim season.

To mimic the exact conditions of a Stuyvesant athletic season, some teams held unofficial summer practices throughout July and early August. The Peglegs’ coaches offered optional conditioning sessions at school, where they focused on general strength and flexibility.

The boys’ soccer team, the Ballerz, also held informal practices five days a week, increasing the intensity of their training as the weeks passed.

A final (and often tedious) method of summer training is the personal workout. “This summer, I used the 7/7/7 plan,” senior football player Wardell Lee said. “I worked out seven hours a day, seven days a week for seven weeks.” Lee’s workouts included several miles of running, individual gym sessions and competitive dragon boating.

Many fall athletes also chose to complement team workouts with individual training sessions. Upon the end of her club team’s season in early August, Okochi picked up running in Prospect Park and swam independently in the Stuyvesant pool. Herrera’s extensive self-training became so rigorous that he moved the meniscus in his left knee. He is now in a full leg cast and is expecting to miss most of the football season.

As school finally starts and with it, the fall season, the extensive training methods that Stuy’s athletes practiced throughout July and August will become an obvious advantage for teams, coaches and fans alike. Hopefully, the hard work the athletes did this summer will translate into an exciting season of fall sports at Stuyvesant.