ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               04-24-06

 

FOUR EVENTS PLANNED IN MAY:

 

            There are four events for swimmers/parents to be aware of this May. Dates for two of the events are set and the dates and formats of the other two are being formalized. 

 

            ELITE-A-THON

 

The 5th Annual Elite-a-thon fundraiser will be held Saturday, May 15th at Morristown-Beard from 4 pm to 6 pm.

 

Like all past “Elite-a-thons,” this year’s event will be structured so each indvidual 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 taking over the responsibility of running this fundraiser from (graduating Senior) Will Peters, who was the creator of this exciting and rewarding function.

 

Last fall, this “Elite-a-thon” format enabled Elite to raise over $9,000 for the American Red Cross Katrina Hurricane Relief Fund.

 

In a tradition begun two years ago, Bill will swim approximately 2000 yards to raise money for his charity. This year, Bill will raise money for Friends in Adoption (FIA), a non-profit adoption agency located in Middletown, Vermont. FIA not only helps place children in adoption but also stays involved with both the adopting and the birth parents to help with the integration of the adoption process. 

 

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 regarding the Elite-a-thon will be posted on the website this week.

 

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS:

 

Elite will attend the Tidal Waves 2nd Annual League Championship Meet held Sunday, May 21 at the Union Boys and Girls Club in Union.

 

All Elite swimmers in the Marlin Teals, Marlin Blacks, Wave Teals, Wave Blacks and Wave Golds will be entered into this meet.

 

Information regarding this meet will be posted later this week on the website under Meet Schedule.

 

PARENTS ORGANIZATION MEETING:

 

One of Elite’s shortcomings is the lack of a vibrant Parents Organization to help organize the ancillary needs of the Elite Swim Club. While parents have been extremely helpful in offering their time and efforts to Elite in the past, this has been done in a haphazard manner. In order for Elite to continue to develop and become an even stronger swim club, an active and energetic Parents Organization is a must.

 

Information regarding a date and agenda for the Elite Parents Organization will be provided in next week’s bulletin.

 

COLLEGE NITE:

 

            In an effort to provide parents AND swimmers with insight into the “college hunting” process, plans are being made for Elite’s second  “College Nite” for parents and high school Elite swimmers sometime in May.

 

Since in getting into small liberal arts college has become increasingly difficult, the College Nite is an effort by Elite to share the collective wisdom it has regarding the college hunting process with all its high school age members.

 

Last year, Elite invited Margery Slonaker of Best Foot Forward to lead the presentation. Slonaker, a local parent of 3 outstanding scholar athletes (two attended Princeton and one the University of Virginia-all three competed in college), provided personalized college guidance for student athletes. Her clients have been accepted into some of the country’s best colleges including Princeton, Harvard, Brown, Amherst, Middlebury, Lehigh, Georgetown, Colgate and the University of Maryland. Parents are welcome to visit Best Foot Forward’s website at www.bestftforward.com.

 

Margery advises that the college hunting process should begin during freshman year, since course selection and workload are extremely important factors to colleges.

 

            This year, Elite has requested that Slonaker again lead the discussion. In addition, Elite will invite last year’s Senior/Seniors (high school seniors who are graduating this June) and their parents to share their college hunting experiences with Elite parents and swimmers.

 

STROKE TECHNIQUE IN FULL BLOOM:

 

            From the smallest Marlin to the largest Senior, Elite swimmers and coaches have been focusing on stroke mechanics this spring.

           

            Using a series of progressive drills meant to reinforce the proper balance and body position when swimming, the coaches have introduced and reviewed a series of drills via television and swimmer demonstration during the first two weeks of training. These visual tools greatly improve the learning curve of swimmers of all levels, as the swimmer sees the proper execution of the drills prior to performing them.

 

            With regards to freestyle and backstroke (the long axis strokes), these drills emphasize keeping the head down, the chest pressed into the water while rolling both the shoulders and hips in unison during each stroke cycle. These movments will keep both strokes as long (read: powerful) and graceful as possible (if done properly, your swimmer will actually look so graceful it will appear they are not working hard-similar to graceful ice skaters). A “long” swimmer is in the most hydrodynamic body position while simultaneously unlocking the real power in the stroke (arm pull fully extended and used in conjunction with the hip roll-very similar to rotating the hip during a baseball or golf swing).

 

            With regards to breaststroke and butterfly (the short axis strokes), these drills also emphasize keeping the head down (especially when breathing) but also focus on the chest pressing into the water and the hips “popping” as a result of the chest press. These movements will allow the arms to follow the body movement rather than vice versa (most swimmers “throw” their arms in performing these strokes). When the correct body motion is performed, again the swimmer unlocks its power source while being in the most positive hydrodynamic body position.

