ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 02-22-10
TIRED SWIMMERS REACH DEEP IN GRUELING
MEET FORMAT AT SENIOR STATES;
NEWCOMERS MOVE TO
“STUDSVILLE”;
STAND WINS 50 FREE; P. DUVVURI, A. WEINBROM PLACE 2ND IN 100
BACK;
C.ALLOCCO, M. LI & MANGO (2) ADD JO CUTS;
With many of the high school age swimmers exhausted from intense practices and state tournament high school competition, tired Elite swimmers reached deep inside themselves and found the ability to perform admirably this past weekend in the grueling championship meet format of Senior States held at Seton Hall University.
16 Elite swimmers competed fast enough in prelims to earn the “finals” appearances at night. And while several of the “usual” Elite studs continued their impressive swimming (Michael Strand, Priya Duvvuri, Adam Weinbrom and Alex Mango), the highlight of the weekend were performances by two newcomers to Elite Studsville: Maggie Nelson and Ali Morreale.
Nelson, a junior in high school, literally jumped a full level in her swimming this weekend by qualifying for finals 4 times, highlighted by her 4 second drop in the 200 free (2.00.87) to place 8th overall. Maggie has dropped 8 seconds in her 200 free since last February and now has the 3rd fastest 200 free time in her age group in Elite history (Maggie was not in the top 10 prior to this past weekend). Maggie also placed 8th in the 50 free (26.12) and dropped 18 seconds in the 1000 free with her 11.22.71 performance.
Also performing spectacular was Ali Morreale, also a junior in high school. Despite sub-performances in her prelim races in both the 100 & 200 breaststroke, Morreale lit up the joint with her finals performances in both events. After placing 9th in the prelims with a 1.12.69 time, Morreale blew her consolation finals heat away with a 1.09.76 time, which time would have placed her 2nd in the finals! Morreale is the 1st Elite female swimmer to post a sub-1.10 100 breast time! Returning on Sunday am, Morreale put up a disappointing 2.40.42 time and barely made a bonus consolation swim (thru scratches). With the finals spotlight on her once again, Morreale dropped 8 seconds to a 2.32.96 time, which time was the 4th fastest posted in the night swims!
Perpetual Studsville resident Michael Strand won the 50 free in a 22.08 time, placed 3rd with career bests in both the 500 free (4.52.60) and the 100 free (48.35) and 4th in the 200 fly (1.58.97). Also performing at their usual high level was Priya Duvvuri (2nd in the 100 back & 4th in the 200 back), Adam Weinbrom (2nd in the 100 back, 6th in the 100 free, 7th in the 100 free & 8th in the 200 free). 15 year old Alex Mango had 7 career fastest swims, including new JO cuts in the 100 free (49.17-crushing the 50 second barrier for the 1st time) which swim earned him 9th place and in the 100 fly (55.50) which swim earned him 8th place. Alex also placed 3rd in the 200 free with a 1.47.69 effort and slipped under the 23 second mark in the 50 free with his 22.82 50 free performance.
15 year old Michael Li’s 9th place 4.32.49 400 IM performance earned him a JO cut in the event; Li also placed 7th in the 200 breast (2.21.83) and a 12th place finish in the 100 breast (1.04.35).
17 year old Chelsea Allocco cruised to a JO qualifying time in the 1650 free, dropping 28.5 seconds in the process to place 6th overall. 17 year old Duncan Hall dipped under the 23 second mark twice this weekend, posting a 22.76 5th place finish in the 50 free. Hall also placed 8th in the 100 back (57.73).
15 year old Brendan Miller-Radest placed 6th in the 1000 free with his 10.21.69 swim; Miller-Radest also placed 13th in both the 500 free (5.02.68) and the 200 fly (2.10.02). 17 year old Venka Duvvuri was 8th best in the 200 fly (2.04.11) and 12th best in the 100 fly (56.10).
Also participating in finals were: Tad Deatly (200 fly-23rd place), Anthony Don (200 back-22nd place & 100 back-15th place), Lindsay Giostra (16th place-200 breast, 23rd place 100 breast & 19th place in the 400 IM), Kevin Greener (18th place in 200 free & 15th place in 500 free) & Emmie Lai (15th place-200 fly & 21st place-100 back).
