Elite News Bulletin -- 02-28-05

[ previous | next ]

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.

SWIMMERS, PARENTS “STEP UP” AT 9-10 CHAMPS

“Stepping up” to perform their best is the single most important task Elite coaches train their swimmers to accomplish. This weekend at the 9-10 South Silver/Bronze Championships, both Elite swimmers and Elite parents stepped up and performed at their very, very best.

Fulfilling a need created by the new popularity of winter swimming within New Jersey (registration has doubled in the last 10 years), Elite and the Sea Dragons Swim Club hosted their 1st Championship Meet: the 9-10 South Silver/Bronze Championships. Last year, with only one championship meet, numerous 9-10 New Jersey Swimmers were prevented from having a final, end of the season championship meet. Thus, Elite simultaneously “stepped up” for the benefit of 9-10 swimmers while creating a “fundraiser” that will help offset the entry fee costs for the other 4 championship meets Elite swimmers will attend. In only the 3rd major New Jersey Swimming Meet Elite has ever coordinated, the parents of Elite and Sea Dragons coordinated and executed an extremely smooth swim meet attended by approximately 1000 parents and swimmers.

On the swimming side, Elite performed magnificiently. Remembering that this was actually “four” meets in one: a Silvers division and a Bronze division for both 9 year olds and for 10 year olds, highlights included:

1) Concluding the opening session: the Elite Boys 10 & Under 200 Free Relay consisting of Arjun Arora, Peter Davey, Spencer Cielsa & Chris Plunkett won the event in a time of 2.20.04

2) competing in the Silvers Divison for 9 year olds, Krishna Duvvuri placed 5th in the 50 breast with a 45.55 time, 3rd in the 50 free (34.08), 4th in the 200 IM (3.24.34), 7th in the 100 breast (1.41.90) & 9th in the 100 IM (1.30.76)

3) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Kristin Fedor placed 5th in the 100 back (1.32.39)

4) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Meg Brosnan placed 8th (1.36.07 with a 14 second drop!!!)

4) competing in the Bronze Division for the 10 year olds, Ryan Buckham placed 6th in the 100 back (1.39.60) and 3rd in the 50 free (37.16) & 5th in the 50 back (44.48),

5) competing in the Bronze Division for the 10 year olds, Zinta Putenis placed 7th in the 50 free (34.53)

6) competing in the Silver Division for the 10 year olds, Peter Davey finished 4th in the 200 IM (3.09.72), 1st in the 50 Breast (44.24-which is a JO cut time!!!), 8th in the 100 free (1.18.30), 7th in the 50 back (39.87) & 2nd in the 100 IM (1.26.44)

7) competing in the Bronze Division for 9 year olds, Isabella Morreale finished 7th in the 50 breast (49.31) and a 4th place finish in the 100 breast (1.51.37)

8) competing in the Bronze Division for 9 year olds, Courtney Brosnan finished 1st in the 200 free (2.54.61), 4th in the 100 back (1.31.57), 3rd in the 100 free (1.18.70), & a 3rd in the 100 butterfly (1.38.41)

9) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Brannon Cho finished 6th in the 50 Breast (51.49), 4th in the 50 butterfly (47.90), 5th in the 50 back (43.38) & 8th in the 100 IM (1.40.23)

10) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Arjun Arora finished 1st in the 50 butterfly (43.98), 1st in the 50 free (35.39) & 7th in the 100 IM (1.39.45)

11) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Caroline Ellis placed 8th in the 100 breast (1.52.89)

12) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Sydney Gilbert placed 5th in the 100 breast (1.51.37)

13) competing a combined division in the 500 free, Kaitlin Farinella swam a JO cut time of 6.53.19 in placing 2nd while team mate Alyssa Pepper cruised to a 7th place finish with a 7.16.00

14) competing in the Bronze Division for 9 year olds, Grace Thompson placed 6th in the 100 breast (1.56.24)

15) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Chris Plunkett placed 9th in the 100 free (1.27.55) & 9th in the 100 IM (1.40.34)

16) competing in the Bronze Division for 10 year olds, Spencer Ciesla placed 4th in the 100 IM (1.38.42)

