Elite News Bulletin -- 01-31-05

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This News Bulletin is emailed to swimmers and parents each Monday by Bill Deatly. If you aren't receiving a copy, please contact to make sure he has your current email address on his list.

“CHARISMATIC NEIL” SPENDS DAY WITH ELITE

Seventy extremely lucky Elite swimmers spent 4 thrilling hours listening to, swimming with, being photographed with, receiving autographs from and just plain “hanging out with two time Olympian and two time Gold Medalist Neil Walker this past Saturday at Morrisown-Beard.

Structured as a swim clinic, the small gathering allowed Elite swimmers to intimately interact with this “human swimming machine.” Being both affable and a very tall (6 foot 5 inches), Neil completely fit the stereotypical “gentle giant” description, easily discussing swimming with the youngest to the oldest Elite swimmers.

In reliving his fascinating life story, Neil keep swimmers, parents and coaches spellbound for over one hour retelling his journey as a age group swimming prodigy (Wisconsin State Champion) thru his most recent triumph of swimming in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Neil described his success (placing 5th and 6th in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, winning the NCAA Championships at University of Texas), his deep disappointments (missing the 1996 Olympic Team by 1/100 of a second, breaking his hand in the middle of his best meet ever) and his secret of success (practicing stroke technique over and over and over). Neil answered questions regarding his goals, what other sports he likes and how he mentally prepares for his races.

In the MBS pool, Neil spent 2 full hours going thru stroke drills and technique insights in all four competive strokes and worked on streamline techniques. Neil is a big proponent of the body motion drills that Elite uses throughout its program.

Always the athlete, Neil even got in and trained with the Seniors and the Senior Preps at Saturday mornings practice. Fortunately for the Elite swimmers, Neil was given his own lane to train in.

Elite looks forward to watching Neil fulfill his own dream of qualifying for a 3rd Olympics in 2008!!! Good luck Neil, and thanks!!!!

GREAT SWIMMING (AND PATIENCE) OVERCOME ROCKY START VS. TWST

Patience and fine swimming overcame a rocky start yesterday as Elite competed against Tidal Wave Swim Team at Morristown-Beard.

A mix-up in communication led to a late start; but fine work on the part of the timers helped the meet move quickly (and actually finish on time!!!).

Many of the Elite swimmers had not competed since early December. As a result, times were particularly fast as swimmers have begun focusing on the late February/early March championship season.

Results are posted both at Newark Academy and on the website: swimmers who particiated (# of best times in parathensis) were:

Carly Abenstein (3) Alex Aiello (1) Lindsay Anderson (1) Arjun Arora (3) Arlynn Baer (2) Sam Barback (2) Kristina Beaudouin (3) Elizabeth Bredahl (2) Courtney Brosnan (3) Katie Brosnan (3) Meg Brosnan (3) Ryan Buckham (2) Maggie Burd (3) Nora Burd (3) Emily Burniston (3) Jenna Burniston (3) Winnie Caetta (3) Taylor Campolattaro (2) Sarah Carragher (3) Monica Carty Emma Cherry (1) Brannon Cho (3) Joshua Choi (3) Spencer Ciesla (2) Brittany Clark (2) Grace Cullen (3) Jeanne Cullen (2) Mary Cullen (2) Roy Cullen (3) Victoria D’Altrui (3) Peter Davey (3) Tad Deatly (3) Cara Del Duca (3) Isabelle DeMartin (2) Lousie DeMartin (1) Carolyn DeMeo (2) Dillion Denehy (3) Shelby Dixon (1) Avinash Duvvuri (3) Priya Duvvuri (3) Venkatesh Duvvuri (3)

Caroline Ellis (3) Kevin Estok (2) Frank Farinella (3) Brandon Faris (3) Madeleine Faust (2) Kristen Fedor (3) Lauren Fedor (3) Andrea Ferrell (3) Breana Fitzpatrick (2) Willy Friedlander (2) Kristi Froisland (2) Audrey Gammel (3) Dana Gilbert (2) Sydney Gilbert (1) Katie Golway (3) Katie Gorman (3) Duncan Hall (3) Tricia Hebron Chris Inglese (3) Katie Inglese (3) Kim Jones (3) Zach Katz (3) Greg Keiser Victoria Keiser (1) Kirsten Kellstrom (3) Lindsay Kellstrom (3) Mark Kellsrom (3) Brandon King (2) Regan Kology (3) Ricky LaSalvia (3) Aaron Levin (3) Michael Li (3) Jessie Lowe (2) Petey Lurie (2) Claire Mason (3) Annie McCullough Katie McCullough (1) Sarah McGrath (3) Melissa Montagna (3) Ali Morreale (3) Isabelle Morreale (3)

