ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 06-28-10
“Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”
THE TRANSFORMERS:
LAST WEEK’S TIRED SWIMMERS BECOME THIS
WEEK’S STUDS!!;
11-12 GIRLS MEDLEY
RELAY BREAKS MEET RECORD; GALEA, G.
SORIANO (2), STRAND WIN EVENTS;
STRAND ELECTRIFYING IN
100 BACK WITH 58.95;
M. LI, A. MANGO (4),
A. MORREALE, L. STEARNS ADD SECTIONAL CUTS;
C. BALBO (3), GALEA, GORHAM (2), M. LI, A. MANGO (2), A.
MORREALE, I. MORREALE, MANGO, SEBASTIAN, K. STEARNS, L. STEARNS & A. WEINBROM EARN ZONE QUALIFYING TIMES:
BIGHAM, COYNE, CRITCHLEY(4), A.DUREN, J. FELSEN (4), FRIDAY, E.
GORHAM, J. GORHAM, S. HARRIS (4), A. IIZUKA, K. IIZUKA, KOVACS (2), M. LI, C.
NASH, E. NG (4), PETERSON (3), C. PICK (2), SEBASTIAN, G. SORIANO L. STEARNS,
M. STRAND, V. XIA & A. WEINBROM ADD 37 JO EVENTS, PUSH COUNT TO 47
SWIMMERS, 221 EVENTS;
What a difference a week makes!! Last week’s academically and physically tired Elite Swim Club swimmers morphed into swimming studs this past weekend at Summer Sizzle. The excitement was everywhere; 11-12 Girls 200 Medley Relay breaking a meet record, just missing the 200 Free Relay record by .1, Michael Strand pushing below 59 seconds in the 100 back and 58 seconds in the 100 fly, Alex Mango earning 2 Sectional cuts and 2 Sectional bonus cuts, 12 year old Andrea Galea winning the 50 back, 10 year old Gian Soriano winning the 50 & 100 fly; Michael Li, after a year of lurking around a Sectional cut, getting it in his last swim of the meet!!
Competing against some top notch talent, mostly from New Jersey but also from Team Suffolk (Long Island) and even a team from Texas, Elite swimmers were superb: 4 different swimmers earned prestigious Sectional qualifying times, 12 different Elite swimmers qualified for 15 new Zone cuts and 23 different swimmers added 37 new JO cuts!!
In the 5 weeks of long course competition so far, Elite has already accomplished:
1) 4 new Sectional cuts; 8 swimmers with cut times in 21 events (last summer’s team totals were 4 swimmers in 24 events which number includes Chris Dart’s 12 events)
2) 29 new Zone cuts; 17 swimmers in 82 events (last summer’s team totals were 25 swimmers in 93 events)
3) 27 new JO swimmers for a total of 47 JO swimmers in 221 events (last summer’s team totals were 50 swimmers in 235 events)
Certainly, with the team transitioning into its anaerobic/racing practice and then resting mode, more qualifying times can be expected as Elite heads into its championship season mid thru late July!!!
The quartet of 12 year old Andrea Galea (back), 11 year old Alicia Iizuka (breast), 12 year old Caroline Nash (fly) and 12 year old Kaitlin Stearns (free) rewrote the Summer Sizzle record book with their magnificent first place 4 x 50 Medley Relay performance of 2.18.56 time. This was a full 2 seconds under the Sizzle meet record for this event!!! This time is 4 seconds from an LSC record. Galea, Stearns and Nash teamed up with Emily Gorham to win the 4 x 50 Free Relay in a 2.02.62 time (just .09 seconds over the meet record!).
17 year old Michael Strand’s 100 back win in 58.95 at finals was electrifying. That swim puts Michael well within reach of an Olympic Trials qualifying time (USA Swimming has NOT announced OT qualifying times, waiting for Summer 2010 performances in non-high technical suits prior to establishing qualifying times. The 2004 qualifying time was 57.99 in the 100 back). Strand also dipped below 58 seconds for the 1st time in the 100 fly with his 57.77 2nd place finish. Strand also pushed under 55 seconds for the 1st time in the 100 free, doing it twice and finishing 4th with a 54.77.
