New York University's men's and women's swimming & diving teams will spend 10 days exploring Germany and France as part of the University's teamNYUglobal initiative, beginning on Wednesday, August 13.
The Violets will begin their trip in Munich, Germany, where they will tour the city. The squads will also tour the Dachau Concentration Camp and take a cruise down the Rhine River. From there, half the squad will travel to Baumholder and volunteer with the Wounded Warrior Project. The student-athletes will engage in a friendly water polo match with the veterans and their families and then share in a barbeque meal.
The other half of the squad will be volunteering at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Those team members will be broken into three subgroups. One group will be volunteering at the Fisher House working with military families. Another group will be serving food at the local USO, while the final group will be working at the Chaplin's Closet clothing donation center.
The teams next travel to Paris, France, and do some pre-season training in Montreuil. The teams will visit Normandy in Northern France, after which they will take a tour around Paris and cruise on the Seine River. The student-athletes will also take some time to work at a camp, l'ENVOL for children with special needs.
"The trip will be really important from a cultural standpoint, as well as for training purposes," said Head Coach Trevor Miele. "The educational component of our trip is very World War II related, including our visit to Dachau and Normandy. Meeting the veterans is also special, especially outside of the U.S. It will be pretty impactful. In addition, we will get some extra training while we're in Europe, which will be really beneficial for the team considering they are not usually training around this time of year."
The teamNYUglobal initiative began in August 2012 to combine education, service and sport. The student-athletes prepare in New York with formal language and cultural instruction, then travel with a NYU instructor, a NYU athletics staff representative and coaches. This program enforces the idea that volunteering benefits everyone.
The swimming & diving teams will be the fifth group of student-athletes to travel abroad through teamNYUglobal. Both golf teams and the men's volleyball team traveled to Spain, women's soccer visited England and men's basketball went to Italy.
"We are all going to be experiencing the culture of Germany and France together. We'll be participating in some community service and will really be great representatives of NYU and NYU Athletics," said Diving Coach Scott Donie. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It has been very interesting taking our language and culture class, and I am excited to use that information on our trip."
Updates about the squads' trip will be posted on the teamNYUglobal tumblr page.
Both swimming & diving squads will begin the 2014 season with a dual meet against SUNY Cortland at the Palladium Athletic Facility in Manhattan on Saturday, October 11.
