ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 02-01-10
ASTOUNDING PERFORMANCE BY “JUNIORS” AT
AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS:
19 DIFFERENT SWIMMERS SCORE INDIVIDUAL POINTS/PARTICIPATE IN FINALS;
SEBASTIAN WINS 2
EVENTS; PLACES 2ND THREE TIMES AND 2ND IN HIGH POINT RACE!
L. STEARNS & J. GORHAM EACH PLACE 2ND
& 3RD; BOYS RELAYS PLACE 2ND & 3RD:
C. BALBO, J. FELSEN (4), J. GORHAM, K. MELCHIOR, A. SHEPARD, K. STEARNS,
L. STEARNS, C. WATT & RICHARD YU (2) POST JUNIOR 13 OLYMPIC QUALIFYING
TIMES!!
Gaining upon the momentum created by the tremendous
performances Elite swimmers have already produced this season, Elite’s 32 representatives
at the Age Group Championships (previously known as “Junior States”) simply
rocked!! This weekend’s results hope to be the harbinger of future championship
performances later this month and in March.
Designed to give the 14 & Under Swimmers true championship swimming experience, meaning swimmers competed in morning preliminaries fighting for the opportunity to compete again in finals in the evening, the Age Group Championships (for those 14 years and younger), held at the John Witherspoon Middle School in Princeton, is a grueling 2.5 day affair for virtually every swimmer participating. In addition, all relays are held at night (thus, everyone participating in prelims returns for the relays in finals). This year, NJ Swimming added a new feature to finals; a bonus heat for the top 12 & Unders in the am session (excluding those 12 & Unders who finished in the top 16-they participated in the A or B final heats). This format created for fast swimming, but also pushes the swimmers to the limit.
13 year old Ryan Sebastian led Elite with a breathtaking performance; participating in the maximum allowed 7 events and against swimmers as old as 14, Ryan won 2 events (100 butterfly-58.45 and the 200 butterfly-2.08.92), placed 2nd three times (200 back-2.03.41, 400 IM-4.30.92 & 100 back-57.31), 4th once (200 IM-2.09.73) and 6th (1650 free-17.38.03). Ryan scored 119 points to finish 2nd in the High Point Award race, doing so as a 13 year old.
13 year old Lindsay Stearns was also magnificent, placing 2nd in the 200 butterfly with a 2.14.08 time-just .99 off an individual Sectional qualifying time in her last event of the meet!!! Prior to this performance, Stearns placed 3rd in the 500 free with a 5.22.92 time, 3rd in the 100 fly (1.02.02), 6th in the 400 IM (4.48.83) and 6th by knocking 97 seconds off her 1650 free time (18.26.62). Lindsay’s 1650 swim was a new JO cut.
Like a supernova, 13 year old Jess Gorham burst onto the scene this weekend with her freestyle exploits. Jess rocketed to a 2nd place finish in the 100 free (with an eye popping 55.09 time-nearly 7 seconds faster than her best time last season)! Jess nailed her 50 free swim as well, finishing 3rd with a 25.66 time. Her 500 free time of 5.22.26 was good enough for 6th place and she followed up with an 8th place finish in the 200 free (2.00.74). Jess also added points in the 100 (12 place-1.04.29) and 200 back (10th place-2.17.03-new JO cut).
11 year old Andrea Galea, showing no signs of respect for her elders, placed 4th in the 200 back with a fantastic time of 2.14.11-just 3 seconds over the Sectional qualifying time. Andrea also placed 8th in the 100 back (1.03.89-less than 3 seconds off a Sectional cut) and 11th in the 200 breast (2.41.49).
13 year old Kara Miller-Radest grabbed 4th place in the 100 fly (just behind Stearns) with her 1.02.05 swim. Kara lopped off 3.5 seconds in her 7th place 200 butterfly swim of 2.20.81.
13 year old Zach Katz snared 5th place in the 100 breast, dropping his time to a 1.06.29. Katz also placed 10th in the 100 fly (1.00.99) and 11th in the 200 fly (2.23.10).
14 year old Matt Ahlmeyer gutted out a 6th place finish in the 200 butterfly with his 2.16.27 effort. Ahlmeyer also placed10th in the 400 IM (4.50.13) and 12th in the 100 butterfy (1.02.10).
The quartet of Sebastian, Katz, Matthew Hong and Jeffrey Dong, united together for the 1st time since breaking the state 11-12 lcm 200 Medley Relay record, snagged 2nd place with a 1.49.55 time for the 200 yard Medley Relay. Katz and Dong teamed up with Richard Yu and Krishna Duvvuri for a 3rd place finish in the 200 Free Relay.