12 year old Andrea Galea won the 50 back with a 33.06 swim. Andrea placed no higher than 9th in her 9 swims, placing 2nd in the 100 back (1.12.06) & the 200 back (2.38.45-new zone cut-her 7th), 3rd in the 100 breast (1.25.55), 4th in the 50 free (29.96) and 5th in the 50 fly (33.24).
15 year old Alex Mango reeled in 1 (or 3) new Sectional swims; Alex qualified with his 55.52 5th place 100 free swim for his 2nd “pure” time. Alex was also under the “bonus” qualifying time in 2 additional events (the meet format allows for up to 2 bonus swims IF a swimmer is under a “softer” but still challenging qualifying time in the event-assuming they are already qualified in 1 or 2 events). Alex’s bonus cuts were in: 1) the 200 free (2.02.23-6th place) and 2) 100 fly (1.01.23-11th place).
10 year old Gian Soriano won both 10 & Under butterfly events; the 50 fly in a 36.63 time (Gian ages up this summer and this time is a JO cut for 11-12) and the 100 fly in a 1.24.76. Gian also placed 6th in the 50 back (41.60) and 8th in the 100 back (1.30.10).
After being just short of the qualifying times both last summer and this past spring, 16 year old Michael Li pushed thru the 200 breast Sectional barrier with his 7th place, 2.37.61 time-a full second under the time. Michael was even with his prelims swim at the 150 mark, so all his improvement came from his last 50!
14 year old Lindsay Stearns completed her sweep of the butterfly Sectional quest by placing 3rd in the 200 with a 2.27.41 time (a full 6 seconds faster than her prelim swim). Lindsay was tough in finals all weekend, also finishing 3rd in the 100 fly (1.06.97, previously qualified for Sectionals), 7th in the 400 IM (5.27.51), 11th in the 200 IM (2.39.00), 13th in the 200 back (2.38.34) and 16th in the 200 breast (3.09.87).
16 year old Ali Morreale snagged her first long course Sectional cut in the 100 breast with her 4th place, 1.18.01 performance. Ali also finaled in the 200 breast, dropping almost 4 seconds off her career best to place 5th (2.52.88).
Completely locked in was 12 year old Chris Balbo, who earned 3 individual Zone cuts this weekend: 1) 4th place 200 back (2.40.42) 2) 6th place finish in the 100 fly (1.14.69) and 3) 8th place finish in the 200 IM (2.42.75). Chris placed 3rd in the non Zone contested 400 IM (5.39.97-dropping 37 seconds from last year!!) and 4th in the 400 free (4.51.54-already qualified). Chris now has 5 Zone cuts.
Ironman Ryan Sebastian, competing 18 times over the weekend and finaling in EVERY event he competed in, posted personal bests 14 separate times. Ryan was brilliant in the 400 IM, where he dropped almost 9 seconds to place 4th with a 4.57.23 time (this is just 4 seconds shy of a Sectional cut!). Ryan was 2nd in the 200 back (2.23.28), 3rd in the 100 back (1.06.26), 5th in the 200 IM (2.25.36) and in the 100 fly (1.04.68) and 8th in the 200 breast (2.47.31). Ryan’s 200 free swim of 2.11.06 was his 12 Zone qualifying time.
Churning out the great swims again was 12 year old Kaitlin Stearns. Kaitlin was particularly brilliant in the freestyle events, as she placed 2nd three separate times: 100 free (1.04.26), 200 free (2.19.84) and the 400 free (4.55.16). Kaitlin also touched 5th in the 100 back (1.15.91-her 5th Zone time), 6th in the 50 free (30.27), and 7th in the 50 back (36.23). She placed no lower than 10th in her 9 events.
