ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 03-06-06
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR CONTINUES:
25 SWIMMERS MINE SILVER AT
BRONZE CHAMPIONSHIPS; “MINIS” SHINE AT
CHAMPS:
Great attendance and hard work continues to pay off for
the Elite Swimmers as they continued their torrid championship swimming pace
(that started last week at the 9-10 Silver/Bronze Champs) at two different
championship meets this past weekend: the Bronze and Mini-Championships.
Bronze Championships:
Twenty-five
(yes, 25) different Elite swimmers (out of 72) earned 52
(!!!) Silver cut times during New Jersey Swimming’s two
day Bronze “North” SCY Swimming Championships held at St. Peter’s College in
Jersey City!!!! This is truly an astounding number as more than 1/3 of Elite’s
participants achieved at least 1 Silver qualifying time!
Leading
the way for Elite were 4 boys: Ricky LaSalvia, Tad Deatly, Spencer Fisch &
Peter Davey. LaSalvia, who entered the weekend with just a single Silver swim,
was 6 for 6 in qualifying for Silvers!!! His top swim was the grueling 200 IM,
in which he placed 2nd. Deatly added 5 cut times with his highest
finish a 3rd place in the 100 free, breaking the magical minute mark
for the 1st time. Both LaSalvia and Deatly posted a Silver Cut time
each time they competed!!!
Fisch,
who is new to winter swimming this year, added 4 Silver Cut times (and
unfortunately, was disqualified on a 5th cut time (and winning)
swim). The 12 year old won both the 50 & the 100 yard back and the only cut
time Fisch did not make was in the 100 butterfly, in which he placed 3rd
overall!!!
Davey,
who just aged-up last month, added 3 silver cut times to his roster. As an 11
year old, Davey now has a total of 9 Silver cut times!!! Davey’s highest place
was 2nd in the 200 free.
Not to be outdone, the Elite girls also
shined: 13 year old Victoria D’Altrui added 3 cut times, including the tough
200 butterfly to her Silver agenda. 12 year old Sarah McGrath also added 3
swims, along with placing 2nd in the 200 free.
1st
year winter swimmer Collin Reilly posted 3 Silver cut times, including the
tough 200 breast swim (only the 2nd time he has competed in the
event). Michael Wang excelled in the backstroke, gathering cut times in each of
his 3 backstroke events (50, 100 & 200).
Despite
being plagued by a shoulder injury all season long, 13 year old Lindsay
Anderson hung tough this winter (physical therapy & kicking while trying to
remain in shape) and it paid off as she added the 100 breast (4th
place) and 200 back (5th place) to her Silver swims next weekend.
Emmie Lai also added two swims in each IM (100, 200) event.
Duncan Hall also conquered the magical 1
minute mark in the 100 free in addition while also adding the 100 breast to his
Silver cut times. 12 year old Brent Jones, also a 1st year winter
swimmer, placed 2nd in two Silver cut time events: the 50 free and
the 200 breast. Robert Maloney dropped 10 seconds in getting the qualifying
time in the 100 fly and dropped almost 9 seconds in getting a 2nd
cut in the 200 IM.
Rounding
out the Elite Silver qualifiers were: Shelby Dixon (200 fly), Krishna Duvvuri
(200 IM), Kevin Estok (200 IM), Kristen Fedor (200 back), Breana Fitzpatrick
(100 fly), Ben Inglese (50 breast), Katie Inglese (200 IM), Kim Jones (50
free), Danielle Martinez (200 Fly), Maggie Nelson (200 breast), Amanda Scherb
(200 breast) & Sydney Todd (200 Back).
Obviously,
these were many other fabulous swims as every two-day Elite swimmer achieved at
least 1 best personal time. Please note below how many 4, 5 & 6 best times
individual swimmers posted!! These are truly astounding “end of the season”
results and each Elite swimmer should be extremely proud of themselves. Results of all the action is now posted on
the Elite website. Complete results can be viewed on Be Smartt’s website:
besmarttinc.com.
Elite
swimmers who participated were: Lindsay Anderson (5), Arlynn Baer (4), Sam
Barback (6), Ricky Baum (2), Meg Brosnan (3), John Burns (6), Taylor
Campolattaro (6), Monica Carty (5), Emma Cherry (4), Brannon Cho (3), Josh Choi
(2), Brittany Clark (5), Ethan Cohen (3), Marshall Cohen (6), Victoria D’Altrui
(5), Peter Davey (6), Tad Deatly (5), Parker Dixon (3), Shelby Dixon (4), TJ
Dougherty (5), Sam Duren (4), Krishna Duvvuri (3), Kevin Estok (4), Kristen Fedor
(5), Spencer Fisch (5), Breana Fitzpatrick (4), Audrey Gammel (3), Hannah
Gleason (6), Katie Golway (2), Lydia Gracey (4), Julia Guacelli (6), Alistair
Hall (1), Duncan Hall (4), Ben Inglese (4), Katie Inglese (1), Brent Jones (6),
Kim Jones (4), Victoria Keiser (2), Kirsten Kellstrom (3), Morgan Kiley (2),
Brandon King (6), Emmie Lai (5), Ricky LaSalvia (6), Jessie Lowe (6), Robert
Maloney (6), Daniela Manzi (5), Marisa Manzi (6), Danielle Martinez (5), Sarah
McGrath (5), Brendan Miller-Radest (5), Jacquelyn Mullens (5), Madison Munoz
(4), Kendall Murray (2), Maggie Nelson (4), Rebecca Niccolai (6), Sarah Peay,
Chris Plunkett (3), Katie Ragan (4), Collin Reilly (6), Abigail Rollenhagen
(3), Katie Rouse (4), Amanda Scherb (6), Jonathan Scott (5), Alex Smith Wang
(6), Erica Takahashi (3), Lexi Tedesco (6), Sydney Todd (5), Jennifer Torre
(4), Andrea Tyminski (4), Michael Wang (5), Nicole Weissman (6) & Kayla
Wolonsky (2).
MINI-MEET:
Across
the state at Seton Hall University, New Jersey Swimming held the annual
Mini-Championships for the states 8 & Unders.
While
each Elite swimmer performed fabulously, 3 Elite 8 year olds swimmers stood out
for their impressive results: Aaron Levin, Christina Pick and Kaitlin Stearns.
Levin
placed in the top 7 in each of his four swims, finishing as high as 5th
in both the 25 free (16.87) and the 25 fly (20.66).
Pick
placed in the top 9 in each of her four swims and placed 3rd in the
25 breast and 5th in the 100 IM.!!!
Stearns
also placed in the top 9 in each of her four swims by placing 3rd in
the 25 fly, 4th in the 25 free & 5th in the 25
back!!!
7 year old Chris Balbo added a 6th place finish in the 25 fly.
Swimmers
who participated were: Chris Balbo (3), Katie Brosnan (2), Amy Duren (3),
Avinash Duvvuri (4), Andrea Ferrell (3), Emily Goad (2), Alexandra Gordon (3),
Chris Inglese (2), Michael Kellstrom (2), Lauren Kelly (3), Aaron Levin (4),
Gregory Niccolai (2), Christina Pick (4), Kaitlin Stearns (3), Amber Teetsel
(1), Julia Watt (2) & Paige Willian (2).
This past week, New Jersey Swimming named Elite Assistant Coach Pete Loftus as Head Coach of the New Jersey SCY Zone Team for the Spring 2006 Zone Championships. The Zone team is an NJ All-Star team that will compete at the Northern Zone Championships March 30th thru April 1st at Long Island’s Nassau County Aquatic Center in Hempstead, New York.
Swimmers who place in the top 2 at Junior Olympics are picked to represent New Jersey Swimming at the Eastern Zone Meet. NJ Swimmers will compete against swimmers of a similar level from Maine all the way down thru Virginia in this annual contest. Elite hopes to land 1-2 swimmers on the squad to represent NJ this spring.
Loftus will be responsible for the coordination of the assistant coaches, each of who is assigned to a specific age group (10 & U, 11-12, 13-14 & 15 & Older). Pete will also be responsible for coordinating the trip.
Congratulations to Coach Pete!!!
As
noted earlier in the season, Elite will be recognizing its Scholar Athletes
starting this year thru new awards to be presented at the Awards Banquet this
year: the Elite Scholar-Athlete 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 QualifyTime
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.
In order to be
eligible, a swimmer or parent must provide a copy of their latest valid report
card (plus legend, if necessary) to Bill by Wednesday, March 22. These copies
can be given to Bill or mailed to Bill at 32 Prospect Street, Summit, New
Jersey 07901. The certificates will be presented at the Awards Dinner on
Sunday, March 26th.
SPRING CONFIRMATIONS NEEDED BY MONDAY, MARCH 13:
As Elite readies for the Spring Session, information is needed as to each swimmer’s intent on training with Elite this spring. As each Elite swimmer knows, a roster space will be reserved for each swimmer as long as they remain in good standing with the club.
In order to understand how many swimmers Elite can take as a result of tryouts on Tuesday, March 21st, a list of those swimmers who are currently planning on training with Elite this spring/summer is now posted on the website (under Spring 06). Those swimmers in the Seniors, Senior Preps, Wave Golds and Wave Blacks who commit are expected to train with Elite thru Summer JO’s. Those swimmers in the Wave Teals, Marlin Blacks and Marlin Teals are expected to train with Elite thru Friday, June 9th.
If a swimmer has trained with Elite both this past winter and this spring/summer, a roster spot will be reserved for them next winter. If a swimmer opts not to train with Elite this spring (or is added as a result of the March, 2006 tryouts), they will need to tryout again for next years team. Tryouts for next year are expected to be in late July this summer –rather than in early September.
JUNIOR OLYMPIC RELAY COMBINATIONS ARE FLUID:
Coupled with the goal to have each swimmer swim as fast as possible, an additional goal of Elite coaches at the Junior Olympics is to tally as many points as possible as a team. Swimmers and relays that place in the top 16 score points for their team.
In order to have the fastest combination of swimmers for each relay, the coaches need to have the fastest swimmers placed on each relay in each age group. This may entail changing the combination of who is on each relay right up to the start of the race!!!
Even if a swimmer’s name is posted on the website as a relay participant, each relay combination is subject to change depending on a number of different factors (ie. who’s hot, who’s not, swims at Silvers, etc). Please check the website and your coach for the latest relay combinations.
GET PYSCHED!!! POSTER MAKING SESSIONS FOR CHAMPS:
To help our swimmers get pysched for their meets, Elite will be holding “Poster Making Sessions” prior to the Championship Meets. Coordinated by Coach Leighann Marcelliano, each swimmer will have an opportunity to make a poster to post on the walls of the pool hosting the Championship Meets.
This Thursday and Friday from4:30 pm to 5:15 pm, Leighann will be hosting the poster making session at Newark Academy for the Mini-Championships and the Bronze Championships. Markers and poster board will be supplied by Elite-all a swimmer needs to do is to arrive earlyand be ready to create!! Let’s get pysched for big meets!!!!
SPRING SESSION: TRYOUTS TUESDAY,
MARCH 21ST :
Elite will hold a spring session from Monday, April 3 thru Friday, June 9. Tryouts for all ages will be held Tuesday, March 21 from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm at Newark Academy.
Swimmers
currently training with Elite will be asked at their practices if they intend
to train this spring. The list of swimmers participating
in the Spring 2006 Session will be posted on the website under Spring 2006.
All
swimmers whom have trained with Elite during the Winter 2006 and Spring 2006
sessions will automatically have a roster spot reserved for them (assuming they
respond positively this summer) for the Winter 2006-07 Session. Swimmers who opt
not to train during the Spring 2006 Session will need to earn their roster spot
for the Winter 2006-07 Session thru a summer tryout.
SWIM SUIT POLICY DURING
CHAMPIONSHIPS:
As each member of Elite knows, wearing the Elite Team Suit during meets is essential. This policy is followed thru out the season with one the very large exception: during championships.
The technology of swim suits has progressed significantly in the last few years. Suits such as Speedo’s Fast Skin II actually repel the water away from the swimmer’s body. These suits have been proven to provide better hydro-dynamics. These suits can not be made in a “team” fabric-they are formulated for speed-not team unity.
Elite’s team policy regarding suits during championships
is the following: a swimmer may wear a non-Elite “technology advanced”
suit during championship season (ie. Mini-Champs, 9-10 Silver/Bronze, Bronze,
Silvers & JO’s). If a swimmer does
not purchase such a suit, they will be expected to wear the Elite Team Suit
during championships. This policy is only for the Championship Season and Elite
Swimmers will be expected to wear their team suits again in competition this
summer (until Summer Championship Season) and again next winter (until Winter
Championship Season).
Swimmers who do not buy a Fast Skin Suit or have misplaced/lost their Elite team suit are expected to contact Bill (who still has a small inventory of team suits) immediately (there is still time enough to order team suits!). If a swimmer is not in a team suit at Championships, THEY MAY BE PULLED FROM THE MEET. Elite is a team and teams compete at all meets (but especially championships) in a uniform!!!
SWIM MEETS ON THE
HORIZON:
Elite’s meet schedule will gather momentum again in January. Upcoming meets include:
1) Silver Championships (ALL Swimmers at the
Silver Level, 11 & Older): Saturday, March 11 & Sunday March 12. Meet information
posted.
2) 2006 Speedo Champions Series: Eastern Zone Northern Sectional Championships (Sectionals): Thursday, March 9 thru Sunday, March 12. Meet information posted.
3) Junior Olympics (All Swimmers at the JO Level 9 & Older): Friday, March 17 thru Sunday, March 19. Meet information posted.