ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 01-26-09
RACING ACCOMPLISHED AT TIDAL WAVE DUAL:
42 SWIMMERS DROP 10 SECONDS OR MORE!!!
At
this point in Elite’s training cycle, swimmers need to race. Everything is now
focused on speed (to augment the conditioning the swimmers have previously
gained thru aerobic training). And race they did yesterday during a dual meet
verses Tidal Wave of Union.
Held
at the Morristown-Beard pool that is 25 meters (rather than 25 yards-most
winter competitions held in this size pool), the different length venue allowed
swimmers to race without concern for qualifying time but also allowed swimmers and
coaches to compare previous best meter times from 6 months or a year ago. As
has been evident team wide, improvement at Elite this winter has been rampant
among all levels of swimmers, not just the better swimmers. As proof, 42
swimmers dropped times by 10 seconds or more in 64 separate events. The hard
work over the past last year for our swimmers certainly showed up yesterday!!
The
largest drop in single event was turned in by 9 year old Brandon Li, who lopped
off 81 seconds in his 50 butterfly time (48.36)!!!
Four
swimmers actually dropped more than 10 seconds in each of their three events swum: 10 year old Ethan Blum chiseled off a total of 71 seconds, 10 year old
Meggie Butler eliminated 56 seconds, 10 year old Erika Fresen sawed off 51
seconds and 12 year old Kara Miller-Radest severed 51 seconds.
Fifteen
swimmers wiped out more than 10 seconds in two of their three events swum. In just two races, the following accomplished: 8 year old Megan Balbo
lost 61.6 seconds in two events, 14 year old Lindsay Behar shaved off 23
seconds, 10 year old Katie Brosnan’s times fell by 53 seconds, 12 year old
Thomas Burke times plummeted by 40.8 seconds, 12 year old Madeleine Faust destroyed
26 seconds, 13 year old Emma Harris erased 35.5 seconds, 12 year old Matthew
Hong shed 32.3 seconds, 12 year old Regan Kology lost 21.8 seconds, 13 year old Patrick Lai discarded 28.8
seconds, 13 year old Clark LaRaia reduced his times by 28.3 seconds, 11 year
old Karl Melchior left behind 26.5 seconds, 12 year old Nick Pachiolo chopped
off 32 seconds, 12 year old Michelle Pick hacked off 32.5 seconds, 12 year old
Andrea Shepard wiped out 26.6 seconds and Katie Tselepis left behind 28.5 seconds.
9
year old Abbie Bigham dropped 10 seconds in her 100 free while 10 year old
Chris Balbo dropped 12 seconds in the 100 free. 14 year old Mark Berns eliminated
23 seconds in the 200 free
while 11 year old Elizabeth D’Altrui eliminated
42 seconds in her 100 back. 16 year old Anthony Don chopped 11 seconds from his
200 free while Avinash Duvvuri chopped off 37.7 seconds off his 100 back.
12
year old Juliet Felsen sawed off 16 seconds in her 100 back and 10 year old
Emily Goad had a 16.9 second drop in her 50 fly. 11 year old Scott Harris wiped
out 31.8 seconds in the 100 back and 12 year old Elana Horowitz flew to a 21
second drop in the 100 fly. 11 year old Jared Kovacs eliminated 30.3 seconds in
the 100 back while 11 year old Isabel LaRaia took off 23 seconds in the 100
back.
Sisters
Jessie and Sarah Lowe ganged up to wipe out a total of 23 seconds between the
two of them (Jessie in the 100 fly and Sarah in the 100 free). 13 year old
Isabelle Morreale dropped 10 seconds in the 100 fly while 12 year old Dara O’Gorman
wiped out 14.4 seconds in his 200 free. 10 year old Christina Pick shed 11
seconds in the 100 free while sister Gabrielle shed 10 seconds in the 100 back.
14
year old Jonas Singer speed to a 12.6 second drop in the 100 back while 9 year
old Michael Tortorella chopped off 17.7 seconds in the 50 back. 12 year old
Caroline Watt dropped 21.7 seconds in the 200 free.