13 year old Juliet Felsen continues to impress, as she finaled in 6 separate events and posted 4 new JO cut times (now has 7). Juliet started the meet with a 22 second drop in the 400 IM and along the way placed 7th in the 200 fly (2.39.18) & 8th in the 100 fly (1.13.87). Juliet’s 200 free (2.22.47) and 200 IM (2.40.14) swims were also JO cuts.
11 year old Alicia Iizuka swam like she was shot out of a bazooka in the 50 breast; Alicia placed 2nd with a 38.62 time. Alicia also placed 8th in the 100 breast (1.28.33). Her 200 breast swim of 3.13.53 was her 3rd (all breast) JO cut.
12 year old Matt Critchley was fabulous all weekend, posting his first 4 JO cuts this summer: 1) 50 breast (41.75) 2) 50 free (31.89) 3) 100 breast (1.34.31) and 4) 50 fly (34.92).
12 year old Scott Harris added JO events #9 thru #12 as he conquered the 400 IM (5.59.94), the 200 back (2.52.00), the 200 breast (3.24.19) and the 200 IM (2.50.43).
14 year old Jess Gorham added 2 Zone cuts, placing 9th in the 100 back (1.12.59) and 10th in the 50 free (29.08).
14 year old Isabella Morreale posted her 2nd Zone qualifying time of the year (and her career) with her 2.57.32 effort in finals in the 200 breast. The swim placed her 6th overall.
12 year old Avinash Duvvuri finished among the leaders in 5 events, placing highest (4th) in the 100 back (1.15.77). Avinash also placed 5th in the 50 back (35.52), 7th in the 50 breast (40.15) & 8th in the 100 breast (1.27.05).
12 year old Caroline Nash stroked to a 6th place finish in the 200 fly (3.00.15). Caroline added her 11th JO cut with her 2.51.78 effort in the 200 back.
10 year old Evan Ng was 8th in the 200 IM (3.12.58-new JO cut). Evan added his 7th JO swim with his 34.87 time in the 50 free.
12 year old Danielle Peterson scored gold in all 3 of her breast events: 40.54 in the 50 (9th), 1.29.41 in the 100 (10th) and 3.12.72 in the 200 (10th).
12 year old Jared Kovacs collected his first 2 JO swims this summer; both in the breast with his 50 (42.56) and 100 (1.31.73) performances.
10 year old Abigail Tsay placed 6th in the 50 breast (45.67).
11 year old Amy Duren, flaunting her fluid butterfly stroke, posted her first JO cut this summer with her 8th place, 200 butterfly swim of 3.10.16.
10 year old Vivian Xia posted her 7th JO qualifying time with her 42.16 swim in the 50 back. Vivian was 10th in the 100 fly (1.33.07).
9 year old Grace Xu stroked to a 6th place finish in the 100 breast.
11 year old Abbie Bigham, in her first long course performance in the 400 IM, went gold (6.15.19).
10 year old Katherine Friday rocked the 100 fly, stroking to a 1.36.83 JO qualifying time.
11 year old Emily Gorham smashed the JO cut time in the 50 free, going a 31.61.
11 year old Karen Iizuka added her 2nd JO cut to her summer resume, this one in the 100 breast (1.32.95).
12 year old Christina Pick added two JO qualifying times to her slate as she went gold in the 100 fly (1.18.94) and 200 back (2.52.64).
11 year old Jimmy Coyne glided to his 3rd breaststroke JO cut with his 3.16.79 time in the 200 breast.
Full results are posted on the team
website.
