So I know it’s been forever since I last wrote and so much has happened, Christmas, new-year, going home!!! It’s been an amazing couple of weeks.

So I went home for the xmas holidays and chris came with me, yip all the way to zimbabwe. It was a very long flight there but so worth it. I hadn’t been home in nearly 2 years, so it was so good to see my parents, grandparents and crazy big family. For christmas we all got together at my aunt and uncles and had a big lunch. There were 51 of us, it was crazy fun! After lunch we usually play touch rugby or hang out and drink lots of tea and coffee and eat tons of chocolate (my favorite part of the day), while catching up on everyone’s news. I couldn’t believe how big all my cousins are getting, most of them are all in high school now, wow time just flies by!

So after xmas chris and i travelled around zim. Our first stop was Kariba, which is our biggest man made dam. We drove up with my sister and her husband and my parents. We stayed in a house which sat right off the banks. We had elephant; zebra and hippo come right up to the house. Seeing these animals in their own habitat always makes me remember just how lucky I was when growing up to have these types of experiences. The weather wasn’t as nice as it usually is, it was rainy and cloudy but that didn’t put a damper on our plans. We went out on the lake fishing and I caught the first fish of the day, Unfortunatly that was the only fish of the day but we had a great time and actually got pretty burnt.  After the fishing excursion we went on a game drive, we saw so many beautiful animals and got pretty close to them. There was a big heard of water buffalo, elephant, impala (which is a small buck) water buck, baboons (a type of monkey) crocodiles, hippos, zebra and a beautiful sunset. It was a perfect day!!

After kariba, chris and I left my sister and parents and flew to Victoria falls. This is one of the longest waterfalls in the world. We stayed in one of the most beautiful lodges, with very traditional art work and décor.  We were in vic falls for 2 days and it was jam packed with adventures. We started off by going white water rafting, and yes it was still raining which worked out pretty well since we were going to get pretty wet anyway.  We had to climb down into the gorge to get to the water, which was pretty steep and hard since it was very muddy, but as they say slow and steady wins the race!! We finally made it to the waters edge and we were met by a breath taking view. Because of all the rain everything was very green, and then you add the enormous black rocks and the water it was picture perfect. So off we went down the river our trip consisted of 12 rapids. with names such as “the mother,” “the washing machine,” “the three ugly sisters,” and if that didn’t scare you enough before hand the guides would inform you that if you fall out, you become a “long swimmer” which  basically means you go down these rapids by yourself and meet back up with the boat on the other side!!! Thank goodness I love the water and was more than determined to stay in the boat!!! Which actually happened, I didn’t fall out once, now I got thrown around the boat and had the bruises to prove it!! Hehehehe! But it was totally worth it.

 After spending the day soaking wet we decided to try an activity where we would stay dry so opted for the zip line. What we didn’t know is just how high this zip line was and where it was. We arrive on site of three activities, the “flying fox” the “zip line” and the “gorge swing.”  They have attached cords from one side of the gorge to the other side with the river beneath you. The Zip line is 125meters above the river, 425meters across the gorge and when we saw this set up there was no way I was doing this activity by myself. So chris and I went together it was thrilling. I think my heart nearly jumped right out of my chest, we reached a speed of 100km/hour, and it was crazy and awesome at the same time!!!  The flying fox is basically a smaller zip line and the gorge swing, well that’s just for crazies!! It is basically like bungy jumping but the ropes are attached to your waist so you step off the side of the gorge and go feet first like a swing instead of being head first and upside down. The difference is on the bunjy you freefall for about 35meters and with the gorge swing you freefall for 75meters, like I said that activity is for the crazies and im not one of them!!!

Well I still have so much to tell you guys, that was sonly half of our trip, but I have to run to workout so I’ll have to write and tell you the rest the next time.

