ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               1-28-08

 

BACK IN OUR METER POOL, SWIMMERS SHOW SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS:

BEHAR, BUCKHAM, GALEA, KESELMAN, LEVIN, I. MORREALE, R. NICCOLAI, K.STEARNS, M. TORTORELLA, M. WOODRUFF & YU WIN EVENTS;

 

            Hosting Tidal Wave of the Union Boys and Girls Club, the Elite Age Groupers were back at racing again this past Sunday at Morristown-Beard School. The results demonstrate how far many of our swimmers have come since the training cycle began in September.

 

            The last time these events were held at our SCM pool was early November. With almost 3 months of additional training under their belts, the Elite swimmers destroyed many of their best times. Highlights include:

 

1)      10 year old Aaron Levin led Elite as he won all 3 of his events: 100 IM, 50 free and 50 Breast all in personal best times

2)      Flexing its muscles, Elite had 5 double event winners:

1)      Emerging as strong swimmers are a pair of 8 year olds, Rachel Keselman and Michael Tortorell, who each won both the 8 & Under 50 free and the 50 breast events

2)      12 year old Ryan Buckham continued his development, dropping a combined total of 32 seconds in his 3 events and winning both the 200 IM and the 100 breast

3)      15 year old Rebecca Niccolai charged to two wins in the 13 & Older events: 200 IM and the 100 free

4)      9 year old newcomer Andrea Galea continues to impress, as she won both the 50 free and the 50 breast

3)      Single event winners were:

1)      12 year old Maggie Woodruff sprinted to a 1st place finish in the 100 free

2)      13 year old Lindsay Behar churned to the winning place in the 100 breast

3)      12 year old Richard Yu placed 1st in the 100 free, winning by more than 3 seconds

4)      9 year old Kaitlin Stearns, even with an injured wrist, was able to win the 100 IM

5)      12 year old Isabelle Morreale continued her development in the 100 breast, as she placed 1st in the 11-12 age group

 

Possibly the most impressive statistic resulting from this meet was that there were a total of 41 swims (out of 242 swims) by 31 different swimmers that showed double digit improvement!!!  That is an extraordinary achievement!

 

Full results are posted on the team website.

 

Swimmers who participated in the Tidal Wave meet were (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite SCM best times): Arlynn Baer (4), Chris Balbo (3), Megan Balbo (2), Brielle Barba (3), Lindsay Behar (3), Abbie Bigham (3), Ethan Blum (3), Nicole Blum (3), Ryan Buckham (3), Thomas Burke (3),  Eloise Burn (2), Meggie Butler (3), Mac Charvala (2), Elizabeth D’Altrui (2), Drew D’Andrea (3), Amy Duren (3), Avinash Duvvuri (2), Krishna Duvvuri (3), Madeleine Faust (3), Juliet Felson (3), Andrea Ferrell (3), Andy Fresen (1), RJ Fresen (2), Katherine Friday (2), Andrea Galea (3), Ariel Gelman (2), Hannah Gleason (1), Joe Gleason (3), Emily Goad (2), Katie Golway (3), Alexandra Gordon (3), Dominique Gordon (3), Lydia Gracey (3), Andre Guacelli (1), Julia Guacelli (3), Scott Harris (3), Alyssa Hartigan (3), Matt Hong (3), Patrick Hong (3), Elana Horowitz (2),William Kaiser (2), Rachel Keselman (3), Sarah Kleppe (2), Jared Kovacs (3), Jessica Kraus (3),  Patrick Lai (3), Clark LaRaia (3), Isabel LaRaia (3), Aaron Levin (3), Brandon Li (3), Jessie Lowe (2), Sarah Lowe (3), Marisa Manzi (3), Katie McGrath (3), Colin Miller-Radest (3), Kara Miller-Radest (3), Isabella Morreale (3), Cesar Munoz (3), Caroline Nash (3), Gregory Niccolai (3), Rebecca Niccolai (3), Nick Pachiolo, Spencer Pearce (1), Christina Pick (1), Gabrielle Pick (3), Mikala Quinn (3), Collin Reilly (3), Taylor Savarese (2), Katy Shepard (3), Jonas Singer (3), Jessica Solodkin (3), Kaitlin Stearns (3), Alex Sudyn (3), Emily Torre (2), Michael Tortorella (3), Rachel Tortorella (2), Katie Tselepis (3), Spence Turkington (3), Maggie Woodruff (3), Olivia Woodruff (2), James Yoon (2) & Richard Yu (3).