Galea, Isabella Morreale, Miller-Radest and Gorham finished 4th in the 200 Medley Relay (1.57.00) while Gorham, Galea, Lindsay Stearns and Rachael Tortorella finished 5th in the 200 Free Relay.
14 year old Richard Yu won the consolation heats to place 9th in both the 50 free (24.10) and the 200 free (1.55.69). Yu also picked up his 5th JO qualifying time this weekend with his 1.10.54 swim in the 100 breast.
13 year old Juliet Felsen had a superb meet, posting 11 best times, 4 new JO cuts and finished in the top 13 in 5 events. Felsen 200 fly finish of 8th place was her best (2.25.93); Juliet also placed 11th in both the 100 breast (1.13.47) and the 100 fly (1.04.11), 12th in the 200 IM (2.21.80) and 13th in the 200 breast (2.41.88). Felsen’s IM, 200 fly, 200 breast and 100 breast swims were new JO cuts.
During a week of practice, 11 year old Chris Balbo probably averages 17,500 yards. In just 48 hours, Chris raced 5450 yards (again, as an 11 year old). Opening the weekend with the 1650, Chris posted a 19.07.07 time (fully 2 minutes under the JO cut). Chris scored a 16th place finish in the 1000 free with his 11.56.50 swim. Balbo also raced the 500 free twice, the 200 back twice, the 100 fly twice, the 400 IM twice and the 200 fly twice!
14 year old Krishna Duvvuri was 6 for 6 in best times, with a 12th place finish in the 200 breast (2.30.08), a 13th place finish in the 100 back (1.02.16) and a 14th place finish in the 50 free (24.86). 13 year old Jeffrey Dong placed 12th in the 100 breast with a 1.10.82 effort.
13 year old Caroline Watt dazzled her teammates with her 13th place, 21 second drop in the 500 free (5.35.45) and her 16 second drop in the 400 IM (5.08.77). Watt’s 500 free was her first JO qualifying time this year.
13 year old Andrea Shepard was nearly as herculean as Balbo, racing 4250 yards. Shepard placed 15th in the 500 free with her JO qualifying time of 5.36.29 and placed 16th in the 400 IM (5.05.19). Shepard also dropped 17 seconds in the 1650 free (19.27.25).
11 year old Kaitlin Stearns also raced over 3000 yards and placed 13th in the 1000 free (11.50.76), which was a 27 second drop from her previous best. Kaitlin also added her 10th JO cut to her resume with her 19.47.41 time in the 1650.
In a weekend of stud-like performances, 13 year old Alli Dorneo evan wowed her coaches by racing to a 12th place preliminary finish in the 100 back, getting out and hopping up on the block just 3 minutes later to race the 200 fly. After several hours of rest, Alli came back for a 10th place, personal best swim of 1.04.14 in the back. Dorneo also placed 13th in the 200 back (2.19.50)-again with a personal best.
12 year old Karl Melchior, coming to the meet on Sunday simply to race in a relay, led off with a sizzling 28.08 time, good enough for his 10th JO cut this year.
12 year old Isabelle LaRaia stroked to a 16th place finish with her 11.59.33, 28 second drop in the 1000 free.
14 year old Clark LaRaia placed 16th in the 100 free, with his 55.86 effort.
Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Matt Ahlmeyer, Chris Balbo (7), Daniel Chu (2), Jeff Dong, Alli Dorneo (2), Corey Duren (1), Avinash Duvvuri (2), Krishna Duvvuri (6), Juliet Felsen (11), Andrea Galea (10), Jess Gorham (11), Matthew Hong (2), Zach Katz (1), Patrick Lai (1), Clark LaRaia (5), Isabel LaRaia (5), Katie McGrath (3), Karl Melchior (2), Kara Miller-Radest (3), Isabella Morreale (1), Charlotte Morrissey (1), Caroline Nash (4), Danielle Peterson, Gabrielle Pick (2), Ryan Sebastian (9), Andrea Shepard (2), Kaitlin Stearns (7), Lindsay Stearns (6), Rachael Tortorella (1), Caroline Watt (3), Remena Xu (2) & Richard Yu (5).
ATTENDANCE
STATS STILL STRONG THRU JAN; 3 OF 7 TRAINING GROUPS AVERAGING OVER 80%
OR HIGHER
Swimmers
and Parents are reminded that only swimmers with 70% attendance records will be
considered for promotion into the next higher training group this spring (Wave Golds need 80% attendance to be considered for promotion
into the Senior Prep training group).