 

            Parents are welcome to ask their swimmers about their “hide your head,” “sweet spot,” “lengthen,” “shoulder lead body dolphin,” and “hand lead body dolphin” drills.

 

            Coaches will continue to focus heavily on these drills thru out the spring session but will increase the aerobic conditioning (more laps in the same or less time) as the session moves towards summer.    

 

ARIZONA SUN IN SENIORS’ FUTURE:   

 

            Plans have been made for the Senior Training Group to train at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Az during the Winter School Break in December, 2006.

 

            Returning to the site where the Elite Seniors trained during their 2002 & 2004 training trips, Elite will practice 13 times in 7 days at the Sun Devil Pool on the ASU campus.

 

            In the past, the Seniors have loved Tempe, as they are in walking distance to the main drag in town and are able to hit the stores (and most importantly, Cold Stone!) after practice.

 

Tempe is also home to the an extremely well organized 1st Night on New Year’s Eve and the Tostilla Bowl, one of the biggest bowl games in college football.

 

ELITE TO PROMOTE USA SWIMMING’S MOTIVATIONAL CUT TIMES:

 

            Those familiar with New Jersey Swimming’s qualifying times for Silvers and Junior Olympics are well aware of how challenging the current qualifying times are (and they are expected to get even harder next year!!!). While these are the qualifying times everyone in Elite is focused on (and this will remain so), Elite will also begin having the Bronze level swimmers focused on USA Swimming’s “Motivational” Qualifying Times.

 

            These Motivational times are established by USA Swimming to help each swimmer think in terms of smaller steps of improvement. The times are 6 levels of achievement-rather than 2, so swimmers can aim for times just within their reach as interim goal times. These times are now posted on Elite’s website under Time Standards.

 

            While Elite swimmers will still need to focus on Silver and JO qualifying times, we do want the swimmers to understand that any improvement is significant improvement. Hopefully, these Motivational Time Standards will help swimmers feel proud of their incremental improvements along the way!!

 

SWIMMING WORLD EMPHASIZES BALANCING SWIMMING WITH ACADEMICS!!

 

            In its April, 2006 issue, Swimming World, swimming’s most popular magazine, has a feature article about the need for “Elite” swimmers to balance swimming with their academics.

 

            In the article, several superb students who are also superb swimmers told of the need of swimmers to: 1) be determined and focused to accomplish both  2) get enough sleep and 3) to time management (such as using one’s cell phone as an alarm clock to limit texting or IMing time!).

 

            With Elite’s new Scholar-Athlete awards, it seems Elite is right in stride with the “elite” swimmers in the country!!! Check out the article (page 16)!!!

 

SLIDE SHOW FOR SALE:

 

            Several parents have requested copies of pictures from the Award Dinner Slide Show. To help defray the cost of putting together and presenting the slide show, Bill will be selling copies of the entire slide show for $10. It is Bill’s understanding that individual pictures within the slide show can be removed from the disc and printed on any home printer.

 

Just email Bill a request for a disc of the slide show and he will provide a copy of the disc. Bill will “bill” the family for the cost of the disc.

 

ATTENDENCE GUIDELINES FORMALIZED:

 

            As all Elite swimmers and parents know, Elite places a high priority on getting swimmers to practice. To our credit, swimmers take this priority seriously. Being the serious swimmers they are, when they are unable to make their normal practice, Elite swimmers like an opportunity to attend a “make-up” practice.

 

            In order to provide an opportunity for these swimmers to practice while simultaneously placing the correct weight of the “make-up” practice within the attendance scale, Elite has “formalized” its attendance and make-up practice policy. This policy is now posted on the website under

 

TOP 10 TIMES UPDATED;

 

            One of the most fun elements of swimming is the “measurability” of performance. To help keep swimmers motivated, Elite posts all sorts of “top 10” times on its website.

 

All the Top 10 Times lists have been updated thru earlier this week. Check it out!!!

 

SUMMER LONG COURSE MEET SCHEDULE REVISED:

 

            For those planning ahead, Elite swimmers in the Wave Blacks, Wave Golds, Senior Preps and Seniors are expected to participate in the following long course meets:

 

            1) Heat Madness: held at Rutgers on Saturday, June 3

 

            2) Either “Long Course Cup” (held at Princeton University) or “Summer Solstice” (held at Rutgers) on Saturday, June 17 & Sunday, June 18. Decision as to which meet Elite will attend will depend on qualifying times and events offered

 

3)  Either 12 & Under Silvers will be held Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16 at Rutgers (same weekend as in the past) or 13 & Older Silvers will be held Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23 at Rutgers (same weekend as in the past).

 

4) Bronze Championships will be held on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30 in Bayonne (at an outside venue!).

 

            5) Junior Olympics will be held Friday, August 4 thru Sunday, August 6, 2006 at Rutgers University.