 

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY IS TEAM PICTURE SUNDAY:

 

Prior to the Super Bowl game, Elite will be having training group photos this Sunday. These pictures will be reproduced to each swimmer thru the Memory Book provided by ESCPO at the awards banquet in April.

 

All Swimmers are requested to wear their team suit to practice this Sunday for the photo.

 

2ND ANNUAL FLOAT NIGHT PLANNED THIS WEEKEND:

 

From ESCPO -

 

FLOAT NIGHT - No Laps Allowed!!  Dust off your floats and come join your teammates to have some fun in the pool!  Mark your calendars for Friday Feb 1 at Morristown Beard -  6:45 pm pizza, pool from 7 - 9 pm.  Please RSVP by Tuesday, Jan 29 to ESCPO@aol.com.  This event was a huge success last year, parent volunteers are needed and welcome to help inflat floats, serve food and chaperone - email ESCPO@aol.com if you are available to help or look for sign-up sheets are both Newark Academy and Morristown Beard School.

 

UNIQUE FORMAT TO HELP EASE 13 & OLDER SILVER/BRONZE MEET:

ODD HEAT POOL/EVEN HEAT POOL:

 

            As the new meet hosts of the 13 & Older Silver/Bronze Championships, Elite needed to take a hard and fresh look at the previous year’s meet format. As one of the most crowded meets of the season, this meet has produced some of the most stifling meet sessions in NJ Swimming history. If possible, Elite would like to avoid that situation.

 

            The happy problem is that there are a significant number of competitors in New Jersey that are 13 & Older. In the traditional way of running these meets (one age group-one pool) at Rutgers, sessions timed out to an excess of 5 hours, without including the distance events.

 

            With a suggestion from Henry Frycynski of Scarlet Aquatic Club, Elite has explored and will go with a meet format that has a single age group utilizing both pools simultaneously. Thus, the 13 & 14 Girls will swim in Session number 1 using both pools. The Scoreboard Pool will be designated as the Odd Heat Pool while the Dive Pool will be designated as the Event Heat Pool. Heat 1 and Heat 2 will be run virtually simultaneously. Heat 3 and Heat 4 will be run virtually simultaneously and so forth. The next event will not be started until such time as the previous event is concluded in both pools.

 

            This format will also be used for the 15 & Older Girls (mid day session) and the 13-14 & 15-19 Boys (pm session).

 

            When this meet format was created in the computer and last year’s entries were dropped into this format, as expected the sessions dropped to very manageable 3 hour (including distance events) sessions. Obviously, Elite is hoping that the reality is identical to the model!!

 

PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS:

ATTENDENCE, LEVEL OF TRAINING AND STROKE TECHNIQUE:

 

            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 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 85% for Wave Golds and Senior Preps

     There will be no exceptions.

 

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.

 

SWIM MEET “LOST & FOUND” BROUGHT BACK TO NA; PLEASE CHECK YOUR ITEMS AT HOME:

 

            As anyone at Princeton this weekend knows, the crowded situation at meets creates a ripe situation where items are going to be left, lost or accidentally picked up by other swimmers. Swimmers and parents should know the following:

 

1)      Items easily identified as Elite’s that are left at the meet are brought back to Newark Academy and placed in the lost & found.

 

2)      Items with names on them are much more easily identifiable. If not already done so, write your name on all swim gear and team uniform items so they can get back to you.

 

3)      As a courtesy to your fellow swimmers, please check the items you bring home to confirm they are actually yours. You may have accidentally picked up someone else’s uniform, suit or goggles. 

 

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!!! If you do not see what you need, email Bill at eliteswimclubnj@comcast.net