PREPARATION BEGINS FOR 9-10 SILVER/BRONZE CHAMPS AND 13-19 SILVERS/BRONZE;
PLEASE RESPOND TO MEET COORDINATORS EMAILS!!
Meet Coordination for the 9-10 Silver Bronze Championships is gearing up
for this championship meet which Elite will host February 27th &
28th at Newark Academy. All parents of swimmers 10 years of age
and younger (yes, including 8 year olds, 7 year olds and 6 year olds) are
expected to work this meet as part of their parental obligation to Elite.
Carolyn Balbo will be emailing a questionnaire to all parents this week
requesting preferences as to which volunteer job each parent prefers. Please
respond to this email asap
as it will help Carolyn create her work coverage chart. Carolyn’s email is: cbalbo@comcast.net. Jobs include
officiating, timing, concessions, hall monitor, medical, admissions, coach’s
hospitality, set-up & clean-up, etc.
If Carolyn does not hear from you, she will reach out again. Two
non-responses will require Carolyn to place those non-response workers in
positions she needs filled, rather than their preference.
If a parent/family forsees a problem fulfilling their parental obligation,
they need to contact Bill AND Carolyn asap.
In the past, parents/families have fulfilled their parental obligation by
having a relative (grandparents or siblings) work, or even hiring a worker for
their spot. Thus, there is no reason a parental obligation can not be fulfilled
by an Elite club member.
Failure to fulfill a parental
obligation will jeopardize a swimmer’s roster spot on Elite. As part of having
a swimmer on Elite, parent have agreed to step up and
help when it is Elite’s turn to provide splash opportunities for the greater
swimming community.
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 on March 6th and 7th. All parents of swimmers 13 & over are expected to work this meet.
END OF SEASON NOW IN SIGHT:
CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON/MEETS, TRYOUTS & SPRING SESSION EYED:
EVERYONE TRAINS TIL FRIDAY, MARCH 12:
In keeping with its long term developmental goals for its
swimmers, Elite will provide training for all swimmers thru Friday, March 12.
Regardless of when a swimmer’s last championship meet occurs, all swimmers will
be welcome to continue to train thru March 12.
All 8 & Unders, all 9 &
10’s and all 13 thru 19 swimmers will continue training AFTER their Mini
Championship meet or AFTER their Silver/Bronze Meets. 11-12s will train thru
their Silver-Bronze Meet, to be held March 13-14. Junior Olympic, Sectional and Zone swimmers
will continue to train thru the conclusion of their last championship meet.
All
swimmers (with the possible exception of Sectional & Zone swimmers), will
begin their Spring Season together on Monday, April 5.
This schedule allows for non-JO level swimmers (and
parents) 3 weeks off between seasons (much needed mental and physical rest) and
Junior Olympic swimmers at least 2 full weeks off between sessions.
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.
With regards to Championship Season, all Elite 8 &
Under swimmers will attend the Mini-Championships on Saturday, March 6. All
Elite 9-10’s will attend the 9-10 Silver/Bronze South Championships (Elite
hosts this meet at Newark Academy) Saturday February 27 & Sunday, February
28. All Elite 13 & Olders will attend the 13-19
Silver/Bronze Championships (Elite hosts this meet at Rutgers) on Saturday,
March 6 & Sunday, March 7. All 11-12’s will attend the 11-12 Silver/Bronze
South Championships to be held on Saturday, March 13 & Sunday, March 14th
at Raritan Valley Community College.
Also,
this year, there will NOT be an Elite in-house “last chance” meet. Marlin
Teals, Marlin Blacks and Wavebuster Teals are entered
in a final dual meet at Clifton Boys and Girls Club on Saturday, Feb 6. Silver
level 11 & Olders in Wavebuster
Blacks, Wavebuster Golds
and Senior Preps have been entered into a one-day “Last Chance Meet” in Bayonne
on Sunday, Feb 21. Swimmers 15 & Older who qualify have been entered into
Senior States to be held Friday, February 19 thru Sunday, February 21.
Tryouts
for Elite’s Spring/Summer 2010 Session will be held Tuesday, March 23 at 4:30
pm at Newark Academy. Information regarding this tryout will be posted on the
team website this week.
ESCPO PLANS FLOAT NIGHT: THIS FRIDAY, FEB 5TH AT MBS:
TEAM PICTURES (FOR MEMORY BOOK) SUNDAY, FEB 14:
Dust off your tubes and floats,
ESCPO is hosting a “Float Night” on Friday, February 5th from 7 pm
to 9 pm!!!
Sponsored by the Elite Swim Club Parent’s Organization,
all Elite swimmers are invited to Morristown-Beard School to float, hang out
and just plain have fun in a pool!!! Due to insurance reasons, siblings and
guests are not invited.