Hope you all had a great xmas holiday and best wishes for the new year,

Take care, talk to you soon

Kirsty

hey everyone,

hope you are all doing well. the weather has started to cool off here which is awesome, its great jean and t-shirt weather for most, for me its great jean and sweater weather!! hehehe! i am always cold, chris laughs because I'm the only person he knows whom carries around a sweater in the middle of 90 degree weather!!! i love swimming but i think the hardest part for me is getting into freezing water so earlier in the mornings, i wish i could figure out some genius way to  fix that, but  after  18 years of swimming  the best I've come up with is to take a deep breath, grind my teeth and plunge into the water trying to think of happy thoughts and warmer places, like the dessert, beaches, being out on the lake!!!! most of the time this little trick works pretty well.

so training is going pretty well. i had a few bumps in the road this past week, i think with the weather change i got a cold. so i was feeling really bad on Thursday and wasn't able to do the whole workout. which i hate , i hate getting sick and not being able to swim, but my body just wasn't going to let me!! so i decided to listen to my body and come home and go back to bed for the rest of the day. you are the best person to know what your body is telling you and sometimes listening to it is a good thing as hard as that may be. the next morning i felt a lot better still a little weak but sooo much better than the day before. for those of you that may get sick around this time of year, just remember to start looking after your body, by wearing warmer clothes, and taking your vitamins.

so this weekend Texas played Nebraska in football and with the cooler weather it was great, of course i was only there for the first quarter and then went shopping but thats besides the point!!! Kim and Eddie got recognized at pre-game for being Olympic coaches for Beijing next year. it was really cool to watch them walk out onto the field and get recognized for all their hard work as coaches. they got  a big applause from the stadium which was supper cool, and apparently Mathew McConaughey was there, totally missed that one!!! I've lived here for nearly a year and a half and still haven't seen anyone famous, im kinda bummed out!!! i always hear about it, just never see anyone!! anyway it has been a good weekend, chris had some of his friends in town for the game and his dad came up too, so we had a full house!!

Sunday's been a great day so far, we have just been really lazy, catching up on our tv shows on the dvr and hanging out.  i love days like this, so im going to get back to my lazy sunday, hope you are all enjoying your weekends, and have a great week!!!

ttyl,
kirsty

hey guys,

hope you are all having fun. austin is great the weather is starting to get a little cooler which is really nice. workouts are hard but i know its what i need right now. we did one of our first test sets last week, which was 12x300's free on 3.45 holding best average, and i actually had a better average than this time last year by about 4seconds, so that was cool i was really happy. weights is going really good, i am loving the stuff I’m doing with my weight coach. Outside of the pool chris and i just bought a new tv for the living room, all i know about it, is that its really big and looks pretty, hahahaha! and he is very excited to watch football on it!!! my family back home are doing great everyone is getting excited about us coming home, we haven’t spent a big family christmas together in about 5years so we are all really looking forward to that, my sister keeps counting down the weeks, its very cute!! well guys i don’t have much other news, excited about this weekend some of my girlfriends and i are getting together for a girls weekend, we are going to go shopping and get our nails done and then go out for dinner so that should be a lot of fun. hope you all have a great weekend,

cheers for now,
kirsty

hey everyone,

hope you are all doing well. sorry its been a while, but here's what ive been up to. the last time i spoke to you all i was on my way to japan, and it was awesome, not only did i swim super fast but chris and i had so much fun. chris was my stand in coach cause kim wasnt able to come, and he did a GREAT job. the meet was run so efficiently right down to the last minute, and the crowd was always very loud and created a great atmosphere. i was very happy with my results, breaking the minute for the 100 back and getting so close to the world record in the 200 back was both exciting and a little disappointing.

after the meet was done chris and i went into Tokyo, and it was just huge 2,5 million people travel into  the heart of Tokyo every day. we stayed at the park hyatt hotel  and the cool thing about this hotel was that it was used in the movie "lost in translation" it was really beautiful and the views where just magnificent. we did a lot of sight seeing, the imperial palace, a couple different temples it is a very interesting culture.

so now we are back home and im back into training and weights and so far its going really well, i think not taking to long a break is really helping. austin is great the weather has been really hot though. this past weekend one of my friends from zimbabwe whom now lives in iowa, (same place chris is from) got married so off chris and i went. what we didnt realize is that it was going to be 30 degrees colder. the wedding was beautiful and they looked very very happy which was great to see, even thought we were shivering and frozen to the bone. we all changed into warmer clothes after the ceremony, i had tights under my jeans, two pairs of socks, long sleeve shirt and a huge winter jacket, and i was still  cold. the poor bride didnt want to take her dress off so the next best thing was to put a pair of sweat pants on underneath her dress. they had built a bon fire and once that thing was burning bright i was like a little rotisserie i didnt move more than 2 feet

away from it  the rest of the night.  even with the freezing weather it was a great weekend, not only did i get to see one of  my closest friends get married but i also got to finally got to meet chris's sisiter and her family. they are so nice and his three nieces are just so cute and full  energy. so it was a great weekend, but we were both very excited about getting home to the warm weather!!

