ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               03-30-09

 

           

SCHOLAR ATHLETE AWARDS, ATTENDANCE AWARDS HIGHLIGHT TEAM BANQUET:

SENIORS FARNOW, GRYWALSKI & ROSS BID FAREWELL:

 

            Eight-three (yes, 83!!) swimmers earned the prestigious Elite Scholar Athlete Award this year and they were presented their certificates at the 2009 Elite Award Banquet held Saturday at the Hanover Marriott.

 

            Fully 47% of eligible Elite Swimmers received this prestigious award. Each of the swimmers names have been added to the award list already posted on the Elite website. There were 4 levels of awards earned.

 

            In addition, seventy-nine (79) Elite swimmers earned and were awarded the Attendance Award. These swimmers earned this award by coming to 85% or more of the practices offered this past winter. This represents 45.1 % of the team.

 

            Seniors Cassandra Farnow, Amanda Grywalski & Brittany Ross, all of whom are graduating, each gave farewell speeches to their teammates and coaches, along with thanking the parents, for their efforts in helping them learn how to plan and achieve success. All 3 recounted humorous stories, poked a bit of fun at their coaches and got both themselves and the crowd emotional during their speeches.  

 

6 ELITE SWIMMERS CHOSEN TO REPRESENT NJ SWIMMING AT ZONES!!!

C. BALBO, A. GALEA, KOLOGY, KATZ, SEBASTIAN, K. STEARNS WILL HEAD TO ROCHESTER!!

COACH MICHELLE DUCHARME NAMED ZONE COACH: WILL REPRESENT NJ SWIMMING;

 

            Based upon their spectacular performances at Junior Olympics last weekend, 6 Elite swimmers have been chosen to represent New Jersey Swimming at the Eastern Zone All-Star Championships to be held April 2nd thru April 4th. This is an extremely prestigious honor, as only about 40 swimmers (out of 8000) in New Jersey are invited to represent NJ Swimming at this meet.

     

10 year old Chris Balbo, 10 year old Andrea Galea, 12 year old Regan Kology, 12 year old Zach Katz, 12 year old Ryan Sebastian and 10 year old Kaitlin Stearns will compete in the meet against 11 other LSC's (NJ Swimming is an LSC). Other Eastern Zone LSC's include: Adirondack, Allegheny Mountains, Connecticut, Maryland, Maine, Metropolitan, Mid-Atlantic, New England, Niagara, Potomac Valley & Virginia.

 

            The Zone 6 will compete in an array of events, based upon their placement last weekend. Balbo, Galea, Kology, Sebastian & Stearns earned automatic berths by placing either 1st or 2nd in their events. Katz was picked as he placed 3rd in the 200 fly, and one of the top two did not apply for Zones. Interestingly, both Sebastian and Katz will represent NJ Swimming in the 200 butterfly –thus Elite will be the only representation by NJ Swimming in the event!!!

 

            Results can be viewed online at: http://www.easternzoneswimming.org/

 

 First year coach Michelle DuCharme has been named to the New Jersey Swimming Eastern Zone Coaching staff!!  Michelle’s age group responsibilities will fall to the 10 & Unders. Thus, she will be directly responsible for Balbo, Galea and Stearns!!  

 

MARCH TRYOUTS YIELD EVEN MORE QUALITY FOR THIS SEASON:

 

As a result of last week’s tryouts, 24 additional and very advanced swimmers have committed to train with Elite this spring (and summer, for the Wavebusters).

 

Those invited to join the team as a result of the March 2009 tryouts are:

 

Wave Golds: Daniel Chu, Kelly Delaney & Greg Macchia

 

Wave Blacks: Thomas McShane, Michael Nitting & Eugene Ng

 

Wave Teals: Wiliam Delaney, Jennifer Huo, Alicia Iizuka, Karen Iizuka, Michael Macchia, Evan Ng & Samantha Zhong

 

Marlin Blacks: Daniel Bendzak, Claire Chiperfield, Carolyn Delaney, Erica Iizuka & Monica Iizuka

 

Marlin Teals: Grace Botte, Schuyler Bunn, Koby Cohen, Alyssa Levy, Delaney Smith & Sachi Tanwar

 

Congratulations to all the above!!! The coaches can’t wait to begin working with you on a day-to-day basis!!

 

IN THE NEWSPAPER: OUR JO RESULTS!!!

 

            Information regarding Elite’s performance has been included within the online newspaper: Independent Press. The link to the picture and article is:   

http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2009/03/area_swimmers_score_well_at_sw.html

 

PARKING AN ISSUE AT NEWARK ACADEMY:

 

            As we head into the Spring 2009 Session, parents are reminded that there is a distinct shortage of parking spaces at Newark Academy, especially on weekdays between 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm. Parents are welcome to “drop off” or “pick-up” their swimmers by the field house entrance during this time period if the driver remains in the car. If a parent is coming into the building, they are requested to park in the “upper” lot and walk thru the school to reach the pool.  Newark Academy is also now requesting the cars do not idle.

 

            Please remember to drive slowly thru the parking lots and do not park in the fire lanes, as the Livingston Police will ticket improperly parked cars.

           

NOMINATIONS WANTED FOR ESCPO:

 

            Nominations for positions are wanted and needed for the Elite Swim Club Parents Organization. Parents who are interested or who have nominees should email Sandi Niccolai at sandnic@aol.com.

 

SPRING/SUMMER TRAINING SCHEDULES NOW POSTED:

 

            Elite’s Spring and Summer 2009 Training Schedules are now posted on the team website. Due to the change of practice locations, there are 3 separate practice schedules: 1) April 6th thru May

25th 2) May 26 thru June 19 and 3) June 19 thru (approximately) July 30th.

 

            Marlins (both Black and Teal) will conclude their training with Elite on Friday, June 12th. Swimmers in these training groups are highly encouraged to train with their summer league teams this summer. All Wavebuster and Senior Training Groups will train thru approximately July 30th.

 

            The practice schedules can be viewed at  http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Practice%20Schedule/homepage%20practice.htm

 

ELITE’S TOP 10 ALL TIME SCY LIST IS NOW UPDATED:

 

               Elite’s top 10 all time times list has been updated and posted on the team website. http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Top Times/top_times_home_page.htm

 

 

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 2009.

When planning the upcoming summer, please consider sending your Elite swimmer (Wave Black level, Wave Teal level, Marlin Black level or Marlin Teal level). Wave Golds and Seniors should remain training with Elite thru the summer months) 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 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!!!

 

Thinking about summer? Think Swim Camps!!

 

 

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!!!