VARSITY ATHLETICS

August 19, 2007

A DAY AT SEA IN PARATY

By sophomore forwards´Anthony Durr (Columbus, Ohio-Beechcroft) and John Radke (Northbrook, ILlinois-Glenbrook North)
Sunday, August 19, 2007

Anthony...

Before I even woke up today, I knew my word-of-the-day was going to be “Animal”. After hearing the day before that we were going to go swimming and snorkeling in the ocean my heart sank and my mood shifted towards sadness. Through my entire 19 years on this beautiful planet, I had never learned to swim, and I knew I was going to be missing out on a wonderful experience.

This morning when I rolled out of bed, I felt a slight breeze of hope and that’s all I needed! I ran into the dining room of our five-star hotel (lol) and smashed the breakfast like an “Animal”. The eggs and watermelon barely had enough time to feel the wrath of my teeth, because I swallowed them quickly. Big Creg [Jantz] and Monster Pat [Tour Guide] asked me if I was going to snorkel later with the rest of the team. I responded the only way I knew how...”Holla at cha boy, and HARDBODY”.

As the team and I descended upon the ankle-breaking road of our hotel and surrounding area, I could feel lumps starting to develop in my stomach. My teammates began to chant and make jokes about my handicap, but I calmly covered my sorrow with laughter and showed them no signs of weakness. The “Animal” in me let out a wild...Cheaaaaaaaa as we came upon our cruise ship. The interior wooden seats sparkled in the sunlight and I was infatuated with the 50-inch wide screen below deck. I suddenly realized that I was the only one who had stopped at this ship and ran to catch up with the rest of the team. Our real cruise ship was slightly bigger than my 8x8 dorm room and had no 50-inch television in sight.

The ride out to the ocean was slow but steady. Our boat crew spotted a smaller boat stalled in our path and graciously reeled it in. Unfortunately, less than 10 minutes later our boat went on the fritz too. While the crew speedily worked on repairing the motor, the team took a little break to enjoy the ocean. Steve “Su” Young was the first Spartan to jump in and did so with style. The rest of the team followed suit and jumped, flipped, and dived into the water. I declared myself picture boy and decided to sit this one out! I was feeling good about myself until Dan, who obviously doesn’t realize he missed tryouts, began taunting me about being on the boat. I flexed my muscles and the “Animal” took over.

My ninja turtle flip into the water looked amazing in my head, but I decided that probably wouldn’t be the best approach. I strapped on my handy-dandy life jacket and slowly lowered myself into the water. David “The Colonel” Klink saluted me as I displayed my fine back-stroke skills in the water. I kind of figured he would be the one to say something to me about my stroke. I couldn’t believe that I had actually jumped into the ocean. Two weeks ago, I had nearly drowned in Veale swimming and today I was hanging with the sharks…"Animal".

The boat crew finally got the motor fixed and we were on our way. We passed several private islands with beautiful restaurants and mansions. The scenery was gorgeous and the mountains off in the distance stretched into the clouds. To practice snorkeling, the crew took us to a little beach where the water wasn’t too deep. I had no intention of snorkeling so I kept my distance and just wrote my name “Big Durr” in the Sand.

The moment of truth arrived when we headed out to another island and began snorkeling. Everybody tightened their masks and jumped in the water immediately. Once again, I designated myself picture boy and stayed faithfully away from the edge of the boat. The smell of the ocean ran through my nostrils and circulated through my entire body. I had to do it! My teammates cheered as I put on my trusty life jacket and scuba goggles. I jumped into the ocean and threw my hands straight into the air… “Animal”!! I suddenly felt something tug on my shorts. Looking into the water I could see a group of piranhas heading straight for me. I couldn’t tell if I was crying or if my face was just wet from the ocean. I thought I was done for!

Still here…”holla at cha boy, HARDBODY…Animal” I love you Tracy!

John...

I think that everyone started off the day today with a lot of enthusiasm after the long travel day yesterday. Everyone had been looking forward to today because of the anticipated daily activities. On tap for the day was a trip out on the Atlantic Ocean that included activities such as snorkeling and visiting private beaches that could only be reached by swimming up to them from a docked boat. As I sat at breakfast at our tropical hotel with my teammates I had a feeling that today was going to be a day that I would never forget.

As we approached the dock, the sun glistened down upon our walking group. We had a perfect day to go out to sea. When all of my teammates and I had boarded the boat and it had proceeded to leave the dock we saw the most beautiful sights of historic Paraty, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The surrounding mountains and landscape left us all speechless. After various engine trouble as well towing another boat we had arrived at our first destination. We dock at a private beach that could only be reached by jumping off the boat and swimming towards it. The clarity of the water and the beauty of the scene was unmatched by anything that I have ever seen. Once the whole team had reached the beach we began practicing for the upcoming snorkeling event as well as taking in the unbelievable beach with the softest sand that I had ever felt. The experienced was topped off by drinking coconut water out of an actual coconut.

After we all got back on the boat it was time to go snorkeling. The boat staff had already picked out a place that would be good to go snorkeling. Once we all got the gear on and jumped in the water we saw some of the most amazing fish. After figuring out how to breathe through the snorkel without swallowing salt water snorkeling became awesome. The boat staff gave Coach Sean some fish food and as we were all in the water. As coach gave us all some food in the water schools of fish swarmed around us to snatch the food out of our hands. It was amazing to see these fish at such close range. I then went with Mason [Conrad], David [Klink], and Brad [Sutton] to the reef and the different array of fish that lived there was really something that I will never forget seeing. After I had swallowed my share of salt water I got back on the boat to see one of the best things of the whole trip. My man Anthony Durr jumped in to snorkel with a life jacket and four floating noodles. I loved it because as he floated with his snorkel gear he yelled “I’m an animal” as he put his face down in the water. The sight was priceless.

We then ate an amazingly prepared lunch on the boat. Before we left our docked area we spotted wild monkeys swinging through the trees. It was quite a sight to be seen. After we left our lunch spot we then headed to one more private beach. This was equally as stunning as the first beach. We swam up to it again and the sand was once again amazing. We also spotted a boat full of very good looking Brazilian girls. This was a team favorite as the whole team tried out our Portuguese pick up lines.

On our way back to the dock for the day we saw a swimming turtle. Once we got back to the dock I looked back at the water and I realized that this was one of the most amazing days and beautiful of my life.

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Posted by: Creg Jantz August 19, 2007 11:27 PM | Category: Brazil

Posted by: cnj4 (Creg Jantz) August 19, 2007 11:27 PM | Comments (0) | Trackback