Jacquelyn Mullens (3) Cesar Munoz (3) Madison Munoz (3) Kendall Murray (2) Kerry Nelson (2) Maggie Nelson (3) Alex Nevitt (2) Alyssa Pepper (3) Bud Peters (3) Christopher Plunkett (1) Zinta Putenis (3) Abigail Rollenhagen (3) Gabi Romano (2) Nicki Ross (3) Katie Rouse (3) Amanda Scherb (3) Henry Scott (3) Jonathan Scott (3) Claire Serruto (2) Andrea Shepard (3) Olivia Sirianni (2) Kaitlin Stearns (3) Lindsay Stearns (3) Maddie Stearns (3) Kara Stevens (3) Chas Stewart (2) James Sullivan (1) Elyse Surette-DiMuzio (1) Erica Takahashi (3) Lexi Tedesco (3) Grace Thompson (2) Sydney Todd (2) Andrea Tyminski (3) Lydia Vollavanh (2) Nicole Weisman (3) Alex Wolfson (3) Kayla Wolonsky (3) Maggie Woodruff (2) Zach Yanes (2)

“DUAL” MEETS TO BE HELD ON SATURDAY, FEB 5 SOLVE NEED FOR TIMES: BOTH NOW POSTED ON WEBSITE

With the End of the Season Championship Meet entries due in early/mid February, Elite swimmers will compete in two meets virtually simultaneously this Saturday, February 5 in an effort to give swimmers a last opportunity to make “cut times.”

As previously scheduled, the “younger” Elite swimmers will compete against the Clifton Tidal Wave Swim Club at Clifton on Saturday, February 5. Due to time constraints, only swimmers from the Marlin Teals, Marlin Blacks and Wavebuster Teals will compete in this meet.

To provide the same opportunity for the older, more advanced swimmers, Elite will hold an IntraClub Meet at Newark Academy on Saturday, Feb 5 for swimmers in the Wavebuster Blacks, Wavebuster Golds and Senior Prep training groups. Warm-up will be at 11:15 am.

Meet entry information for both meets is posted on the website.

SICK? COULD BE YOUR LACK OF “AT HOME” SWIMMING DETAILS!!!

Are you sick? Got the flu, strep or a bad head cold? Your sickness is probably caused by your own lack of swimming details!!!

Since we are heading towards our championship season (late February/March), this is the most crucial segment of your training season. Each swimmer needs to practice their “at home” swimming details: drinking lots of fluids, eating properly and often, getting enough sleep and dressing properly for winter.

There are literally dozens of swimmers that ignore these vital “at home” swimming details, and most of these swimmers end up missing significant training and/or actually missing their meets because they do not live their “at home” swimming details. These swimmers literally shorten their training seasons due to their sickness!!!

One new swimmer phenonem that is just plain crazy is the “sandal/no sock look” in zero degree weather. Swimmers who dress like this are literally begging to get sick. One Elite swimmer actually got frostbite last week due to not dressing properly on the way home from swimming on a particularly cold night. Ever tried swimming with frostbite?

Be a winner: do your swimming details at home and at school, in addition to at the pool!!!

TOP 10 TIMES NOW POSTED ON WEBSITE

Thru an excellent parental suggestion, the Top 10 Times list is now posted on Elite’s website. Thru last weekend’s Open Distance Meet, 52 Elite have added 154 new top 10 times (better than 20% of the Elite swim team!!).

The computer allows to Elite to easily keep track of the top 10 fastest times in each event ever achieved by club members within “Elite” competitions. This “Top 10” list has been updated and a copy of the list is located in the back of the mailbox located at Newark Academy.

The following swimmers have already added one or more times this season to Elite’s fastest times ever: Lauren Andriesen, Jeffrey Ayres, Danielle Basile, Courtney Brosnan, Jerry Chiu, Corey Deatly, Christian DeFluri, Carolyn DeMeo, Jonathan Denby, Shelby Dixon, Sarah Donatelli, Brianna Drapeau, Priya Duvvuri, Venkatesh Duvvuri, Mickey Ennis, Kevin Estok, Frank Farinella, Kaitlin Farinella, Breana Fitzpatrick, Julianne Furdyna, Duncan Hall, Ben Inglese, Zackie Katz, Katie Kilcullen, Aaron Levin, Michael Li, Rachel Lieberberg, Andrea Luallen-Egg, Danielle Martinez, Collen Mason, Annie McCullough, Shayla McDonnell, Austin Meszaros, Meghan Montagna, Alix Ober, Alyssa Pepper, Michael Pepper, Brittany Ross, Nicki Ross, Jeffrey Ruhle, Henry Scott, Lindsay Scott, Ned Scott, Veronica Smith, Lindsay Stearns, Kara Stevens, Lily Thompson, Nick Trojanowski, Lydia Vollavanh, Devan Zambito.

