MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin swimming and diving team waved in the New Year from the beaches of Honolulu, Hawaii, for its annual training trip to the Aloha State. As the Badgers wrap up two weeks of training, team-building and competition, here are five things you should know.
 
1. Beach Bounce: Over the trip, Wisconsin's diving contingent competed in the Wally Nakamoto Hawaii Diving Invitational, which included men's and women's 1-meter board, 3-meter board and platform.
 
The invite featured freshly-minted Badger Tereza Vithoulkas, and the mid-season addition to the UW roster flew to first place on the women's 1-meter board with a score of 255.70.  
 
On the men's side, senior Matt Aronson posted a season-best 319.30 on the 3-meter board.
 
2. Hawaii Sweep: Racing in Honolulu on Friday, the Badgers squared off against a Hawaii team coached by Dan Schemmel, who previously spent five seasons as an assistant coach at UW.
 
Led by Hawaii native MJ Mao, the Wisconsin men's team posted eight event wins on the day en route to a 134-109 victory over the Rainbow Warriors.
 
Mao tallied two individual victories in the 100-yard breaststroke (54.72) and 100 butterfly (48.37) and also helped his 200 medley relay squad to a first-place finish (1:29.87).
 
On the back of seven event wins, UW's women completed the meet sweep by topping Hawaii 146-97.
 
Wisconsin junior Beata Nelson bagged a win in the 100 fly (52.80) and contributed to two relay victories in the 200 medley relay (1:41.01) and 400 free relay (3:26.13).
 
"Despite some different conditions and while under some pretty heavy training, I thought our athletes competed very well," head coach Yuri Suguiyama said. "Hawaii has some talented athletes and we knew it was going to be a tight meet. 
 
"This sets us up well for the competitions ahead."
 
3. Picture Perfect: With two weeks of outdoor practice at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex on the University of Hawaii campus, it didn't take long for the Badgers to find their Kodak moment.
 
In a season brimming with picture-perfect moments, perhaps none better paint the road ahead for the Badgers than one snapped at Monday's practice.
 

 
The Badgers, pictured pacing towards the end of the rainbow, will go for gold of their own in the final leg of the season.
 
After dual meets against Northwestern and Iowa, Wisconsin enters the championships stretch beginning in February.  
 
4. Fun in the sun: While the annual Hawaii trip largely focuses on team training, the Badgers have also spent treasured time on team bonding.
 

 
"We're pushing the athletes to embrace this opportunity and use it to get better both as a team and individually," Suguiyama said.
 
5. Stay Posted: Stay updated on UW swimming and diving on Twitter (@BadgerSwimDive), Instagram (BadgerSwimDive) and on UWBadgers.com.