Swimmers who
participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite LCM best times): Chelsea
Allocco (1), Jenni Allocco, Chris Balbo (7), Abbie Bigham (2), Caitlin Brown,
Emily Buckman (1), Morgan Conley (2), Jimmy Coyne (3), Matthew Critchley (4),
Anthony Don (1), Jeffrey Dong (3), Amy Duren (2), Sam Duren, Avinash Duvvuri
(5), Krishna Duvvuri, Juliet Felsen (13), Andrea Ferrell (1), Katherine Friday
(4), Andrea Galea (2), Clio Galea (1), Lindsey Giostra, Emily Gorham (3), Jess
Gorham (8), Scott Harris (4), Andrew Huang (6), Alicia Iizuka (2), Erica
Iizuka, Karen Iizuka (1), Katie Iovel, Rachel Keselman (1), Jared Kovacs (4),
Emmie Lai (1), Clark LaRaia (2), Isabel LaRaia (4), Brandon Li (1), Michael Li
(4), Alex Mango (9), Ali Morreale (4), Isabella Morreale (5), Charlotte
Morrissey (1), Caroline Nash (5), Maggie Nelson (1), Evan Ng (3), Christina
Pick (4), Gabrielle Pick (2), Ryan
Sebastian (14), Andrea Shepard (3), Katy Shepard (2), Gian Soriano (5), Kaitlin
Stearns (8), Lindsay Stearns (7), Michael Strand (5), Abigail Tsay (2),
Caroline Watt (5), Adam Weinbrom (1), Ryan Wyer, Vivian Xia (5), Grace Xu (5)
& Richard Yu (2).
WINTER
2010-11 INFORMATION MAILED OUT; DEPOSITS DUE JULY 15TH;
SUMMER
SEASON/PROMOTION SCHEDULE EXPLAINED:
With the Summer now in sight, below
is an explanation of how training at Elite will work. If you have further
questions, please do not hesitate to contact Bill.
For Marlin Teals and Marlin Blacks,
the Spring 2010 Season will conclude to Sunday, June 13.
For the Wavebuster Teals, Wavebuster
Blacks, Wavebuster Golds, Senior Preps and Seniors, practice will continue thru
late July/early August.
Below is a detailed explanation of
how each training group will transition. Please note that every existing Elite
swimmer will be invited to train with Elite for the Winter 2010-11 Training
Session. Each swimmer will receive in mid-June (approximately June 20) a letter
inviting them to train with Elite for the Winter 2010-11 Training Season. To
accept this invitation, a swimmer needs to mail their $300 deposit check ($300
per swimmer if a multiple swimmer family) to Bill prior to Thursday, July 15.
If a swimmer does not mail in their deposit but would like to train with Elite,
they will need to tryout for Elite at one of the two Elite tryouts (1st
one on Tuesday, July 20st). There is no guarantee a swimmer will
regain their roster spot during tryouts-it is NOT automatic. Elite will take
the best swimmers at tryouts, regardless of longevity on Elite. To secure a
roster spot, one needs to mail in their deposit prior to Thursday, July 15.
Marlin Teals: During the
summer, there is no training for Marlin Teals (they should participate for
their local swim clubs and shine!!!). Letters regarding which training group a
swimmer will be placed in for Winter 2010-11 will be sent in mid-June
(including promotions-there will be a few into Marlin Blacks). All Marling
Teals will need to send in their $300 deposit to reserve their roster spot by
Thursday, July 15.
Marlin Blacks: During the summer, there is no summer
training for Marlin Blacks (they should participate for their local swim clubs
and shine!!!). Letters regarding which training group a swimmer will be placed
in for Winter 2010-11 will be send in mid-June (including promotions-there may
be a few into Wavebuster Teals). If a swimmer is promoted into Wavebuster Teals
by reason of the June roster letter, that swimmer is invited to train as a
Wavebuster Teal this summer (see Wave Teal explanation). If a newly promoted
swimmer chooses to train with Elite this summer, they will be entered into
summer Championship Meets (see Meet Schedule on website). These swimmers will
also be billed a pro-rata rate for their Summer training participation. A
promoted swimmer can opt not to train with Elite and it will not affect their
status for Winter 2010-11. All Marlin
Blacks will need to send in their $300 deposit to reserve their roster spot by
Thursday, July 15.
