Eighteen of Bermuda’s most promising young swimmers have returned home after completing the punishing Sharks Swim Club’s annual high-performance training camp, DC11, in Florida.
Led by Head Coach Ben Smith, the week-long intensive was designed to push the dedicated squad to their absolute physical and mental limits in preparation for the upcoming championship season.
The DC11 camp was a true test of extreme endurance. Athletes, including Elena Bortoli and Zach Johnson, covered a staggering distance in the pool, logging close to 100,000 yards—the equivalent of nearly 60 miles of swimming over seven days.
This colossal pool time was complemented by relentless land training. Each swimmer completed nearly 25 hours of swimming, coupled with eight hours of core sessions and over ten miles of running, all packed into a schedule featuring two demanding two-hour swim workouts every day.
“I asked these swimmers to go beyond what they thought possible… They had to remain focused on execution as they grew stronger both physically and mentally,” said Coach Smith.
The camp is a vital part of the Sharks’ build-up toward the upcoming Bermuda Sharks Kattegat Sprint Championships. Distance swimmers honed their stamina for the grueling 1500m freestyle, while sprinters sharpened their precision under the heavy load.
Coach Smith praised the commitment: “Many young people will have spent the school break sitting on the couch while these 18 chose to accept the challenge. They return home with the DC-11 mindset.”
The hard work was rewarded with a team trip to an Orlando Magic Basketball game before the exhausted but resilient squad flew back to Bermuda.