Swimmers who participated (# in
parathesis is number of best Elite SCM best times): Matt Ahlmeyer (3), Michael Alelov (2), Jenni Allocco (2), Arlynn
Baer (2), Chris Balbo (2), Megan Balbo (3), Lindsay Behar (3), Mark Berns (3),
Abbie Bigham (3), Ethan Blum (3), Nicole Blum, Katie Brosnan (3), Emily Buckman
(3), Thomas Burke (3), Eloise Burn (3), Sarah Burn (3), John Burns (3), Meggie
Butler (3),Richie Carchia (4), Stephanie Chen (3), Jimmy Coyne (3), Matthew
Critchley (2), Elizabeth D’Altrui (3), Elizabeth Denehy (3), Anthony Don (3), Jeffrey
Dong (3), Ryan Dorneo (3), Sam Duren (2), Avinash Duvvuri (3), Krishna Duvvuri
(3), Madeleine Faust (3), Katie Fell (3), Juliet Felsen (3), Summer Felsen (3),
Andrea Ferrell (3), Ava Fitzsimons (3), Andy Fresen (3), Erika Fresen (3), RJ
Fresen (3), Katherine Friday (3), Andrea Galea (3), Clio Galea (3), Ariel
Gelman (3), Tabatha Georget (3), Patrick Gilfillan (2), Emily Goad (3), Emily
Gorham (3), Jess Gorham (2), Kevin Greener (3), Emma Harris (3), Scott Harris (3),
Alyssa Hartigan (), Colin Hart (3), Alyssa Hartigan (3), Matthew Hong (3),
Patrick Hong (1), Rachel Hong (3), Elana Horowitz (3), Andrew Huang (3), Aiden
Hughes (3), Jack Hughes (3), Katie Iovel (3), Alex Jacobs (3), Sara Jacobs (3),
Rachel Keselman (3), Sarah Kleppe (3), Regan Kology (3), Jared Kovacs (3),
Jessica Kraus (3), Madison Kretten (3), Patrick Lai (3), Clark LaRaia (3),
Isabel LaRaia (3), Brandon Li (2), Jessie Lowe (3), Sarah Lowe (3), Karl
Melchior (3), Matthew Migliozzi (3), Kara Miller-Radest (3), Isabella Morreale
(3), Andrew Morrison (3), Charlotte Morrissey (3), Sandeepan Mukherjee (3), Julia
Muro (2), Eric Ocheretyaner (3), Gail Ocheretyaner (3), Dara O’Gorman (3), Nick
Pachiolo (3), Christina Pick (3), Gabrielle Pick (3), Joseph Pick (3), Michelle
Pick (3), Natalie Pruitt (3), Camille Relota (3), Chris Roser (3), Stephanie
Roser (3), Ryan Sebastian (3), Andrea Shepard (3), Katy Shepard (3), Abigail
Shvorin (3), Jonas Singer (3), Kaitlin Stearns (2), Lindsay Stearns (3), Abir
Thakur (3), Emily Torre (2), Michael Tortorella (3), Katie Tselepis (3),
Caroline Watt (1), Adam Weinbrom (3), Sarah Weinbrom (2), Jack Wenzel (3), Harry
Woods (3) & Richard Yu (3).
MARLIN TEALS AND WAVEBUSTER BLACKS PICK UP MEET THIS COMING
WEEKEND: ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO RACE IN A YARD POOL:
Elite
has been provided with an opportunity to compete in a yard pool this coming
weekend. Since racing is now front and forefront in Elite’s current training
mode, Elite accepted the offer to compete against and at the Caldwell Community
Pool vs. the Cyclones. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, January 31; warm-up
at 2:30 pm.
Since
there is a limit as to how many swimmers Elite can bring, only two training
groups will attend: the Marlin Teals and the Wavebuster Blacks. The Marlin
Teals have had the least amount of opportunities to compete plus the Wavebuster
Blacks will not be competing at the Clifton Boys and Girls Meet in two weeks.
This gives these two training groups an additional opportunity to compete in a
yard pool.
YOUTUBE UPGRADED TO “ELITE”:
As
noted last week, Swimming World Magazine covered the CeraVe Invitational last
week at Rutgers University. As part of that coverage, Swimming World
Magazine.com program to provided internships to young people locally,
“employing” to interview, film and photograph the event.
During
the weekend, several Elite swimmers participated in the programming of the
event. Courtesy of Antone Balbo, to see these clips click on http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=waxjez3igm0
to watch some of
our favorite swimmers doing commercials and interviews. YouTube never looked
better!!!
OFFICIALS TO BE “THANKED” FINANCIALLY:
In
an effort to show the appreciation to the Elite officials for their hard work,
Elite will institute a new policy this spring that will financially reward our officials.
To
become an official, an individual needs to register with NJ Swimming (cost is
approximately $50 per year). To offset that cost, any Elite official who has
worked 6 sessions at Elite Meets plus 4 additional sessions thru the year will
be given a $30 credit towards the next year’s Elite tution cost. Officials will
be asked to make a copy of their signed credentials.