Wavebuster Teals: The Wavebuster Teals have the option to train
with Elite this summer at Cromwell Pool (see summer schedule). And in fact,
they have paid for this option within their Spring 2010 bill. Swimmers who want
to train but have conflicts (vacation, car pools, etc) are strongly
encouraged to come to practice whenever they can. Swimmers who come to summer practices will be entered into summer
Championship Meets (see Meet Schedule on website). Letters regarding Winter
2010-11 will be send in mid-June. Swimmers whom at that time have earned a
promotion into Wavebuster Blacks will receive a letter of promotion in mid
June. A promoted swimmer will remain a Wavebuster Teal until the Winter 2010-11
Season. All promotions will be conditional upon continued performance and
attendance thru late July. Regardless of placement, swimmers will need to send
in their $300 deposit to reserve their roster spot by Thursday, July 15.
Wavebuster Blacks; Wavebuster Golds, Senior Preps & Seniors:
Swimmers in these training groups are expected
to train with Elite during the summer, as participation in these training
groups is year round. Swimmers in these training groups will be entered into
summer Championship Meets (see Meet Schedule on website). Letters regarding the
Winter 2010-11 session will be send in mid-June. A promoted swimmer will remain
within their current training group until the Winter 2010-11 Season. All
promotions will be conditional upon continued performance and attendance thru
late July. Regardless of placement, swimmers will need to send in their $300
deposit to reserve their roster spot by Thursday, July 15.
39 SWIMMERS RAISE $4,498.50 (SO FAR) AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT 9th
ANNUAL ELITE-A-THON!! LINDSAY STEARNS COORDINATES LARGEST PARTICIPATION IN
YEARS!! DELANEY SMITH RAISES $1,100!!!
IF YOU HAVE NOT YET RESPONDED, PLEASE EMAIL LINDSAY STEARNS WITH
YOUR TOTALS!!!
The
9th Annual Elite-a-thon fundraiser was the biggest Elite-a-thon in recent
memory!! 39 Swimmers spent 2 hours Saturday afternoon swimming to raise money
for their own charities!! At the moment, the team totals with 21 swimmers
reporting, the team total stands at $4,498.50!!! 8 year old Delaney Smith
raised $1,100 on her own! Way to go Delaney!!!!
If
you have not yet responded, please email Lindsay Stearns at mailto:Lindsay
Stearns (Lindsaystearns14@yahoo.com) with your numbers!!
The
following were the Elite swimmers who participated:
Chris
Balbo: $300 Celiac Sprue Association, Megan Balbo: $300: Make A Wish, Caitlin
Brown: Arthritis Foundation, Cordelia Burn: $100 Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer, Eloise
Burn: $100 St. Judes, Sarah Burn: $100 Jersey Animal Coalition, Carolyn
Delaney: $50 PKU News, Kelly Delaney: $50 PKU News, Will Delaney: $50 PKU News,
Katherine Friday: Autism Speaks, Emily Fu: $27.50 Mt Pleasant Animal Shelter,
Clio Galea: tba, Emily Gorham: St. Judes (4227.50), Jess Gorham: $227.50 St.
Judes, Kevin Greener: tba Abby Hartwig: Association for Rare Disorders Elana
Horowitz: tba, Jennifer Huo: $36 for Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter, Alicia
Iizuka: Jersey Animal Coalition, Erica Iizuka: Jersey Animal Coalition, Karen
Iizuka: Jersey Animal Coalition, Monica Iizuka: Jersey Animal Coalition, Katie
Iovel: Make A Wish, Grace Levey: $50 Make A Wish, Alyssa Levy: Valerie Fund,
Katie McGrath: $200 AvonBreast Cancer Walk, Ali Morreale: tba, Caroline Nash:
$50 Make a Wish, Jason Rossi: $25 American Red Cross, Andrea Shepard : $212.50
Down the Block, Inc, Katy Shepard: $212.50 Share Our Strength, Abigail Shvorin:
American Cancer Foundation, Delaney Smith: Multiple Sclerosis, Kaitlin Stearns:
$200 Bridges, Lindsay Stearns: $200 Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer, Will Stearns:
$200 Cora Hartshorn Arboretum, Caroline Watt: $50 Make A Wish, Adam Weinbrom:
tba, Katherine Zhang: $150 Cora Hartshorn Arboretum. Coach Bill also raised
$230 for American Red Cross.