Full results are posted on the team website.
Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Michael Alelov (1), Chelsea Allocco (2), Jenni Allocco, John Burns, Brannon Cho (1), Jessica Chu (1), Tad Deatly, Anthony Don (2), Sam Duren, Priya Duvvuri (1), Venka Duvvuri (2), Lindsay Giostra (1), Kevin Greener (3), Duncan Hall (3), Emmie Lai (6), Michael Li (3), Alex Mango (7), Danielle Martinez, Brendan Miller-Radest, Ali Morreale (2), Dan Muro, Maggie Nelson (8), Michael Strand (2), Adam Weinbrom (2) & Ryan Wyer.
RACING ONE MORE TIME BEFORE
CHAMPIONSHIPS,
9 SWIMMERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ONE LAST
CHANCE:
C. BALBO, HARTIGAN, KATZ, KOVACS (2), LARAIA,
MELCHIOR, NASH, C. PICK &
M. TORTORELLA ADD 10 JO CUTS:
Competing in the miss-named Last Chance Meet (the last chance to make qualifying times is actually at championship meets!), Elite swimmers with Silver qualifying times mustered another effort towards Junior Olympic qualifying times. 9 Elite swimmers posted 10 new cuts. The team totals, including all of this past weekend’s performances, are now at 51 individual qualifiers in 261 events!!
12 year old Jared Kovacs nabbed 2 new JO qualifying times, both in fly events. Jared’s 3rd place finish in the 50 fly (32.14), a drop of almost 1 full second, was good enough for the gold standard. Following up later in the meet with his 1st attempt at the 200 fly, Jared finished 2 full seconds under the gold time with a 2.44.46 time to place 4th.
12 year old Alyssa Hartigan earned her 2nd JO swim this season with her 31.34 performance in the 50 fly. 12 year old Karl Melchior collected his 11th JO cut for the season with his 1.11.44 time in the 100 IM. 11 year old Christina Pick earned her 2nd JO swim, stroking to a 2.34.37 time in the 200 back.
10 year old Michael Tortorella acquired his 8th Junior Olympic qualifying time with his 1.18.97 swim. 12 year old Caroline Nash secured her 9th JO cut for the season, this one in the 200 free (2.13.96). 13 year old Zach Katz, aging up just last month, added his 8th JO swim in his new age group with his 4.54.40 400 IM swim.
12 year old Isabel LaRaia’s 10th JO qualifying time this season came with her 2.13.39 swim in the 200 free. 11 year old Chris Balbo has now amassed 15 JO cuts, snagging the 50 back in a 33.16 time.
Full Results are posted on the team website.
Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Matthew Ahlmeyer (1), Lindsay Anderson, Chris Balbo (1), Lindsay Behar (1), Abbie Bigham (1), Emily Buckman (2), Daniel Chu, Morgan Conley, Elizabeth D’Altrui (3), Kelly Delaney (1), Will Delaney, Ali Dorneo (1), Amy Duren (1), Corey Duren (2), Krishna Duvvuri (3), Lindsay Ellerthorpe, Juliet Felsen (1), Andrea Ferrell, Andrea Galea, Ariel Gelman (1), Jess Gorham, Scott Harris (1), Alyssa Hartigan (3), Matthew Hong (1), Patrick Hong, Brent Jones, Zach Katz (3), Jared Kovacs (2), Patrick Lai, Clark LaRaia (2), Isabel LaRaia (1), Jessie Lowe (2), Karl Melchior (3), Kara Miller-Radest (2), Isabella Morreale (2), Charlotte Morrissey, Dan Muro, Caroline Nash (1), Eugene Ng, Michael Nitting (1), Darragh O’Gorman, Nick Pachiolo, Christina Pick (1), Gabrielle Pick (1), Michelle Pick, Camille Relota (1), Ryan Sebastian (2), Andrea Shepard (1), Jonas Singer, Kaitlin Stearns (1), Lindsay Stearns (2), Erica Takahashi, Abir Thakur, Michael Tortorella (2), Rachael Tortorella, Caroline Watt (2), Sarah Weinbrom, Gloria Xu, Remenna Xu & Carolyn Zhu (1).