Dozens more of Elite swimmers are within reach of obtaining a top 10 time this season!!! Check out the website!!!!

HOW THE END OF THE SEASON “WORKS”

With the end of the Winter 2004-05 Season rapidly approaching its conclusion, the following is an explanation of how the “End of the Season” concludes at Elite.

Each swimmer will be entered into at least 1 “End of the Season Championship Meet.” If a swimmer qualifies for 2 (or 3) different levels of championsip meets based upon their times, the swimmer will be entered into all the championship meets they qualify for. These meets, as described below, are: Mini-Championships, 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championships, the Bronze Championship, the Silver Championship & Junior Olympics.

For all swimmers ages 8 & under, the final meet of the season is the Mini-Championships held Saturday, February 26, to be held at Seton Hall University. At the conclusion of this meet, all swimmers ages 8 & Under are finished (including practice) for the season. All Marlin practices will conclude at this time (any 11 year old Marlin Teals and Marlin Blacks will practice with the Wave Teals thru the Bronze Championships.

For all swimmers ages 9 & 10, the final meet of the season is the 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championships, held Saturday, February 26 & Sunday, February 27 to hosted by Elite and held at Newark Academy. At the conclusion of this meet, all swimmers ages 9 & 10 are finished (including practice) for the season. The only exceptions are those swimmers who have qualified for Junior Olympics held Friday, March 18 thru Sunday, March 20. Those 11 year olds in the Marlin Teals and Marlin Blacks participating in Bronze Championships will practice with the Wavebuster Teals for one week commencing Monday, February 28.

All swimmers 11 & older will participate in one or more of the following meets: the Bronze Chamionships Saturday, March 5 & Saturday, March 6, Silver Championships Saturday, March 12 & Sunday, March 13 or the Junior Olympics, held Friday, March 18 thru Sunday, March 20.

When a swimmer has concluded their competitions, their practice season has concluded. Practices held in March are only for those swimmers who have upcoming Championship Meets.

CAN YOU PARTY??? “END OF SEASON” DINNER INVITATIONS MAILED

Athletes have worked hard. Parents have driven all over the state. Both have proved they are committed to Elite and swimming. But can Elite Party????

We will find out on Sunday afternoon, April 3rd from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm at the Marriott Hotel in Whippany when Elite will hold its 10th annual “End of the Season” Banquet!!! Every Elite swimmer, big and small, is invited to this annual party ritual.

Highlights of this year’s dinner will include: attendence awards, participation awards, a slide show and dancing (music spun by a professional DJ!!!).

The reservation & information form was mailed late last week. It is also posted on the website. The reservation must be filled out, and returned complete with payment to Bill by Tuesday, March 1. Parents are requested to attend with their children.

Let’s rock the Marriott Hotel (like we rock at our meets!!!)!!!

SPRING SESSION INFO TO BE MAILED SHORTLY

Elite will hold a spring session from Monday, April 3 thru Friday, June 10. The practice schedule will be identical to the 2004 Fall practice schedule (4:30 pm start time). Information regarding the Spring 2005 session will be mailed within the next two weeks.

Most swimmers will be invited to train within their existing training groups. A small percentage of swimmers will be “invited” to train in a higher training group. Attendence, where a swimmer trains within their current training group and a swimmers times will be the three criteria that will be considered in inviting a swimmer to “move-up.”

The Spring Session will initially focus on stroke technique and form. As the session moves towards conclusion, the coaches will shift to conditioning to help put each swimmer in the best postion for a successful summer season with their summer club team.

Elite will be holding “tryouts” for swimmers not currently members of Elite but whom would like to become members. Tryouts will be held at Newark Academy starting at 4:30 pm on the following days:

1) 10 & Unders: Tuesday, March 22, 2005

2) 11 & Older: Wednesday, March 23, 2005

3) Make-ups-all ages: Thursday, March 24, 2005

NJ TIME STANDARDS POSTED ON ELITE’S WEBSITE

Time Standards for the End of the Season Championship Meets have been adopted by New Jersey Swimming, are posted on Elite’s website (under time standards) and are posted on the wall at Newark Academy. These standards are final for the 2004-05 season.