Swimmers who participated were:

Arjun Arora (6) Sam Barback (2) Courtney Brosnan (4) Meg Brosnan (4) Ryan Buckham (5) Jenna Burniston (4) Brannon Cho (5) Spencer Cielsa (4) Peter Davey (5) Krishna Duvvuri (4) Caroline Ellis (5) Kaitlin Farinella (1)

Brandon Faris (4) Kristen Fedor (5) Henry Flugstad-Clarke (1) Sydney Gilbert (5) Katie Golway (4) Katie Gorman (4) Lydia Gracey (4) Ben Inglese Jessie Lowe (2) Isabella Morreale (4) Alyssa Pepper (1) Chris Plunkett (2)

Zinta Putenis (3) Gabi Romano (2) Katie Rouse (4) Claire Serruto (4) Maddie Stearns (2) Kara Stevens (3) Grace Thompson (6) Andrea Tyminski (5) Nicole Weissman (4) Maggie Woodruff (4) Zach Yanes (4)

On the parents side, so many Elite parents provided “above and beyond” volunteer efforts (including donations) that listing all of them would take up even more space than the above swimming results. What does need to be said is that many, many coaches and officials complimented Elite repeatedly over the two-day meet as to how well run the meet was and how hospitable Elite and the Sea Dragons were.

Coming from swimming professionals, that says volumes about how well the meet was run. A big thanks from Bill, Brandy, the Elite coaches and the Elite swimmers to all the parents that put in their best efforts this weekend.

8 & UNDERS ARE “MINI-CHAMPS!!!”

Finishing their Winter Session in proper swimming “style”, the Elite 8 & Unders participated in the annual New Jersey Mini-Championships at Seton Hall University in South Orange this Saturday.

In both relay and individual performances, this group of talented young swimmers posted the best results by Elite swimmers ever in a Mini-Championship.

Among the highlights were:

1) In the opening event, the quartet consisting of Regan Kology, Jeanne Cullen, Andrea Shepard and Claire Mason finished 3rd in the Girls 8 & Under 100 yard free relay with a time of 1.11.07 (each swimmer averaging under 18 seconds a lap!!!)

2) in the 2nd event, Zackie Katz, Frank Farinella, Aaron Levin and Michael Pepper placed 7th in the Boys 8 & Under 100 yard free relay (1.15.45)

3) 6 year old Roy Cullen placing 4th in the 6 & Under 25 yard free (22.70) and 3rd in the 6 & Under 25 yard back (26.66)

4) 7 year old Frank Farinella placing 2nd in the 7 & Under 25 yard fly (18.89) and 4th in the 7 & Under 25 Breast

5) 8 year old Zackie Katz placing 3rd in the 8 & Under 25 yard breast (22.67)

6) 8 year old Regan Kology placing 8th in the 8 & Under 25 yard breast (24.70) and 9th in 8 & Under 25 yard free (16.66)

7) 7 year old Aaron Levin finishing 9th in both the 7 & Under 25 yard free (18.66) and the 7 & Under 25 yard back (22.41)

8) 6 year old Kaitlin Stearns placing 6th in the 6 & Under 25 yard free (21.25) and 8th in the 6 & Under 25 yard back (25.88)

9) 8 year old Alex Wolfson placing 9th in the 8 & Under 25 yard back (21.59)

10) In the 2nd to last event, the 8 & Under Girls Medley Relay of Jeanne Cullen, Claire Mason, Regan Kology and Andrea Shepard placed 3rd with a time of 1.29.65

11) Finishing the meet, the Boys 8 & Under Medley Relay of Alex Wolfson, Zackie Katz, Frank Farinella & Michael Pepper placed 2nd with a time of 1.25.40!!!

Full results will be posted on the New Jersey Swimming website (njswim.org) within the next few days. Check it out.