Coupled
with the cost savings of getting into meets for free, this $30 savings should
completely offset the cost of becoming an official.
END OF SEASON ALTERED TO ACCOMMODATE MEETS, SPRING SESSION:
EVERYONE TRAINS TIL FRIDAY, MARCH 13:
As all Elite swimmers and parents know, Elite has
developed significantly over the past 4 years. Thru a combination of need
changes and changes in the end of the season meet championship schedule, Elite
will significantly alter from past years “end of the season” training plan to
accommodate the swimmers most pressing need: to continue to develop.
This year, all Elite swimmers (regardless of age or
ability) will be invited to continue to train thru Friday, March 13, regardless
of their status viz a viz championship meets. This means that all 8 &
Unders, all 9 & 10’s and all 11 & 12 will continue training AFTER their
Mini Championship meet or AFTER their Silver/Bronze Meets up to Friday, March
13. Junior Olympic and Zone swimmers will continue to train thru the conclusion
of their championship meet.
All
swimmers (with the possible exception of Zone swimmers), will begin their
Spring Season together on Monday, April 6.
Changing the schedule this way allows for non-JO level swimmers
(and parents) 3 weeks off between seasons (much needed mental and physical
rest) and Junior Olympic swimmers 2 full weeks off between sessions.
The result of this decision to “de-couple” the end of the
season training with their championship meets allows Elite swimmers to attend
Championship Meets without having to worry about how long a swimmer is out of
the pool (too long hurts their development). Please note that the training
within each training group will be altered during this time frame, with the
post championship swimmers grouped together in practice to work on conditioning
while the pre-championship swimmers will focus on stroke details, racing and
resting for their upcoming championship meet.
Thus, Elite will elect to attend the Mini-Championships
on Sunday, February 15, along with the 9-10, 11-12 & 13 & Older Silver
Bronze Championships. Elite will also plan to host a “Last Chance” Meet on
Saturday, February 14, time to be determined.
One additional change, with the date change of the Senior
State Championship Meet to Friday, February 20 thru Sunday, February 22, this
meet will now become (another Elite 1st) an “optional” for Elite
swimmers 15 & Older who have high school meet conflicts. Optional is
defined as: if there is a significant reason not to have a swimmer swim in the
meet (such as 1) a conflict with a high school championship meet or 2) too many
meets in successive weekends to insure great end of season performances, a
swimmer with coach guidance can opt out of competing at Senior States.
ENHANCED SECURITY WILL ELIMINATE “BACK ENTRANCE” AT MBS:
In an effort to enhance security, Morristown Beard will
now keep the “back entrance” locked at all times. MBS is requesting that
swimmers enter thru the front or rotunda entrance from now on. In addition to
the rotunda door being open, a door near the locker rooms (on the other side of
the building) should be unlocked as well.
PARENTS GEARING UP FOR 9-10 SILVER BRONZE CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The Meet Coordinators of the 9-10 Silver Bronze Championships are gearing up for this championship meet which Elite will host Saturday, February 28 & Sunday, March 1st at Newark Academy.
All parents
of swimmer 10 years of age and younger (yes, including 8 year olds and 7 year
olds) are expected to work this meet.
Carolyn Balbo will begin contacting parents shortly to begin the
organization process of running the meet, manning the various jobs, etc. Please
respond to her as soon as you are able to help make her job easier.
Parents of all 13 & Older swimmers will also be contacted in the near future regarding Elite’s co-hosting of the 13 & Older Silver Bronze Championships at Rutgers University.
THINKING SUMMER? THINK SUMMER SWIM CAMPS!:
Although the hot sun and humid weather seems millions of years away, summer is only 6 months away and top-notch swim camps are already taking registrations for the summer of 2009.
When planning the upcoming summer, please consider sending your Elite swimmer (Wave Black level, Wave Teal level, Marlin Black level or Marlin Teal level). Wave Golds and Seniors should remain training with Elite thru the summer months) to one of the numerous swim camps.
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). On
the website, under Swim Camps at http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Swim Camps/index.html
is information regarding Summer Swim Camps. Many of these swim camps close out
in late February and early March!!!
Thinking about summer? Think Swim Camps!!
BEST PART OF TAPER? HANGING OUT WITH
OLYMPIAN MARK GANGLOFF!!
