ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 02-12-07
SWIMMERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF “LAST CHANCE;”
CHO, K. DUVVURI, KATZ, MURO, K. STEARNS, C. BROSNAN, & TWO
MILLER-RADESTS QUALIFY FOR JUNIOR OLYMPICS!!
Taking full advantage of their “last chance” to qualify for Junior Olympics and Silver cut times, the Elite Age Groupers competed in their last (“intraclub”) club meet prior to the championship season this past Saturday at Newark Academy. Nine separate swimmers used their opportunity to qualify for 13 Junior Olympic times!!!
Elite’s JO squad has now swollen to 15 Girls and 15 Boys who have a combined total of 132 qualifying times. At the start of the season, the Elite JO squad was 7 Girls and 5 Boys with 40 total events.
Twelve year old Brannon Cho and 10 year old Zackie Katz swam under the JO qualifying times in each of their 3 swims. Cho, who had yet to qualify, dipped below the qualifying times in the 100 Back (1.12.97), 50 Free (28.84) and the 100 Breast (1.22.04). Katz, who has consistently racked up JO cut times since last summer, added his 9th, 10th and 11th qualifying time in the 50 back (37.99), the 100 fly (1.22.79) and the 100 back (1.23.56). At this point, Katz has only NOT qualified in the 500 free, which he will swim in at the 9-10 Silver/Bronze South Championship Meet which Elite will host in two weeks.
Twelve year old Krishna Duvvuri, keeping with family tradition (brother Venkatesh and sister Priya both have JO qualifying times) had his 1st and 2nd qualifying times: in the 200 breast (3.02.15) and the 50 fly (31.53).
8 year old (yes, as in “eight years old”) Kaitlin Stearns swam her very first JO qualifying time, mastering the 100 back in a 1.20.53 time. Kaitlin is also close in several other events (such as the 50 back!).
12 year old Daniel Muro, whose had stroking last 50 insured his success, qualified for JO’s in the 200 back (2.40.94). Daniel is also close in both the 50 and 100 back events.
10 year old Kara Miller-Radest added her 2nd JO qualifying time with a fine 100 free swim of 1.12.98. This is the 1st winter of swimming for Kara.
And in the very last event of the meet, both Courtney Brosnan and Brendan Miller-Radest qualified for JO’s with impressive swims in the grueling 400 Individual Medley, posting 5.40.57 and 5.37.90 times respectively. For Brendan, it marked his 1st career JO qualifying time!!
There were also dozens of other great swims and Silver qualifying times!!! Full results are posted on the website.
Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best SCY best times): Arlynn Baer (2), Brielle Barba (2), Eric Binder (1), Nicole Blum (3), Courtney Brosnan (3), Meg Brosnan, Keegan Brown (1), Alexa Burkard (1), John Burns (3), Taylor Campolattaro (3), Monica Carty (2), Brannon Cho (3), Jonny Crowther (2), Laura Culiuc (2), Jeffrey Dong (1), Sam Duren (1), Avinash Duvvuri (2), Krishna Duvvuri (2), Helena Elston (2), Brandon Faris, Madeleine Faust, Kristen Fedor, Juliet Felson (2), Emilie Ferguson (1), Andrea Ferrell (3), Spencer Fisch (3), Joe Gleason (1), Katie Golway, Katie Gorman (3), Rachel Greene, Andre Guacelli (1), Julia Guacelli (2), Payton Hakes (2), Scott Harris (2), Alyssa Hartigan (1), Brent Jones (1), Zackie Katz (3), Gregory Keiser (2), Victoria Keiser (3), Kirsten Kellstrom (3), Mark Kellstrom (3), Michael Kellstrom (2), Caroline Kelly (1), Brandon King (3), Regan Kology (3), Jared Kovacs (2), Emmie Lai (1), Patrick Lai (3), Clark LaRaia (2), Isabel LaRaia (2), Ricky LaSalvia (2), Aaron Levin (3), Jessie Lowe (1), Robert Maloney, Daniela Manzi (1), Marisa Manzi (3), Megan McEvoy (2), Katie McGrath, Sarah McGrath, Brendan Miller-Radest (2), Kara Miller-Radest (2), Isabella Morreale (2), Cesar Munoz (3), Madison Munoz, Daniel Muro (3), Julia Muro (2), Kendall Murray (1), Caroline Nash (1), Gregory Niccolai (2), Rebecca Niccolai (2), Dara O’Gorman (2), Evan O’Hara (2), Nick Pachiolo (2), Christina Pick (2), Gabrielle Pick (1), Michelle Pick (2), Katie Ragan, Taylor Savarese (1), Amanda Scherb (2), Andrea Shepard (3), Bethany Stachenfeld, Kaitlin Stearns (3), Lindsay Stearns (2), James Sullivan (3), Erica Takahashi (1), Lexi Tedesco, Sydney Todd (1), Emily Torre (3), Jennifer Torre, Rachel Tortorella (3), Spencer Turkington, Andrea Tyminski (1), Caroline Watt (3), Sarah Weinbrom (2), Paige Willian (3), Maggie Woodruff (2), Harry Woods (2) & Richard Yu (3).
8 & UNDERS COMPETE AT SOMERSET HILLS:
Invited 2 weeks ago to participate in an 8 & Under “Only” swim meet, 9 Elite swimmers competed against Somerset Hills Y, Summit Y, Hunterdon County Y & West Morris Y this Saturday at Somerset Hills YMCA. The meet was among the 1st held in their new pool (built adjacent to their existing pool).
8 year old Chris Balbo led the way for Elite as he placed 2nd in the 50 fly (47.95) and third twice: 100 IM (1.39.23) and 50 back (45.50).
8 year old Amy Duren finished 6th in the 50 back (49.04) while 8 year old Sarah Kleppe finished just behind in 7th (49.11).
Swimmers who participated (# in
parathesis is number of best SCY best times): Chris Balbo (2), Megan Balbo (2),
Abbie Bigham (1), Katie Brosnan (1), Amy Duren (2), Erika Fresen (3), Sarah
Kleppe (1), Brandon Li (2) & Sarah Lowe (2).
ELITE GEARING FOR 9-10 SILVER/BRONZE CHAMPIONSHIPS (IN 2 WEEKS!!!);
SHARON
BROSNAN TO COORDINATE;
ALL 9-10 AND 8 & U PARENTS EXPECTED TO HELP; SWIMMERS ARE
INVITED TO HELP!!!
Elite
will be hosting (at Newark Academy) the South 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championships
this season on Saturday, February 24 & Sunday, February 25. Sharon Brosnan,
as the ESCPO Meet Coordinator, will be contacting parents of swimmers 10 &
U this week to request help in coordinating the Parental work efforts.
All
Elite parents of 10 & Under swimmers will be asked to work this meet (8
& Under Parents are being requested to help to train them for next year’s meet).
Coordinating and running the 1st class meets that Elite is known for
takes planning and everyone’s efforts. Please be responsive to Sharon and her
team when you are contacted. Among the jobs needed filled will be: timing,
admission, marshalling, spectactor concessions, coaches concession, parking,
awards and hallway monitoring. Parents who are away will be requested to
provide a financial donation (but we don’t want money, we want your help!!!).
If you want to be proactive (which would be extremely
helpful), Sharon’s email address is sbrosnan8@comcast.net.
Elite
swimmers (when not at an Elite practice) may also volunteer their time in
fulfilling jobs. Last year’s Elite swimmers had a blast helping marshalling the
10 & unders!!! This volunteer work can be used for community service hours
as Bill will complete all paperwork necessary to document your help.
Parents can show their support for their swimmers by
purchasing an advertisement in the Meet Program. On the website, under 9-10 Silver-Bronze
9-10
Adv Form, are the forms needed to do so. Please include your art work.
Forms must be left in the mailbox at Newark Academy by Friday, February 16.
WEATHER AFFECTING
PRACTICE? CHECK WEBSITE & EMAIL:
Possible snow this week may cancel practice at one or both training facilities. 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.
ASTOUNDING ATTENDENCE STATS CONTINUE; 4 TRAINING
GROUPS AVERAGING 82% OR HIGHER: WAVE TEALS LEAD WAY WITH 86.7%!!! ATHLETES
RECOGNIZED:
The Wavebuster Teal training group leads the astonishing Elite attendance race by averaging, as a training group, 86.7% attendance!!! The Wave Teals are closely followed by the Marlin Blacks (83.%), the Marlin Teals (82.9%) and the Wavebuster Blacks (82.0%).
Elite swimmers know that significant improvement starts with regular attendence at practice. The astonishing improvement by Elite swimmers during the past 3 years is directly related to the significant increase in attendence at Elite practices. At the end of the Season Awards Dinner, Elite swimmers with 85% attendance (or greater) will be presented with the Attendance Award. This award, plus attendence requirements for swimmers who want to be promoted, have positively motivated Elite Swimmers to come to practice.
Swimmers currently on track to win the award (who have an 85% or higher attendance record) are (* designates perfect attendence!): :
Marlin Teals: Megan Balbo, Katie Brosnan, Keegan Brown, Alyssa Hartigan, Brandon Li, Sarah Lowe, Matthew Migliozzi and Colin Miller-Radest.
Marlin Blacks: Chris Balbo*, Eric Binder, Alexandra Burkard, Andrea Ferrell, Emily Goad, Andre Guacelli, Sarah Kleppe, Isabel LaRaia,, Katie McGrath, Julia Muro & Nicholas Pachiolo
Wavebuster Teals: Nicole Blum, Jonny Crowther, Jeffrey Dong, Krishna Duvvuri, Madeleine Faust, Patrick Lai, Aaron Levin, Kara Miller-Radest, Isabella Morreale, Caroline Nash, Darragh O’Gorman, Christina Pick, Gabrielle Pick, Michelle Pick, Taylor Savarese, Kaitlin Stearns, Rachel Torrorella & Caroline Watt
Wavebuster Blacks: Meg Brosnan, Spencer Fisch, Katie Gorman, Brent Jones, Zackie Katz, Regan Kology, Jessie Lowe, Brendan Miller-Radest, Christopher Plunkett, Andrea Shepard, Bethany Stachenfeld, Lindsay Stearns, Michael Wang, Sarah Weinbrom & Maggie Woodruff
Wavebuster Golds: Victoria Keiser, Kirsten Kellstrom, Emmie Lai, Robert Maloney, Kendall Murray, Katie Ragan, Amanda Scherb
Senior Preps: Victoria D’Altrui, Tad Deatly, Venkatesh Duvvuri, Michael Li, Danielle Martinez, Ali Morreale, Maggie Nelson
Seniors: Chris Dart, Sarah Peay, Michael Strand
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, March 25, 2007) 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 Qualfying 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. It needs to be in by early March, 2007.
Preparations are underway for the biggest party of the season: Elite’s 12th annual Winter Swim Team Banquet!!! This year’s party will be held Sunday, March 25, 2007 from 12:00 am to 4:00 pm.
This year, Elite will again be at the Hanover Marriott, located at 1401 Route 10 East, Whippany, New Jersey. This facility can accommodate up to 700 people!!! The last 5 Elite banquets have had an excess of 350 people each!!!
To reserve your dinner reservations, please print out an (Awards Dinner Reservation Form) from the website, fill it in and mail the form with the appropriate check amount to Bill Deatly, 32 Prospect Street, Summit, New Jersey 07901.
Parents, Bill will do his best to honor your seating arrangement requests. Swimmers will be seated by Bill!!
Reservation forms must be in by Thursday, March 1st.
ESPO
NEWS:
Parents,
Our next ESCPO fundraiser will be the sale of RAGZ towel pants
at the 9/10 Championships hosted by Elite at Newark Academy on February 24 and
25.
To make this sale a success, we need people to help at the sale
table on each of the two days. (This is separate form the parent volunteers of
the 9/10 swimmers.)
Please contact Sandi Niccolai at sandnic@aol.com to
volunteer.
Keep in mind that all money that is raised will be for the
benefit of your swimmers. We need your help!
Thank you.
Calling all "Scrapbooking Masters" - Join the memory book
committee! We are looking for
volunteers to help with the 2006-2007 season memory book. Jobs available are:
Photo Layout Cover Other contents Ads/Sponsors Logistics - copying/binding
If you are interested, please email Laura McEvoy at
GOOFYMCJR@AOL.COM. A meeting is
tentatively scheduled for Monday, Feb 5 at 5:45 pm at Newark Academy.
HOW THE END OF THE SEASON “WORKS” AT ELITE:
With the Winter 2006-07 Session rapidly approaching its conclusion, the following is an explanation of how the “End of the Season” concludes at Elite.
Each Elite swimmer will be entered into at least one “End of the Season Championship Meet.” A swimmer will be entered into ALL championship meets they qualify for. If a swimmer qualifies for 2 different levels of championship meets based upon their times, they will be entered in each meet. These meets, as described below, are:
1) 8 & Under Mini-Championships
2) 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championships
3) 11-12 Silver/Bronze Championship
4) 13 & Older Silver/Bronze Championships &
5) the Junior Olympics.
For all swimmers ages 8 & under, the final meet of the season is the Mini-Championships held Saturday, March 3, 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 (with the exception of an 8 & Under who makes a Junior Olympic Qualifying Time).
For all swimmers ages 9 & 10, the final meet of the season is the South 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championships, held Saturday, February 24 & Sunday, February 25 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 16 thru Sunday, March 18.
All swimmers 11 & older will participate in one or more of the following meets: the 11-12 Silver/Bronze Chamionships Saturday, March 3 & Saturday, March 4 (to be held at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City), the 13 & Older Silver/Bronze Championships Saturday, March 10 & Sunday, March 11 (to be held at Rutgers University) and/or the Junior Olympics, held Friday, March 16 thru Sunday, March 18 (to be held at Rutgers University).
Swimmers
who qualify for the Junior Olympics via their performances at the Silver/Bronze
Meets will be entered by Elite into JO’s and all swimmers will keep training
and performing until they have concluded their championship performances. Once
a swimmer has concluded their championship performances, their practice season
has concluded. Only swimmers who still have championship swims are invited to
practice.
SPRING 2007 COMMITMENT DUE THIS
THURSDAY!!!
Information regarding the Spring 2007 Session was mailed to each Elite swimmer two weeks ago. As of today, 116 swimmers (out of 164) have responded by handing in their forms.
In order to insure a swimmer’s roster spot for the Spring 2007 Session, each swimmer must bring in their Spring 2007 Intention Form (included in the mailing) by February 15. A list of roster spots is now posted on the website under Tryout 2007/Elite Swimmers Committed to Spring 2007 Session (Elite Swim Club). If a swimmer does not hand in a Intention Form, the coaches will assume the swimmer does not intend to train with Elite during the Spring (and will use that roster spot, if possible, as a result of Spring Tryouts). Any current Elite swimmer who does not hand a form by February 15 but who wants to swim for Elite will be required to tryout in March. There will be no guarantees as to a roster spot for current Elite swimmers in this situation.
All swimmers who train with Elite during the Spring 2007 (and trained with Elite in the Winter 2006-07 Session) will automatically have a roster spot saved for them (assuming the deposit is received prior to the deadline) for the Winter 2007-08 Season. All swimmers who chose not to train with Elite during the Spring 2007 Session will need to tryout this summer to regain a roster spot. There will be no guarantees that a roster spot will be available for such swimmers.
TOP 10 ALL TIME SWIMS LIST UPDATED:
The Top 10 All-Time Elite Swims list has been updated on the website. Check it out, there are literally hundreds of new times from the 2006-07 Winter Session. The update includes swims thru this past weekend’s competition!
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 2007. When planning the upcoming summer, please consider sending your Elite swimmer 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, there is a list of swim camps. Many of these
swim camps close out in late February and early March!!!
Thinking about summer? Think Swim Camps!!
PHOTOGRAPHERS:
GET YOUR PICTURES OF ELITE SWIMMERS TO BILL:
As the season heads to it’s conclusion, all amateur photographers who have been busy taking candid shots of our Elite stars need to get your pictures to Bill on a compact disk so that Elite can coordinate two major photography projects: 1) the memory book and 2) the slide show at the Elite Awards Dinner.
Courtesy of the Elite Swim Club’s Parents Organization, at the end of this season each swimmer will receive a memory book with dozens of pictures of Elite swimmers. Last year’s (1st year) book was an instant hit and this year’s is expected to be treasured by swimmers for years to come.
In addition, there is a slide show presentation at each year’s Awards Banquet. This year is no different as hundreds of slides will be reviewed for a place in the show.
Please place your pictures on a cd and place them in Bill’s mailbox at Newark Academy!!!
PARENTS
ORGANIZATION SEEKING NOMINATIONS FOR POSITIONS FOR 2007-08:
Nominations for positions on the Elite Swim Club Parents Organization Board of Directors are now being sought. Information regarding each position are located on the website under the Parents Organization button.
To send nominations, please email Secretary Sherri Plunkett at sbpl0516@aol.com.
All parents are requested to please consider running, as a swim club is only as strong as its parent’s organization!!!
LESS IS MORE: IF YOU ARE
SICK: BE SMART.
PLEASE DO NOT COME TO
PRACTICE OR MEETS:
Reports are coming into coaches that swimmers who are sick are still coming to practice and meets, presumably to keep up their attendance records. These efforts are actually extremely counter productive for the sick swimmer and for their teammates.
If a swimmer is sick, their 1st and ONLY priority is to get better. Energy expended at practice depletes the energy sources of the body to fight off sickness (thus, the swimmer is likely to become sicker and remain sicker longer). This is not what coaches want: we can only effectively train healthy swimmers.
In addition, a sick swimmer at practice or a meet will likely get OTHER SWIMMERS SICK. This is extremely counter productive.
Missing a practice is the right thing to do if a swimmer is sick. Please think twice before sending a lethargic, coughing swimmer to practice.
TRYOUT INFORMATION NOW POSTED:
Information regarding Elite’s tryouts and Spring Practice Schedule is now posted on the website. The practice schedule is identical to the Winter 2006-07 until long course begins. Long course schedules are still being worked on.
LOST AND FOUND:
There is a Lost and Found at
Newark Academy which is already overflowing with t-shirts, sweatshirts,
goggles, fins, etc. If you have lost something, check out the lost and found. AND
put your name on everything you own so it can get back to you!!!