Each Elite swimmer who competed posted at least one best time!! Swimmers who participated were:

Katie Brosnan (1) Maggie Burd (2) Isabel Cherry (2) Jeanne Cullen (1) Roy Cullen (2) Will DeMartin (2) Avinash Duvvuri (3) Frank Farinella (2)

Madeleine Faust (3) Andrea Ferrell (2) Zackie Katz (2) Regan Kology (3) Aaron Levin (2) Sean MacInnes (1) Claire Mason (3) Cesar Munoz (2)

Michael Pepper (2) Morgan Ryan (2) Andrea Shepard (1) Kaitlin Stearns (2) James Sullivan (2) Alex Wolfson (3)

Congratulations swimmers!!! Your older Elite teammates and your coaches are proud of your accomplishments!!!

BRONZE CHAMPIONSHPS THIS WEEKEND!!!

The championship season continues this coming weekend as 107 Elite swimmers are slated to compete in 562 events at the New Jersey Swimming’s Bronze “North” Championships to be held at Saint Peter’s College in Jersey City,

At this “North” meet, 25 teams from North New Jersey will compete with Elite. The remaining teams will compete in the “South” meet held at Raritan Valley Community College Pool in Lamington the same weekend.

At the conclusion of this meet, all swimmers ages 11 thru 16 who have not qualified for Silver Championships (held Saturday, March 12 & Sunday, March 13) and/or Junior Olympis (held Friday, March 18 thru Sunday, March 20) are finished (including practice) for the season.

Please be advised that Bronze Swimmers should not perform any “new” physical activity this week (including shoveling) as the swimmers are in a rest period. Swimmers are highly encouraged to shovel or perform new physical activities once their championship season has concluded.

ELITE “END OF THE SEASON” BANQUET DEADLINE: TOMORROW!!

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????

Approximately 200 Elite members have already accepted their invitations and have sent back their invitations for the Sunday afternoon, April 3rd from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm at the Marriott Hotel in Whippany 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 form mailed out 4 weeks ago must be filled out, and returned complete with payment to Bill by Tuesday, March 1. Parents are requested to attend with their children.

SPRING SESSION DEADLINE: TOMORROW!!!

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 was mailed late last week. The deadline to register for Spring 2005 Session is (next) Tuesday, March 1st.

As previously noted, most swimmers were invited to train within their existing training groups (this is especially true in the higher training groups). A small percentage of swimmers were “invited” to train in the next higher training group. Attendence, where and how well a swimmer trains within their current training group and each swimmer’s times were the criteria that was 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

Swimmers who have signed up for Spring, as of February 24, are as follows:

Marlin Teals: Arlynn Baer, Sam Barback, Kaity Brosnan, Maggie Burd, Will DeMartin, Andrea Ferrell, Sean MacInnes, James Sullivan & Amber Teetsel

Marlin Blacks: Alex Aiello, Matthew Aiello, Isabelle Cherry, Frank Farinella, Madeline Faust, Katie Golway, Lydia Gracey, Zachary Katz, Aaron Levin, Michael Pepper, Gabi Romano, Andrea Tyminski & Alex Wolfson

Wave Teals: Arjun Arora, Courtney Brosnan, Meg Brosnan, Ryan Buckham, Nora Burd, Nicky Braunruether, Taylor Campolattaro, Emma Cherry, Brannon Cho, Joshua Choi, Spencer Cielsa, Brittany Clark, Peter Davey, Dillon Denehy, Kristen Fedor, Willy Friedlander, Hannah Gleason, Katie Gorman, Greg Keiser, Brandon King, Regan Kology, Ricky LaSalvia, Jessie Lowe, Claire Mason, Chris Plunkett, Katie Rouse, Andrea Shepard, Kara Stevens, Jennifer Torre, Nicole Weissman, Maggie Woodruff & Zach Yanes

Wave Blacks: Kristina Beaudouin, Monica Carty, Isabelle DeMartin, Kaitlin Farinella, Kristi Froisland, Audrey Gammel, Victoria Keiser, Sarah McGrath, Alyssa Pepper, Abigail Rollenhagen & Erica Takahashi