ATTENDENCE IMPROVEMENT INCREDIABLE OVER LAST YEAR;
AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED

Swimmers swimming fast (or very fast!). Happy swimmer faces at swim meets. Proud Parents.

All of the above have occurred routinely at Elite this winter because of one major factor: a significant improvement at Elite in attendence by most swimmers. Improvement occurs at practice and is revealed at the meets. Being at practice on a routine basis is the single most important factor in a child improving their swimming times.

Below is the current list of swimmers who have attended more than 85% of the scheduled practices (please note that attendence awards will be presented at the End of the Season Dinner on April 3 for those swimmers whose attendence is at or over 85%). So if you are not on this list but are close, you still have time to earn this award! And if you are on the list, you need to keep up the great attendence thru the season’s end!!!

Congratuations (so far) to:

Marlin Teals: Arlynn Baer, Sam Barback, Andrea Ferrell, Mark Kellstrom, Amber Teetsel

Marlin Blacks: Frank Farinella, Katie Gorman, Zachary Katz, Regan Kology, Aaron Levin, Claire Mason, Isabella Morreale, Michael Pepper, Gabi Romano, Andrea Shepard, Andrea Tyminski, Zach Yanes

Wavebuster Teals: Kristina Beaudouin, Courtney Brosnan, Meg Brosnan, Monica Carty, Peter Davey, Kristen Fedor, Audrey Gammel, Hannah Gleason, Brandon King, Ricky LaSalvia, Jesse Lowe, Chris Plunkett, Jennifer Torre

Wavebuster Blacks: Lindsay Anderson, Sarah Carragher, Grace Cullen, Victoria D’Altrui, Carolyn DeMeo, Venkatesh Duvvuri, Kaitlin Farinella, Michael Li, Danielle Martinez, Anne McCullough, Ali Morreale, Maggie Nelson, Alyssa Pepper, Nicki Ross, Elyse Surette-DiMuzio

Wavebuster Golds: Tad Deatly, Kendall Murray, Kayla Wolonsky

Senior Preps: Corey Deatly

Seniors: Julianne Furdyna, Austin Meszaros, Will Peters

PARENTS ORGANIZATION UPDATE

FUNDRAISER COMMITTEE: Rita Furdyna (rfurdyna@watsonpharm.com) and Peter Wolfson (pjwolfson@pbnlaw.com) have agreed to be co-chairs of the Fundraiser Committee.

Initial ideas focused on including fundraising efforts during the Elite End of the Season Banquet scheduled for April 3. Suggestions included gift baskets, program, 50-50’s and raffles.

Rita and Peter would welcome outsided ideas for the above and/or additional fundraisers. Please contact Rita or Peter at the above email addresses with your ideas and/or your willingness to volunteer.

TIMERS COMMITTEE: The timing committee and coordination of timing assignments is evolving. All Parents attending meets are requested to:

1) volunteer to time and/or 2) volunteer to organize the timing at each session at the meets. More information will be provided shortly.

MEET ENTRIES ON THE WEBSITE

All meet entry information and session information for swim meets is posted on Elite’s website under Meets (please click on both the entry information and session information to get all the information you need).

EACH SWIMMER should check EACH swim meet to see if they are entered into it. Session information and start times are listed on the “Session Info” list accompanying each entry list on the website.

The following meet entries and directions/session times are posted on Elite’s website (eliteswimclub.org):

1) Dual Meet vs. Clifton-Saturday, Feb 5

2) IntraClub Meet-Saturday, Feb 5

3) Senior-Junior State Championship- Friday, February 18 to February 20

With regards to any Elite meets, all athletes have the following obligation if they are unable to attend the meet or any session of the meet:

YOU ARE TO EMAIL (ELITESWIMCLUBNJ@COMCAST.NET), PHONE (908-273-6542) OR LEAVE A WRITTEN MESSAGE IN BILL’S MAILBOX

MEET RESULTS NOW POSTED ON THE WEBSITE

In addition to being posted at Newark Academy, results from each meet are now posted on Elite’s website. Check the “Meet Results” category in the table of contents and then click on the results of the meet you wish to review.

MORE OFFICIALS CLINIC BEING HELD: ELITE’S NEED IS SIGNIFICANT;

New Jersey Swimming will sponsor two Stroke and Turn Official Clinics for those parents whom are interested in becoming officials. The need for officials is significant within New Jersey Swimming and within Elite (several Elite officials will be “retiring” with their graduating swimmers this spring). With Elite being one of the largest teams in New Jersey, the need for Elite to supply officials is strong.