Every swimmer knows the best part of “taper” season is resting. Well, this year, Elite swimmers will taper by resting and hanging out with 2008 Olympian Mark Gangloff!!
Organized and coordinated by the Elite Swim Club Parents Organization, Elite will hold a 1 day seminar on Sunday February 22, 2009 with eight place finisher Beijing Olympian Mark Gangloff. As with past Olympian Seminars, Mark will discuss his career, give swimming tips and instruct swimmers in the water. If we are lucky, he will race one or two of his new friends.
Information regarding the event is now on the Elite website under Mark Gangloff. Register today by sending your check to ESCPO Sandi Niccolai 4 Redman Farm Road Mendham, NJ (please note the correct zip is: 07945).
REMINDER:
SCHOLAR/ATHLETE AWARDS WILL BE HIGHLIGHT OF AWARDS BANQUET:
With the conclusion of the 2nd marking periods, swimmers are reminded that the ultimate award an Elite swimmer can earn at the season ending Awards Banquet (Sunday, April 6, 2008) will once again be the Elite Scholar-Athlete Awards. Great grades, in addition to great swim times, are required for a swimmer to earn one of these awards.
These awards will be broken down into three levels:
1) All-American
Scholar Athlete Award: Swimmer must have a 3.5 grade average and at least 1
Sectional Qualifying time. This award is actually a USA Swimming Award and will
be presented by New Jersey Swimming. Elite will also provide a certificate to
those swimmers who have qualified for this award.
2) The Elite
Scholar-Athlete Gold Award: A swimmer must have all A’s and no more than 1 B
(or the equivalent of all A’s and 1 B) plus at least 1 individual Junior
Olympic Qualify Time
3) The Elite
Scholar-Athlete Teal Award: Swimmer must have all A’s and B’s (of the
equivalent) plus at least 1 individual Silver Qualifying Time
In addition to each swimmer receiving an impressive certificate from Elite acknowledging this achievement, from this season forward Elite will post the names of its scholar athletes on its website-forever acknowledging its most special scholar-athletes.
Parents of
grammar school students should remember that Bill will review the grading
legend (assuming A’s and B’s are not given) to ascertain if the swimmer has
fulfilled the academic requirements to receive the award.
Bill is now accepting the scholastic information. If your swimmer made a JO or Silver qualifying time last summer or this winter and then aged up, an applicant must fill out the application form on the team website that will point Bill to the swim in question. All scholastic information needs to be to Bill by Tuesday, March 18.
WITH WINTER COMES WEATHER,
CHECK WEBSITE/EMAIL FOR PRACTICE CANCELLATIONS:
Weather will have an affect on practice schedules and meet starting times. When in doubt, check the Elite website and your email for information regarding time changes due to weather.
Be advised that both Newark Academy and Morristown Beard tend to close down at the forecast of bad weather. In addition, safety is extremely important. Thus, weather is likely to interrupt practice and even if it does not, parents should make decisions based upon their comfort level regarding travel to and from practice.
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 heaviest training (December & January), swimmers are
“broken down” or tired based upon the heavy swimming workload. To stay healthy,
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
phenomena 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 3 years ago 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!!!
PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDENCE, LEVEL OF TRAINING
AND STROKE TECHNIQUE:
CORRECTION:
80% NEEDED FOR WAVE GOLDS TO BE PROMOTED:
As we hit the mid-point of our training season, swimmers and parents are reminded that swimmers EARN their promotions by accomplishing 3 criteria thru the season. Coaches will make their recommendations for promotions to Bill starting in mid January and the promotion letters will be mailed in early February. No swimmer will be considered for promotion unless they comply with the following 3 criteria (and swimmers are reminded that they control this process, not the coaches);
1) great attendance as defined as follows:
a. over 70% for Marlin Teals, Marlin Blacks, Wave Teals & Wave Blacks.
b. over 80% for Wave Golds (changed from last year due to removal of practice make-ups)
c. over 85% for Senior Preps
2) Training within the top lanes in one’s training group. Each training group has 2 to 6 different levels of training within the training group. A swimmer must be training within the top 2 training levels to be considered.
3) Great stroke technique. While swimmers are training in the top level of their training group, they need to hold their stroke technique. Each swimmer
is aware of those things they need to work on.
Each
swimmer is encouraged to talk to their coach regarding their current status and
things they need to do during the 2nd half of the season to earn a
promotion.
WHEN IN DOUBT, CHECK THE WEBSITE:
If you have questions about Elite, your first source of information is Elite’s website located at eliteswimclub.org. When in doubt, first check the website!!!