March 22, 2013

OSLO, Norway -

In their second blog, Stanford men's gymnasts Sean Senters and Cale Robinson talk about training on new equipment, team meals and exploring Norway:

Halo!

Today was our first full day in Norway, as well as our first day of training. Luckily we were wrong about Norway only having five hours of sunlight this time of the year, but unluckily for us the sun decided to come up at 5:30 a.m. So although some of us began the day a little earlier than others, we all met for breakfast in the hotel at 8 am.

It was a full buffet with scrambled eggs, sausage, many types of cheese, cereals, yogurts, coffee, and what Norway is famous for, smoked salmon! It was a delicious meal and a great way to start our day! Shortly after breakfast we all gathered our things and one of the athletes on the Norwegian national team met us at our hotel to lead us through the Oslo subway station to the gym.

When we arrived at our stop, the gym was nowhere in site. We soon learned that we had a little bit of trek to actually arrive at the training center. Through ice and snow we walked (and slid) about ten minutes until we finally arrived at the gym. The facility was extremely nice and at this point we were eager to get stretched out, warmed up, and on the equipment.

All of the equipment here is a different brand than what we have in the United States. Therefore, all of it feels a little different and we had to adjust the timing of our skills, as well as battling fatigue. The morning practice was just basics, and although everyone was a little slow, we got our bodies going and had a productive workout.

Following the morning training we headed back to the hotel. When we got back, some people decided to take naps and others ventured over to the Oslo Opera House. Dennis Zaremski joined us at the Opera House and we had a fun afternoon climbing up the roof to take some beautiful pictures of the incredible view of the North Sea.

Following this expedition, the entire team again met in the hotel for lunch. This time the options were either fish sandwiches or tacos, which were again tasty. Following lunch, we had a little down time to digest before returning to the gym for a more difficult practice.

Once we got to the gym, everyone was starting to feel a bit tired and the jet lag started to creep in a little more. However, the positive was that everyone was able to work through their problems and have a great workout. Mike Levy was for the most part sturdy on floor (although at times a little too bouncy!), Sean Senters was solid on pommels, Dennis looked strong on rings, Eddie Penev nailed a yurchenko 2 ½, and everyone was able to work through their adjustments on parallel bars and high bar to get their numbers done and be productive. All-in-all it was a great workout and the guys are excited and ready to go!

Following training we went back to the hotel and had dinner with the Norwegian and Italian national teams, as well as their coaches. Dinner was lasagna, pasta, and meatballs. Once dinner was over, everyone was definitely feeling the effects of the travel and training and decided to head back to their rooms to get ready for bed and the big competition day tomorrow.

The way the competition will work is with our team split into two groups. The main group will be comprised of Eddie Penev, Sean Senters, Christopher Turner, Brian Knott, Mike Levy, and Dennis Zaremski. The rest of the team will be placed into a mixed group that will rotate separately of the other six guys.

The meet will begin at 3:45 Norwegian time (7:45 a.m. PT ) and will be broadcast here (link also available via gostanford.com). We're very excited to take on the Norwegians and Italians, as we feel this will be a tough test that will prepare us for the pending postseason competitions next month, as well as an opportunity to show the world what Stanford has to offer!

Good luck to all of the other Stanford teams competing this weekend, or if you're heading home, have a safe and exciting spring break!

Farvel ("goodbye" in Norwegian),

Cale and Sean