Wave Golds: Lindsay Anderson, Sarah Carragher, Victoria D’Altrui, Tad Deatly, Louise DeMartin, Lauren Fedor, Morgan Kiley, Michael Li, Danielle Martinez, Kendall Murray, Maggie Nelson, Katie Psillakis, Katie Ragan, Nicki Ross, Alex Smith Wang & Lexi Tedesco

Senior Preps: Katie Bohan, Christian DeFluri, Brianna Drapeau, Tara Juliano, Claire Mason, Sarah Peay, Brittany Ross, Henry Scott & Kayla Wolonsky

Seniors: Danielle Basile, Maggie Beaudouin, Craig Bostwick, Corey Deatly, Claire DiGiacomo, Julianne Furdyna, Emily Gadsden, Katie Kilcullen, Shayla McDonnell, Austin Meszaros, Veronica Smith, Lily Thompson & Nick Trojanowski

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!!!!

SUMMER: THINK SWIM CAMPS

When planning the upcoming summer, please consider sending your Elite swimmer to one of the numerous swim camps available within driving distance.

Each summer, numerous Elite swimmers spend a rewarding week (or two) at a summer swim camp. The benefits of such a camp are: 1) individual attention by reknown swim coaches 2) an increased knowledge of the sport of swimming and 3) personal growth that occurs as a result of “being on one’s own.”

The formula that seems to work best is finding an Elite friend to spend the week with at the swim camp.

If you are considering sending your swimmer to a swim camp, now is the time to do the research and make decisions (many of these camps are sold out by mid-Spring). In the back of the mailbox, there are a list of swim camps which Elite swimmers have attended in the past and where to find more information about each camp. In addition, Bill can email this list to you at your request.

This summer: think Swim Camps!!

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.

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) Bronze North Championships- Saturday, March 5 & Sunday, March 6

2) Silvers Championships- Saturday, March 12 & Sunday, March 13

3) Junior Olympics-Friday, March 18 thru Sunday, March 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.

PRACTICE CHANGES IN EARLY MARCH

As the high school swim meet season winds down, there will be less disruption of Elite’s practice schedule.

1) Tuesday, March 1: Due to the elimination of the Marlin practices, the Wave Blacks will practice from 5:15 pm to 6:30 pm.

2) Friday, March 4: Due to the elimination of the Marlin practices, the Wave Blacks will practice from 5:15 pm to 6:30 pm.

3) Saturday, March 5: Because Seniors will be in the midst of their season ending taper, there will only be 1 Senior Practice this day: 8:00 am to 10:30 am. Non- Bronze Senior Preps will also train at this time.

4) Sunday, March 6: Non-Bronze Wave Blacks will practice from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. Non-Bronze Senior Preps and Seniors will practice from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

---

[ Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | top ]

---

MONDAY
2-28-2005

NO PRACTICE
BLIZZARD EXPECTED

---

[ Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | top ]

---

TUESDAY
3-1-05

BOTH MARLIN Teals and MARLIN Blacks
DONE TIL SPRING

WAVE BLACK-AT NA
5:15 PM - 6:30 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: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

---

[ Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | top ]

---

WEDNESDAY
3-2-05

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

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

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

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

---

[ Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | top ]

---

THURSDAY
3-3-05

WAVE TEALS-
DONE TIL SPRING

WAVE GOLD-AT NA
P: 5:15 PM - 6:30 PM
D: 6:30 PM - 7:15 PM

SENIORS PREPS-AT NA
D: 6:00 PM - 6:40 PM
P: 6:45 PM - 8:30 PM

SENIORS-AT MB
D: 6:00 PM - 6:55 PM
P: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

---

[ Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | top ]

---

FRIDAY
3-4-05

BOTH MARLIN Teals and MARLIN Blacks
DONE TIL SPRING

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

---

[ Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | top ]

---

SATURDAY
3-5-05

BRONZE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
AT ST. PETER'S

NON-BRONZE
SENIOR PREPS &
SENIORS-AT MB
P:  8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
D: 10:05 - 10:30 AM

---

[ Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | top ]

---

SUNDAY
3-6-05

BRONZE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
AT ST. PETER'S

NON-BRONZE
WAVE BLACKS-AT MB
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

NON-BRONZE
SENIOR PREPS &
SENIORS
D: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
P: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM