ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 02-19-07
IN LAST PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP TUNE-UP, MIXED RESULTS;
DART, MESZAROS, ROSS AND “NEWCOMER” MORRISON FINAL:
BOYS RELAYS HEADED TO SECTIONALS;
In their last competition prior to the championship season, Elite’s top older swimmers had mixed result results this past weekend at the New Jersey Senior State A Championship Meet held at Seton Hall University. Chris Dart continued his “dream” season by swimming sensational and newcomer Alex Morrison displayed his potential; most of the rest of the Elite athletes swam extremely flat.
Held during the weekend separating the high school state dual meet championship meets (which most of the top state swimmers participate in for their high schools) and at the very end of the long & intense winter training cycle, Senior States historically has been a tough meet for swimmers to perform at their peak. This year was no different as most of the competition fell well short of their entry times. One major exception: Chris Dart.
Competing in a combination of best and “off” events, Chris placed no higher than 5th in his eight races, winning the 100 yard back (52.03), the 200 yard back (1.55.88) and the 100 yard breast (1.00.02). Chris added a 2nd place performance in his 500 yard free (4.49.33), 3rd place finishes in both the 50 yard free (22.02) and the 400 yard IM (4.13.71) and fourth place finishes in the 100 yard free (48.68-a new sectional cut) and the 200 yard free (1.47.71). Had Chris swim a full slate of his best events, it is likely he would have won at least 5 events.
Also qualifying for finals for Elite were Austin Meszaros, Brittany Ross and Alex Morrison.
Meszaros placed 7th in 100 free (49.97) and placed 13th in the 50 free (22.93). Although both were good swims, neither were Austin’s best (but were times faster than posted at this time last year).
Ross qualified in her last event, the 200 butterfly, splashing to a 14th place finish with a personal best (2.16.91).
Newcomer Alex Morrison, who began training with Elite just 5 weeks ago and has added intensity to the Senior/Senior Prep workouts, displayed his potential by qualifying in 5 different finals. Alex’s best performance came in the 100 fly, where he churned to a 5th place finish with a 54.43 time (3rd fastest in Elite history-less than a second over a sectional qualifying time). Morrison also placed 7th in the 200 back (2.00.63), which was less than 2 seconds over the sectional qualifying time.
Because Alex did not represent any club in a NJ Swimming sanctioned swim meet 120 days prior to joining Elite, he was able to “attach” and represent Elite immediately. His fly time plus Jerel Ho’s 100 free time this past weekend drop the Elite Senior Boys under the Sectional qualifying time in 4 of the 5 relays. Thus, Elite will be sending relays to Sectionals for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
Swimmers who participated were (#
in parenthesis is number of best SCY times): Danielle Basile, Crissy Condus,
Chris Dart (8), Corey Deatly, Cassandra Farnow, Julianne Furdyna, Alistair
Hall, Jerel Ho (1), Austin Meszaros, Alex Morrison (12) and Brittany Ross (2).
ELITE GEARING FOR 9-10 SILVER/BRONZE CHAMPIONSHIPS (THIS WEEKEND!!!);
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 this weekend on Saturday, February 24 & Sunday, February 25.
All
Elite parents of 10 & Under swimmers have been asked to work this meet (8
& Under Parents are being requested to help to train them for next year’s
meet). 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 of 9-10 swimmers are reminded that in the
event that your 9-10 child gets sick and can not participate in the meet,
parents are still expected to help out at the meet!!! We need your help!!!
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.
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.
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!!!