By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Their last competition took place on Dec. 7 and the schedule won't be resuming until Jan. 15.
The Bridgewater State University men's and women's swimming & diving teams deal with the most idle time of any of the Bears' programs during the semester break.
There are 5 1/2 weeks in between meets after hosting the BSU Invitational early last month with the next one taking place at Eastern Connecticut State University in mid-January.
Staying sharp during that long stretch off can be challenging, so the Bears are heading south to ramp up the training heading into the second half of the season.
The men's and women's teams leave Thursday for Puerto Rico where they will have an extended training session, returning home next Tuesday.
With a travel party of 51, the Bears have nine workouts scheduled over 4 1/2 days in Rincon, located in the western part of Puerto Rico.
BSU used to make winter training trips on a regular basis, going 10 years in a row with the last one taking place in the 2019-20 season.
But ever since the COVID pandemic, there had been no mid-season journeys for the Bears until this year.
"Winter training trips are pretty prevalent in the sport of swimming," said men's and women's coach Mike Caruso. "Because it's a winter sport, we do have a lot of time off in between and you have three or four weeks of training.
"We go down there and pile some yardage on. We kind of prep them for the championship (meets in February). We take them up the hill to drop them off at the end."
BSU went to Puerto Rico in 2015 for training and has done most of its winter work in Florida in the past.
Fund-raising was done throughout last year in order to keep costs of this trip down.
Caruso said that team members worked at Gillette Stadium events and also at Barrett's Haunted Mansion in Abington as part of the fund-raising.
"They do look forward to it," said Caruso of his team members going to Puerto Rico. "It's been awhile since we traveled after doing it 10 years in a row.
"This team has been really hoping for it. COVID kind of threw a big wrench into travel and fund-raising, made it kind of difficult. We got our feet underneath us this year and it really worked for us.''
There will be other college teams at the facility BSU will be using, so some time trials will be taking place against competition during the stay.
Caruso said the trip serves not only to get the swimmers and divers prepared for what's ahead, but also helps bring the squads together.
"It's huge," said Caruso. "It's not just the training. It's the team bonding, the camaraderie, the shared struggle. That is what pulls everything together. It can be a long season and it's a grind.
"It's definitely a business trip for everybody. There's not a lot of down time. Any down time they have, they'll be sitting by the hotel pool or the ocean."
The Bears' men are coming off a win over Plymouth State University in the BSU Invitational.
BSU won its third straight Little East Conference championship last season. The Bears go for four in a row Feb. 13-16 in Wellesley after five more meets.
The BSU women also won the BSU Invitational in a field of six teams. The Bears were second to Eastern Connecticut State University in the Little East last season.
"Both teams are going to be fighting for a championship," said Caruso. "That's all you can ask for. It's going to be a battle."
This marks the third time in less than a year that BSU athletics teams are going to Puerto Rico.
The lacrosse team played a pair of early-season games March 7-9 and held practice sessions in San Juan.
The women's basketball team took part in the Puerto Rico Clasico Dec. 28 and 30.