Also
now on the calendar are team pictures, which will be taken at all Sunday,
February 14 practices. These pictures will be used for the Memory Book, which
will be presented to each Elite swimmer at the Awards Banquet.
Parents who have pictures are also encourage
to send digital pictures to Christy Hartigan, who is
coordinating this year’s Memory Book production. Christy’s email is: chartigan1@optonline.net.
ATHLETE AND CUB
REPORTER: KARL MELCHIOR REFLECTS ON OLYMPIC CLINIC:
12 year old Karl Melchior, Junior Olympic level Elite swimmer,
reports on his recent swimming experience:
This
past Saturday, I attended the Mutual of Omaha Breakout swim clinic
(offered as part of the Rutgers College Conference Carnival Jan 23rd).
Josh Davis and Eric Shanteau were the Olympians who
presented. The clinic was great and I learned some interesting
things. They both talked about their experiences swimming in the Olympics.
Josh Davis swam in the '96 & '00 games. He held the American record in the
200m Freestyle for 3 years until Michael Phelps broke it. Eric Shanteau swam in the '08 games and won the breaststroke at
World's in '09. He holds the American records in the 100m & 200m
breaststroke. They were both around 12 or
13 when they started thinking it could be possible for them to become Olympic
swimmers. They realized they had to set goals and stressed the
importance of goal setting to the group. Josh challenged each of us to go
home and set a goal for ourselves (including the parents) whether it was
related to swimming or something else. He also said you need to write it
down so you keep it in your mind all the time. Both Josh and Eric were good
speakers and I thought they gave an interesting talk.
Before
getting in the pool, Josh gave a presentation about Streamlining. He
stressed the importance of streamlining EVERY time you swim off EVERY
wall. Streamlining is the fastest way for a human being to get through
water. His tips were:
1) keep your arms as straight as possible and your elbows as
close together as possible
2) lock your elbows and try to hide the back of your head so no
one can see it
3) Make sure your thumb is always locking your hands together
The
group definitely got the point that you always have to STREAMLINE, STREAMLINE, STREAMLINE!!!
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 11, 2010) 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, Elite posts 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 will begin accepting the scholastic information on March 1st. 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 16.
JUNIORS
IN HIGH SCHOOL: RUTGERS’S JUNIOR DAY IS SATURDAY, APRIL 24:
Rutgers University, the NJ State University, has sent this email out to Elite:
Rutgers will be hosting a Juniors Day on Saturday, April
24. This
is a great opportunity to explore and learn more about your state university.
Everyone is welcome and admission is free. Hundreds of current Rutgers
professors and students will be available to tell you all the university has to
offer. Tours of the campus will be given all day. Dozens of presentations,
music events, and other activities are planned for parents, high school
students, and even young children. Attendees to the Rutgers Spring Football
game will receive a free Rutgers shirt. The $5 charge for the game at Rutgers
Stadium is donated to New Jersey charities. If you, or someone you know, would
like more information about Rutgers Day,please feel
free to call 732-445-4636/732-932-7823 or visit www.rutgers.edu.
COLLEGE BOUND AND
SWIMMING? NJ SWIMMING SCHOLARSHIP MONEY
AVAILABLE:
New Jersey Swimmers who are attending college next year and plan to swim can apply to receive a $1,250 one-time scholarship from New Jersey Swimming.
Information
regarding this scholarship opportunity is attached and the application will be
posted on the NJ Swimming website shortly.
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 in our heaviest training, 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 several 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!!!
PARENTS: PLEASE BE PROMPT IN PICKING UP SWIMMERS:
Parents are requested to be prompt in picking up their swimmers at the end of practice. Recently, especially after the Wave Golds on weekdays and the Wave Teals on Saturday, swimmers have had to wait 30-45 minutes after practice for their ride.
Bill has asked the coaches to remain at practice until the last child has been picked up (for the obvious safety reasons). Coaches are more than willing to do so occasionally. But Elite coaches have other full time jobs and several are attending school in addition to their primary jobs and coaching. It is unfair to ask the coaches to spend an additional 30-40 minutes waiting for parents to pick up their children virtually every night.
Elite is prompt about ending practice on time. Please help out the coaches by being prompt to pick up your child.
CLOTHING ITEMS PREVIOUSLY
PURCHASED THRU ESCPO NOW IN: CONTACT ALLISON NASH:
The clothing items previously purchased thru ESCPO have arrived. Parents are encouraged to contact Allison Nash to arrange pick-up at Newark Academy. Allison’s email address is ALLISONRNASH@MSN.COM.
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!!!