well thats all for now guys, hope you are all having a wonderful week, talk to you soon,

kirsty

hey guys,

hope you are all well and enjoying the last couple days of your summer. i am getting really excited about leaving for japan just a couple more days. i leave on friday!!!  We had fun with chris's family two weekends ago, colin his little nephew is so cute, we had a lot of fun playing and watching barney which i think he enjoyed a lot more than we did, but it was cute watching him sing and dance along.

training is going well, i forget how much i love taper, the yardage comes down and the sprints increase i wish workout was like this all the time!!! but i guess without all the hard work we wouldnt get any better and getting faster is always very exciting. well i just wanted to say a quick hey before i leave i will hopefully be able to write when im in japan, and i ll take pics to put up when i get back.

so for now enjoy spending time with your family and friends. take care of each other,

cheers

kirsty

hey guys, hope you are all doing well and enjoying the last couple weeks of your summer. well ive been busy with training and travel. i was in Algeria for the all African games and swam really well, i was very happy with my performance. unfortunately i got really sick and had to go to the emergency room, so i was not a happy camper. but im all better and on track for japan. My yardage is decreasing little by little and the fun short fast stuff is becoming the focus. i love taper time, its the greatest!!!

wow hope you have either been participating in nationals or watching, they have been really fast and there is so much depth which is really exciting for usa swimming. Katie and Michael have been swimming some off events and have been rocking out, its awesome. Ian, stay strong sorry about your race but rather now than at a more important meet, things like these make us stronger as swimmers but also as people. its been amazing to watch dara, shes 40, thats awesome, she is going to be a definite person to keep an eye out for at trials and Olympics, she is definitely proof that if you put your mind to something and dont let anyone or thing stand in the way anything is

possible. She’s a great role model. there have been some great surprises like the mens 100 free with David Walters winning, and the youngsters are definitely stepping to the plate with some big names whom are not in Indy. well for those whom have competed congrats and those who still have some events good luck remember anything is possible and always race with heart!!

im off to do some stuff around the house, chris's family are coming into town and staying with us this weekend so im super excited to get to hang out with his nephew he's so cute. anyway stay safe and enjoy the rest of your summer,

talk to you later,
kirsty

hey everyone,

Hope everyone is having better weather than we are here in austin. its been raining for days now!!  Well i the last time i wrote i was vienna austria, and wow is it a beautiful place. the camp/clinc was awesome, the people were wonderful, the kids were so eager to learn and excited about everything which was a great way for me to remember why our sport is awesome and the people in it are all like one big family. the austrian culutre is very laid back, friendly and everyone was so willing to help. i know the latter one well because they gave me my own car, which was a little scary, but i had my trusty tomtom, (navigation system) which was a complete life saver, plus if i was totally in a bind all i had to do was pull over stick my head out of my little European car and ask for help!! i had a great time and it was an awesome experience. People to People, the organization i was there with, were wonderful, they have big hearts and were willing to make the experience the best it could be for all whom where there, so i just wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks! also wanted to say hi to any of the kids that where in austria with me, please let me know how the meet went, hope you guys kicked butt!!

well im back in austin now, but not for long. i leave for All Africa Games, on monday 9th, they are in algeria, so that should be pretty fun. i will get to meet and get to know the younger zimbabwe swimmers so im excited about that, and zimbabwe will actually have a relay team which im supper excited about!!! thats the competitive side coming out of me!! hehehe!!

I have my best friend from college coming to visit this weekend, we havent seen each other in a while, so we are both psyched about catching up and hanging out. i miss being able to see all my close friends on a daily basis like when we were in college. i guess thats part of growing up!!