These clinics are for “beginners” whom are interested in volunteering their time during championship style swim meets to officiate. They are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, February 1st: at Hillsborough YMCA from 7 pm to 10 pm. Interested parties should contact Howard Allen at allenhj@patmedia.net.

Wednesday, February 2nd: at Berkeley Aquatic Club from 7 pm to 10 pm. Interested parties should contact Bruce Petersen at bruce.petersen@gs.com.

Without officials, championship meets cannot be conducted. Thus, officiating is an extremely important voluntary function within Elite. Upon the completion of the class and a test (Elite will help prep parents for the “open book” test), “officials in training” will complete a brief apprenticeship before becoming certified. Remember, officials have the best “seat” in the house at these championship meets!!

PRACTICE CHANGES IN LATE JAN/EARLY FEB

High School Swim Meets will alter the practice times of many Elite practices during January (high school’s busiest portion of their season). Please follow the two week schedule carefully.

1) Tuesday, February 1: Due to a dual meet at NA, the Marlin Teals and Marlin Blacks practice will start at 5:30 pm and the Wavebuster Black practice will start at 6:15 pm. Due to a dual meet at MBS, the Seniors practice will start at 7:15 pm

2) Wednesday, February 2: Due to a function at MBS, the Senior Preps will have a combined practice at Newark Academy from 5:45 pm to 8:30 pm.

3) Thursday, February 3: Due to a dual meet at NA, the Wavebuster Teal practice will start at 5:30 pm

4) Saturday, February 5: Dual meet verses Clifton for Marlin Teals, Marlin Blacks and Wavebuster Teals. IntraClub Meet for Wavebuster Blacks, Wavebuster Golds and Senior Preps.

5) Sunday, February 6: Due to the Super Bowl, the Seniors and Senior Preps will have a combined practice from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. The Wave Golds will practice from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. All other practices will remain the same with the last practice of the day being the Wave Blacks from 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm.

6) Monday, February 7: Due to a dual meet at NA, the Senior practice end at 8:00 pm

PRACTICE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

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MONDAY
1-31-2005

WAVE TEAL-AT NA
5:15 PM - 6:30 PM

WAVE GOLD-AT NA
D: 5:15 PM - 5:55 PM
P: 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

SENIOR PREPS-AT MB
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

SENIORS-AT NA
D: 5:35 PM - 6:25 PM
P: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

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TUESDAY
2-1-05

MARLIN TEAL-AT NA
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM

MARLIN BLACK-AT NA
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM

WAVE BLACK-AT NA
6:15 PM - 7:45 PM

SENIORS PREPS AT NA
D: 6:15 PM - 6:55 PM
P: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

SENIORS-AT MB
D: 6:30 PM - 7:00 PM
P: 7:15 PM - 9:00 PM

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WEDNESDAY
2-2-05

WAVE BLACK-AT NA
5:15 PM - 6:30 PM

WAVE GOLD-AT NA
6:15 PM - 7:30 PM

COMBINED
SENIORS-AT NA
SENIORS PREPS-AT NA
D: 5:45 PM - 6:40 PM
P: 6:45 PM - 8:30 PM

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THURSDAY
2-3-05

WAVE TEAL-AT NA
5:30 PM - 6:45 PM

WAVE GOLD-AT NA
D: 5:15 PM - 5:55 PM
P: 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

SENIORS PREPS-AT NA
D: 6:00 PM - 6:40 PM
P: 6:45 PM - 8:00 PM

SENIORS-AT MB
D: 6:30 PM - 7:25 PM
P: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

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FRIDAY
2-4-05

MARLIN TEAL-AT NA
5:15 PM - 6:00 PM

MARLIN BLACK-AT NA
5:15 PM - 6:00 PM

WAVE BLACK-AT NA
6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

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SATURDAY
2-5-05

DUAL MEET AT
CLIFTON FOR
MARLIN TEALS
MARLIN BLACKS
& WAVE TEALS
WARM-UP 1:00 PM

INTRACLUB MEET
AT NA FOR
WAVE BLACKS
WAVE GOLDS
SENIOR PREPS
WARM-UP 11:15 AM

SENIORS-AT MB
P:  8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
D: 10:05 - 10:30 AM
P:  4:00 PM -  6:00 PM-MB

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SUNDAY
2-6-05

SUPER BOWL SUN
MARLIN TEALS-AT MB
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM
MARLIN BLACKS-AT MB
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
WAVE BLACKS-AT MB
2:30 PM - 3:45 PM

WAVE GOLDS-AT MB
12:00 PM -  1:30 PM

COMBINED
SENIORS-AT MB
SENIORS PREPS-AT MB
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM