ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               04-23-07

 

IMPROVED TEAM NECESSITATES A CHANGED LONG COURSE MEET SCHEDULE;

TOP AGE GROUPERS TO COMPETE AT MEMORIAL DAY MEET:

 

            The considerable improvement by the Elite Swimmers over the course of the last year has required that the Elite Coaches rethink the summer long course schedule. Thus, the previously posted schedule will be updated shortly to add additional meets.

 

            The coaches feel that the improvement of Elite’s top Age Groupers coupled with the short summer schedule requires Elite to enter swimmers in additional meets, if these swimmers are to be provided with enough chances to qualify for Junior Olympics. In addition, the issue is further complicated by the fact that the swimmers compete in a long course venue during the shortened summer season. With Elite philosophy not to “convert” short course times into long course qualifying times & vice versa (there is no accurate scientific conversion scale-regardless of “accepted” practices) also dictates that top Elite swimmers trying to qualify for meets need to compete early in the summer season to update their long course times to reflect their improvement over the winter session.

 

Early in the long course season, Elite coaches will deviate from its philosophy of not using converted times to using the coaches discretion if a swimmer should be under the qualifying time based upon the last winter’s short course times. Once long course times are established this summer, Elite coaches revert to using the new long course times as the basis to enter swimmers in championship meets.

 

            The immediate effect is that Elite entered 25 swimmers within the Age Group Program into the Memorial Day Invitational Meet held at Rutgers University. Meet information and entry information is now posted.

 

            Elite will also likely enter swimmers into the Long Course Cup Meet to be held June 15 thru June 17 at Princeton University. Details on that meet will be forth coming.

 

6th ANNUAL ELITE-A-THON TO BE SATURDAY, MAY 12:    

 

The 6th Annual Elite-a-thon fundraiser will be held Saturday, May 12th at Morristown-Beard from 4 pm to 6 pm.

 

Like all past “Elite-a-thons,” this year’s event will be structured so each individual participating will be raising money for the “charity of their choice.” A suggestion list of charities will accompany the information provided by Senior Corey Deatly, who is coordinating this year’s efforts.

 

In a tradition begun three years ago, Bill will swim approximately 2000 yards to raise money for his charity. This year, Bill will raise money for the Craig School, an middle school located in Mountain Lakes that works with students with learning disabilities. The Craig School, which is in its 27th year, teaches their children strategies that enable these students to succeed in the class room. Bill and Brandy’s son Tad is a graduate of the Craig School and is now in public high school and an honor role student. In addition to raising money for their own particular charity, Bill is hoping that each swimmer on Elite will pledge at least $1 towards his swim !!!

 

Information is posted on the website under “Elite-a-thon.”  Please follow the directions and keep track of your pledge totals!!! 

 

PARENTS PICKING UP SWIMMERS FROM LATE PRACTICES ARE ASKED TO ARRIVE ON TIME:

 

            Parents of swimmers who attend the last practice of the night are reminded to arrive at practice to pick up your swimmer as close to the end of practice as possible.

 

            Elite has a practice of requesting the coach to remain at practice until each child is picked up at night (to prevent anything from happening to our swimmers). Recently, parents have not arrived on time to pick up their swimmer. This means coaches are remaining at the pool 20-30 minutes later than they would normally  have to. Coaches Cindy and Bill have their own children at practice who need to get home to finish homework.

 

            Thus, parents whom are picking up their swimmers from the late practices are asked to arrive as close to the end of practice as possible.

 

 TENTATIVE SUMMER LONG COURSE SCHEDULE POSTED:

 

            New Jersey Swimming has posted the tentative Summer 2007 Long Course Schedule. As a result, Elite has posted its tentative Summer Long Course Schedule under Meet Schedule.

 

            Other than the May “League Championship” meet, all the meets Elite will attend this summer will be held in a “long course” venue (meaning, the competition pool will be 50 meters long rather than the usual “short course” venue of 25 yards.

 

            Elite’s policy is NOT to convert times from SCY to LCM or vice versa. Thus, swimmers will be entered in events with times from their best LCM times. The only exception to this rule will be when swimmers do not have previous LCM times- Coaches will estimate conservatively a custom time in this instance.

 

            Elite meet entries will be posted on Elite’s website after New Jersey Swimming posts the specific meet information.         

 

ELITE AGE GROUPERS TO PARTICIPATE IN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP MEET ON MAY 20:

 

            All Elite Swimmers who are in the Age Group Program (Wavebusters and Marlins) will be entered into a short course yards meet called New Jersey League Championship Meet. The meet is scheduled for Sunday, May 20 at the Union Boys & Girls Club in Union, New Jersey. Details of the meet and meet entries are expected to be posted on Elite’s website (under Meet Schedule) later this week.

 

            All swimmers participating in the Wavebuster Golds, Wavebuster Blacks, Wavebuster Teals, Marlin Blacks and Marlin Teals should plan to attend. The coaches will enter swimmers in the meet-there is nothing for a swimmer to do except check the meet information. If you are unable to attend, swimmers are requested to email Bill as soon as you know.

 

LONG COURSE ZONES AND & SECTIONAL TIME STANDARDS POSTED:

 

            The time standards for Long Course Zones & Sectionals are now posted on the team website under Time Standards.

 

            As with the past few summers, the Eastern Zone has one “Super” Sectional meet (in the spring, there are two Sectional meets). Thus, the qualifying times are in many cases faster than the qualifying times for the Spring Sectionals.  The meet will be held July 19 thru July 22 at St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s, Maryland.

 

            In the summer, New Jersey Swimming picks its Zone Team thru qualifying times (unlike the spring Zone Team, where the top 2 times in NJ Swimming are picked). Thus, an unlimited amount of swimmers can represent New Jersey Swimming at Summer Zones. This meet will be held in August, presumably August 8th thru August 11.

                                                                  

COACH MIKE TURKOT TO PARTICIPATE IN POLICE UNITY TOUR:

 

Michael Turkot, an Elite assistant coach, will be riding in the Police Unity Tour beginning on May 9th and continuing until the 13th. Michael’s daytime job is as a police officer working at the Morris County Sheriff's Office in Morristown. The Unity Tour is a 300 mile bicycle ride that departs from Morris Township and ends in Washington, D.C., a total of over 300 miles!

 

Officers from around the country fly into New Jersey to participate in the event. Each rider is tasked with not only completing the ride, but also raising $1700 towards the charity. The money is donated to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington. Over the past 11 years, the Tour has become the largest single donor to the memorial. Donations are then gifted to the families of fallen officers from around the country. The Tour's singular focus is to help support the families of these brave, selfless men and women who gave their lives protecting the general public.

 

Michael is asking for any donations that our membership at Elite feels gracious enough to give. Every bit helps, and no donation is overlooked. For more information about the Police Unity Tour, becoming a sponsor, or to see pictures from past events you can go to www.policeunitytour.com. Feel free to ask Michael any questions at practice or through email (mailto:zzturkzz@hotmail.com). Michael and the families of the fallen officers offer their sincerest thanks for your consideration.

 

PARKING AN ISSUE AT NEWARK ACADEMY:

 

            As we head into the Spring 2007 Session, parents are reminded that there is a distinct shortage of parking spaces at Newark Academy, especially on weekdays between 5:15 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.

 

            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.

 

SCHOLAR/ATHLETE AWARD APPLICATION POSTED:

 

The Scholar/Athlete Award Application, which will address the age-up situation, has been posted on the website. Swimmers are to fill out the application and get it to Bill (place it in the mailbox or mail it to Bill).

 

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