The Golden Bears have been busy these past two weeks, and there's no slowing down as we get into the height of training this season.

Upon our return from the Palouse after taking on the Cougars of Washington State, we hosted Utah on Oct. 15 in the first night meet ever held at Spieker! Having a meet with the men's team was a great experience – it's the first time we've gotten to compete with them this season. It was not only a lot of fun, but provided us a great opportunity to adapt to a new and unfamiliar situation and make the most out of it, something our coach, Teri McKeever, encourages us to do daily. To de-stress a little bit after the meet, the post-grads (who continue to train here in Berkeley after their collegiate careers are over) hosted a barbecue for the team where we all hung out, made burgers and spent time with one another.

During one of our recent dance sessions, we had a special guest instructor! Momo Lebeau is a super popular instructor at the Recreational Sports Facility here on campus, and a few of our team members frequent his class on their own on Wednesday nights. He came and worked with us during our dance workout and taught the whole team an awesome new routine. He has so much confidence and is really encouraging. The way he dances is so unique, it makes us all feel more confident in what we are doing.

This past weekend, our team went its separate ways for our annual Free Fall! Free Fall is an awesome time off that we all use to fill our spirit after weeks of intense training and a lot of hard work in and out of the pool. Some of the team members went home to catch up with family and friends, while others stayed in town or spent a night in San Francisco. Upcoming, we're competing against San Jose State on Friday at 2 p.m. It's the last home meet of 2015 so be sure to come out and cheer on your Bears!

- Valerie Hull

About the Blog
For the 2015-16 season, a group of five Golden Bears – a regular blog squad – will be producing Between the Lanes segments, both video and written, to give fans an inside look at Cal's women's swimming & diving team. The crew is made up of Marina Garcia, Valerie Hull, Catherine Ladd, Katie McLaughlin and Maija Roses (video executive producer).

Check back at CalBears.com or on the Cal women's swimming & diving Facebook and Twitter pages for more on the Bears this season.