My family are all doing good, my sister and husband are in england and seem to be doing great, we are all going home for xmas this year so that should be good times for all. we havent spent a family xmas in a couple years, so it will be really neat to have the whole family together.

well thats all my news, hope you are all having a great day and be safe,

talk to you soon:)

- Kirsty

Hey everyone, I’m in Vienna, Austria, and its beautiful!! I am here doing a clinic with an organization people to people, so far it’s been awesome. the kids are great they are all very eager to learn and get better and its so uplifting and gets me all fired up and excited about just how cool our sport really is. We´ve seen cool sites like the royal families palace and gardens, the cathedral, parliament etc and they are all the original buildings which are big and beautiful, and I’m in disbelief that they could build such amazing sites so long ago. we just got back from an original austrian dinner, which was pretty good the food was all fried, but i have had some really yummy food. i got to taste a couple different types sausages, my favorite being one that had oozing cheddar cheese out of it, mmmmmm delicious!!! and their bread is always really fresh and warm, and their pastries are just out of this world, which is great for me since i have the worst sweet tooth ever so as you have figured out im definitely not staving!!!! well i have to run ill write as soon as i get back with some more info, im off to see the city center at night, we´ve heard its just lit up beautifully at night. so hope you are all doing great,

aus wiedersehen (good bye\see ya later)

- Kirsty

Hi everyone sorry for being MIA for so long but things have just been hectic, mostly good things but some not so good. Where to start, i guess ill start where i left off. I think the last time i wrote was before worlds, well worlds was a lot of fun. I Swam well which is always good, but mainly because my parents got to come watch. it was awesome for them, it was their first big international meet they have gotten to see me swim and their first time in Australia. We spent two weeks after the meet traveling around seeing friends and family that have immigrated.  Our start to the holiday was a bit of a rough one, cause my grandfather passed during worlds, which was hard for my mom and dad because my grann had made them promise not to tell me until i was done swimming, she said my grandpa would have wanted it that way, so that was a really hard time for me, cause i didn’t get to say goodbye and i really would have wanted to go back to see him. Anyway, i'm getting all emotional writing this so ill have to leave that subject for now. Our holiday ended up so much better than it started we got to see friends we had not seen in like 20 years so i know that really meant a lot to my parents. We went to Brisbane, the gold coast (where we spent time relaxing on the beach :) and up to Tawoomba, which is in the mountains. It was a great holiday we ate way too much.  After that my parents went home back to Zimbabwe, and i came back to the states, and pretty much got right back into training. Two of my friends got married, their wedding was beautiful, Ashley and Mark were so cute.  It was back in Auburn, so that was a lot of fun getting to catch up with everyone, cause i hadn’t been back since i left last year. Chris got to come with me which was awesome cause he got to  meet all my friends from college. I don’t know if i mentioned Chris last time, but he's the man in my life. We have been dating for about 10 months and just moved in together very exciting!!!! so that’s what i've been doing the past two weeks, packing up all my stuff, getting rid of a lot of old stuff, and moving house. Our new place is pretty cool, it'll be really nice once all the boxes are unpacked and things aren’t every where, right now it looks kinda like a bomb hit the place, but i guess rome wasn’t built in a day, so i need to be patient!!! for those of  you that know me i dont really have a lot of patience!!! hehehe. well i gotta run i promise ill be better at writing , hope your all having fun!!! ttyl.

- Kirsty

This is Kirsty Coventry, for those that don’t know me, I am originally from Zimbabwe, yes, that’s southern Africa! My favorite events are the 100 and 200 back and the 200 and 400 IM. I am so excited to be apart of SwimRoom, its going to be a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to making new friends and staying in touch with friends and family all over the world.

These past months have been tough, with a very special coach and father figure in my life passing away. Ralphy, was the distance coach at auburn and was and always will be so much more than a coach to his swimmers; and it really showed when so many people went HOME, (Auburn) to celebrate his magnificent life. He has touched so many people and we will carry him with us always. Love you Ralphy thanks for being and teaching us so many great lessons!!

I’m back in Austin now and in the middle of my preparation for worlds, which are in Melbourne, Australia at the end of March. I am so excited because its going to be the first big international meet my parents are getting to go to, so thanks Speedo!! They are very excited too!!

well guys, ill be keeping you posted on what’s going on with me and my swimming, hope your all as excited as I am about SwimRoom,

Talk to you soon,

Kirsty