PREPARATION IN FULL SWING FOR 9-10 SILVER/BRONZE AND 13-19
SILVERS/BRONZE CHAMPS; PLEASE RESPOND TO MEET COORDINATORS EMAILS!!
Meet Coordination for the 9-10 Silver Bronze Championships will be
finalized today meet as Elite will host February 27th
& 28th at Newark Academy this coming
weekend!! 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.
9/10s – Volunteer
Assignments will be sent out today. Please reply to Carolyn Balbo cbalbo@comcast.net to confirm receipt of
your volunteer assignments.
Elite will also be co-hosting the 13 & Older Silver Bronze Championship Meet at Rutgers on Saturday, March 6 & Sunday, March 7. 13 & Overs – Volunteer Assignments will be sent out at the beginning of next week. Families who did not reply to the volunteer preference emails have been assigned volunteer jobs.
Elite’s Parental
Obligation (which information was provided in the welcome packet to each
swimmer/parent in September) states that in order to run a successful year
round swim club, the club requires parents/legal guardians to pay all fees and
to help run swim meets (which provide competition opportunities for our
swimmers).
As
part of being an Elite Family member, parents need to be willing to work any
and all swim meets that Elite hosts that involve one’s child. In addition to the
various dual/intraclub meets held throughout the
season, this especially includes the 3 USA Swim Meets Elite currently hosts:
Distance Derby, 9-10 Silver Bronze Championships & 13 & Older Silver
Bronze Championships.
Finding a suitable replacement is acceptable, as long as the
situation is communicated with the Elite parent coordinating the meet work
details well in advance of the meet.
Parents and swimmers need to remember NJ Swimming is a “community.” Being
part of that community means Elite needs to provide splash opportunities; as
does other teams. Each meet Elite attends every season is made possible by
Parent Volunteers (from other clubs), which allow Elite swimmers the
opportunity to compete. These upcoming meets are now Elite’s turn to host this
splash opportunities.
Parents or legal guardians who do not work
their assigned meet(s) will jeopardize their child’s status on the Elite Swim
Club.
WITH SEASON END IN SIGHT, TIME TO PLAN TO PARTY!!!
AWARDS DINNER RESERVATION FORM NOW POSTED UNDER AWARDS DINNER:
Preparations are underway for the biggest party of the season: Elite’s 15th annual Winter Swim Team Banquet!!! This year’s party will be held Sunday, April 11th from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
To reserve your dinner reservations, please print out a reservation form from the website (under Awards Dinner), fill it out and mail the form with the appropriate check amount to Bill Deatly, 32 Prospect Street, Summit, New Jersey 07901. Cost per person is $55. All 12 & Under Swimmers must have at least 1 adult accompanying them.
Parents, Bill will do his best to honor your seating arrangement requests. Swimmers will be seated by Bill by training group!!
Reservation
forms must be in by Thursday, March 30, 2010.
163
REGISTERED TO RETURN TO ELITE THIS SPRING:
163 Elite swimmers have committed to
return to train with the club for the Spring 2010
Season. This is an impressive 92.6% retention rate!
The list of swimmers committed to training with Elite is posted on the team website at the following link: http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Tryouts%202/Home%20Page.htm
This list
does not include the 11 seniors in high school and returning college swimmers.
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.
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.
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 2010. When planning the upcoming summer, please consider sending your Elite swimmer (Wave Black level, Wave Teal level, Marlin Black level or Marlin Teal level) to one of the numerous swim camps. Wave Golds and Seniors should remain training with Elite thru the summer months
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 renown 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!!! Also check out this month’s Swimming World
Magazine, which lists many of the swim camps.
Thinking about summer? Think Swim
Camps!!
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.
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. Here is the link: http://www.njswim.org/NJ%20Swim%20Scholastic%20Forms/2010%20NJSIScholarshipApplicationForm.pdf
Information
regarding this scholarship opportunity is attached and the application is
posted on the NJ Swimming website under the College tab.
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!!!