14
year old Lindsay Stearns, who has participated in the Elite-a-thon for each of
her 7 years on the team, took over coordinating the event this year and
mustered a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. If each of the participants raises
just $150 each, the total raised will exceed $5,000. This shows what the power
of enthusiasm can accomplish!!
In a tradition begun six years ago, Bill swam 2500 meters to raise money
for the American Red Cross’s relief efforts in Haiti, following the devastating
earthquake Haiti suffered this past winter.
DIRECTIONS TO CROMWELL POOL NOW POSTED:
Elite has contracted with the Cromwell Pool, located in Morristown (off Columbia Turnpike/Columbia Turnpike) to rent their pool during the summer mornings for the Wavebuster Teals-Believers 3 training group. Elite will be renting the Cromwell Pool Monday thru Thursday, from 7:15 am to 8:30 am. In addition, the Wavebuster Teals-Believer 3’s have one scheduled practice a week in the long course pool at Springfield (Sunday mornings 6:30 am to 8:15 am).
The directions, along with directions to Summit Municipal and Springfiled Municipal are located on the team website at: http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Practice%20Schedule/homepage%20practice.htm
The summer schedule for the remaining groups will remain the same (with the slight alteration of an earlier start time and 15 minutes longer per practice at MBS for Wavebuster Blacks-Believers 2 on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s. The schedule from June 21 thru July 31 is now posted on the team website under practice schedule. http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Practice%20Schedule/homepage%20practice.htm
“SOFT SELLING” ELITE IS LIFEBLOOD OF
CLUB;
BILL AVAILABLE FOR CLINICS AT SUMMER CLUBS
Summer
Swim Teams are the lifeblood of year round swim clubs like Elite. Swimmers who
enjoy the training and competition of their summer clubs form the vast majority
of new swimmers into “winter” or “club” swimming.
The
expected terrific swimming performed by Elite swimmers this coming summer in
their dual meet and championship competition will be the main selling point of
the club. Elite swimmers will be among the best (if not the best) swimmers in
their races. They should be, they have worked hard and have earned that right!!
Parents
of Elite swimmers are requested to “soft-sell” Elite; meaning they should await
an approach by an interested swimmers/parents, but then earnestly provide
information to such people upon their approach. Elite parents and swimmers are
highly encouraged to point perspective swimmers to the team website and to
instruct interested parties to email Bill regarding questions about the club.
As in past summers, Head Coach Bill is available to provide a swim clinic at
local summer clubs. If your summer club or summer swim coach has an interest in
a clinic by Bill, please contact Bill to set up a clinic date!
TRYOUTS TUESDAY,
JULY 20; VOLUNTEER TIMERS WELCOME:
Tryouts for Elite’s Winter 2010-11
Season will be held Tuesday, July 20at Morristown-Beard from 4 pm to 6 pm.
There will be no pm practices held that day.
Make-up Tryouts will be held Tuesday,
September 7 at Newark Academy from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.
Elite swimmers and/or Parents are
welcome to volunteer their time to help the coaches out at both tryouts!
CLOTHING ITEMS PREVIOUSLY
PURCHASED THRU ESCPO NOW IN: CONTACT ALLISON NASH:
The clothing items previously purchased thru ESCPO have arrived. Parents are encouraged to contact Allison Nash to arrange pick-up at Newark Academy. Allison’s email address is ALLISONRNASH@MSN.COM.
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!!!