ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 02-26-07
MAKING A
DIFFERENCE: ELITE PARENTS
PROVIDE WELL-RUN
MEET FOR 9-10’S TO SHINE;
FELSEN,
MILLER-RADEST, SHEPARD, DONG, KATZ, LEVIN
ADD JO SWIMS TO
THEIR RESUMES:
Performing like a symphony orchestra, the Elite Parents (and even some older swimmers!!) orchestrated a first class championship meet yesterday at Newark Academy providing over 500 New Jersey 9 & 10 year olds from 31 teams with the opportunity to swim spectacular in either closing out or extending their Winter 2006-07 Seasons.
In every facet of running the meet, from officials, timers, marshalling, concessions, coach’s hospitality, awards, set-up & clean-up, the Elite Swim Club operated like a well-oiled machine. ESCPO even ran a fund-raiser (selling Ragz Swim Sweats-see below how you can still purchase them). Coaches and parents for other teams repeatedly stopped Elite parents & coaches to thank them for their efforts. A great antidote as to how well the meet was run: not one 9 or 10 year old Silver or Bronze level swimmer missed their heat or race (we are talking about the least-experienced swimmers all getting to their correct heat and lanes over 2000 times!!!!).
Possibly the only individuals who outshone the Elite parents were the Elite swimmers themselves: 6 Elite swimmers added 15 Junior Olympic cut times to their resumes while countless others added silver times. Elite swimmers had 144 best times (many in events swum just 2 weeks ago at Last Chance!) over the course of the meet.
Elite’s parents performance is particularly gratifying given the fact that New Jersey Swimming contemplated eliminating the Bronze level Championship Meet for 9 & 10 year olds several years ago when the large number of swimmers made it virtually impossible to run an efficient meet. That is when Elite stepped up and volunteered to run a “second” 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championship Meet, which allows the lower level swimmers to compete in a season ending championship meet (imagine no season ending championship meet after training for 7 months!!!). Now both North & South meets are virtually filled to capacity.
Shining brightest for Elite was 10 year old Juliet Felsen, who added 4 JO qualifying times: 200 free (2.41.64), 50 Free (32.35), 50 Fly (37.36-1st place!) and 100 Free (1.12.86). Felsen swam a best time in all 6 of her events. 10 year old Andrea Shepard followed close behind by adding 3 JO times (she now has 12 JO times-one for each event she is eligible!). Shepard won the 50 breast (40.47) and the 50 fly (36.02) and placed 3rd in the 100 fly (1.25.60). 10 year old Kara Miller-Radest added two Junior Olympic Times: 50 Free (32.39) and by winning the 100 butterfly (1.22.53!!!).
On the boys side, 9 year old Aaron Levin added 3 additional JO swims to his slate of 5: 50 fly (37.97), 100 free (1.12.33) and 100 back (1.25.14). Levin also won the Silver Division 50 breast (45.35), had 6 best times and finished no higher than 5 in his races! 10 year old Jeffrey Dong added 2 Junior Olympic times in the 100 fly (1.25.98) & 100 back (1.21.03). 10 year old Zack Katz, swimming in the only event he was allowed to (he had 11 JO times prior to the meet), churned to a 6.38.82 time & a JO cut time in the 500 Free.
Many, many other great performances swims turned in by other Elite swimmers: most notable was that along with Felson and Levin, Brielle Barba, Cesar Munoz and Caroline Watt all had best times in each of their 6 swims!!!
Full meet results for Elite swimmers are posted on the website under Meet Results. Full meet results for all 2000+ swims are posted on the Elite website under 9-10 Champs.
Swimmers who participated were (# in parenthesis is # of best SCY swims): Brielle Barba (6), Eric Binder (4), Katie Brosnan (2), Kayla Burakovsky (5), Alexa Burkard (2), Elizabeth D’Altrui (3), Jeffrey Dong (5), Avinash Duvvuri (4), Madeleine Faust (2), Juliet Felson (6), Andrea Ferrell (4), Dominique Gordon (1), Andre Guacelli (4), Scott Harris (4), Alyssa Hartigan (5), Zack Katz (1), Mark Kellstrom (2), Michael Kellstrom (4), Jared Kovacs (4), Isabel LaRaia (4), Aaron Levin (6), Katie McGrath (2), Matt Migliozzi (5), Kara Miller-Radest (5), Cesar Munoz (6), Julia Muro (4), Caroline Nash (3), Gregory Niccolai (4), Gabrielle Pick (5), Michelle Pick (5), RJ Serruto (1), Andrea Shepard (3), James Sullivan (4), Emily Torre (2), Caroline Watt (6), Natalie Wetmore (4), Paige Willian (4) & Harry Woods (6).
ELITE TAKES NEXT
STEP: DART GOING INTERNATIONAL:
For a myriad of reasons, Chris Dart will forego competing in the USA Spring Senior Nationals Championships (which he qualified for at Burgdorff last month) and instead will compete in Manchester, England at the British Long Course Nationals (“BLCN”) during the week of March 27. This will be the 1st instance where an Elite swimmer will represent Elite at an international competition!!
Dart, who was born in England and is a British Citizen, has opted to compete in the BLCM in order to 1) finish his season in a long course venue (he will be competing at Sectionals two weeks prior, which will be a short course venue 2) to get more opportunities to compete. At USA Senior Nationals, Chris would have swum no more than 4 times; at BLCM, because of the meet format (prelims, semi-finals and finals plus time trials) Chris could compete over 20 times during the week long competition and 3) since Chris is British, this will provide him with an opportunity to get on the British Swimming radar screen. If Chris reaches the level where he is a national level swimmer, he will need to declare which country (USA or Britain) he would competed for in international competition.
As expected, the rules are a bit different at BLCM. Although just 16 (Dec 30), Chris will compete as a 17 year old (age up date is Dec 31), so Chris is considered 17 all year long. As a 17 –18 year old entry, Chris qualified for 4 events: 100 back-at the Senior level and the 200 back, 200 IM and 400 IM as a 17-18 entry. Given that there are 3 rounds of competition and that the 17-18 year olds compete separately in finals, Chris has an opportunity to swim 12 times between these 4 events. In addition, Chris will be able to time trial an event (particularly the 100 & 200 breast). The time trials are held prior to the event competition. Swimmers who make the qualifying time in time trials are placed in the preliminary heats!! In the USA, competitors entering time trials are not afforded the opportunity to swim in the prelims, even if they make the qualifying time.
Competition will be held Monday, March 27 thru Saturday, April 1st. This means that Chris will need to fly to England prior to the awards banquet. Bill will catch-up to Chris in Manchester by flying out directly after the awards banquet on March 26. Sue and David Dart are also planning on traveling to England to root Chris on.
AT
CHAMPIONSHIP MEETS, FASTSKINS IIS ARE OK; REMEMBER: THE SWIMMER MAKES THE
SUIT!!!
Elite Swimmers are reminded that they are allowed (even encouraged) to wear technologically advanced swim suits at any of their championship meets. While not a requirement, Elite swimmers are strongly urged to purchase black suits, in keeping with the Elite uniform.
These suits are supposed to repel the water that results in eliminating drag and purportedly helps a swimmer to move more efficiently thru the water. More important to the actual affect is the psychological affect this suit has on a swimmer: they feel faster!!!
All swimmers and parents are reminded: a swimmer makes the suit. A suit does not make a swimmer. The season long hard work, the getting enough rest and eating right, great stroke technique, doing your stroke details AND A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE drops a whole lot more time than any fastskin suit can!!!!
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, the ESCPO
fundraiser of the sale of RAGZ towel pants at the 9/10 Championships will be
extended to Elite Swimmers this week only. See attached flyer on how to order
you sweats!
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!!!
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!!!