ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               07-03-06

 

DART & JUNIOR NATIONALS: AN EXPLANATION:

 

            Last weekend at Summer Sizzle, Chris Dart became the 1st Elite swimmer to qualify for Junior Nationals. This is a significant achievement for any swimmer. Chris’s 1.00.10 Long Course Meter 100 backstroke time was .49 seconds under the Junior National qualifying time.

 

            USA Swimming sponsors a series of meets held twice a year (one short course yard meet held in March and one long course meet held in July/August) to promote “Elite” swimming. Each level of meets has increasingly more difficult qualifying times.

 

As most Elite parents are aware of, each “LSC” (LSC stands for Local Swim Committee; New Jersey Swimming is our LSC) holds a series of championship meets with Junior Olympics being the top level championship meet within the LSC.

 

            The next level up is Sectionals. Sectionals meets are held within a designated geographic “Zone” (designated section of the country; New Jersey Swimming is located within the Eastern Zone which consists of team located from Maine thru Virginia). Within a zone, there can be multiple Sectional Meets or one “Super Sectional” Meet (this summer’s sectional meet, held in Buffalo July 20 thru July 23, is a Super Sectional Meet-which means the qualifying times are even faster than usual). Approximately 60 to 80 swimmers within a Zone will qualify per event for a Sectional Meet. At this point, Chris has qualified for 5 events for this year’s Super Sectional Meet (and is close in numerous others).

 

            The next level is the national level. At this level, USA Swimming holds two meets: a Senior National Meet and a Junior National Meet (both held twice a year). The Junior Nationals Meet (or Jr. Nats) has an age requirement. All swimmers must be under the age of 18 to compete in this meet. Approximately 50 swimmers nationwide qualify per event in Junior Nationals. A search of USA Swimming’s SWIMS database (found on the USA Website) places Chris as 32nd in the entire county on the Junior Level.

 

The Senior National Meet has no age requirement, only qualifying times (thus, a swimmer who is 18 or younger can compete at both national meets). 

 

USA Swimming also holds US Open meets during the year, which are national level meets with no age requirement. Chris is .31 seconds slower than the qualifying US Open qualifying time in the 100 back.

 

As even a casual observer of swimming knows, every 4 years (the next being 2008), USA Swimming holds Olympic Trials in preparation for the 2008 Olympics.

 

            There is one off-shoot of this format and that is the “Zone” All-Star team. “Zones” are also held twice a year, following Junior Olympics. All the LSC’s within the Zone send their All-Star team to compete at Zones. In the winter, the top 2 swimmers within the New Jersey per event are picked to represent New Jersey at Zones. In the summer, a qualifying time establishes which swimmers within New Jersey can represent NJ at Zones. At the moment, Priya Duvvuri, Michael Li and Michael Strand all have Zone Qualifying times.

              

PRACTICE REGARDLESS OF WEATHER:

 

      Regardless of the weather (including thunderstorms), there will be practice at both Springfield and Morristown-Beard. Swimmers should pack "gym" clothes, as the team will perform dryland exercises at both facilities if the weather does not permit us to swim.

 

SENIOR & SENIOR PREPS: WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH LANE LINES AFTER AM-SPRINGFIELD PRACTICE!!!

 

            In order to train long course, Bill needs to set up and break down the Springfield pool each day. Since “many hands make a large job small,” the Seniors and Senior Preps are requested to help break down the pool (the swimmers do NOT need to come to help set up).

 

            Each training group will take a full week (and it will be posted on the website practice schedule). Seniors will take the rest of this week while Senior Preps will take next week. Each swimmer within the appointed training group will be required to clean up unless they speak directly with Bill.

 

            In advance, Bill says “thanks for your help.”

 

ACADEMICS AND SWIMMING: COACH ASHLEY WINS AWARD:

 

            As a member of the Seton Hall University Pirates Varsity Swim team this past winter, Coach Ashley Johnston was recently named to the Academic All-District 2 At Large Team First Team.

 

            The District 2 consists of Division I schools located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

 

            As repeat award winner (Ashley was named to the 2nd team last season), the honorees are chosen based on the criteria of having at least a 3.2 grade point average (Ashley finished with a cumulative 3.78 grade point average) in addition to her fabulous achievements in swimming. As a 1st team award winner, Ashley is automatcally nominated for Academic All-America status.

 

In addition to her fabulous academic achievements, Ashley broke 2 SHU team records this past winter: 1) the 200 butterfly and the 2) the 400 IM as well as being on record holding relays (200 & 400 medley & 800 Free Relays). Ashley was captain of the Women’s 2005-06 Pirate Squad and finished 2st 20 times during the past season, the most on her team!!

 

FARNOW ACCEPTED TO STUDY IN SWITZERLAND:

 

Cassandra Farnow, who earned an Elite Gold Award for academic and swimming excellence last winter, is about to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime academic and athletic experience in Switzerland.

 

One of 30 students chosen nationwide (acceptance was based upon both excellent academic and athletic achievements-sound familiar???), Farnow (who is a sophomore at Morristown-Beard School and an Elite Senior), will be part of Swiss Semester which is a “coeducational program of academic, personal and physical challenge for high school sophomores from the finest independent and public schools in the United States. Swiss Semester’s campus is in Zermott, Switzerland (the base of the Matterhorn Mountain in the Alps!!).”

 

Cassandra will attend a single semester (lasting from Sept 1 to Dec 15). While in Switzerland and along with her intense academic load, Cassandra will be mountain biking, mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, rock climbing along with traveling to Italy and France. Swimmers and parents can check out the particulars at: swisssemester.org.

 

In preparation for leaving (and since the school does not offer US History or Science), Cassandra is taking history and biology this summer to fulfill her NJ educational requirement. Cassandra will continue to train with Elite prior to leaving and once she returns.

 

Anyone up for a dual meet in Switzerland???

 

COACH LOFTUS HEADS FOR THE HILLS (MONTANA!!!):

 

            Former assistant coach Pete Loftus has been named head coach of the Butte Tarpons Swim Club, located in Butte, Montana. A small (50-60 swimmers) parent owned swim organization that is loosely related to a local YMCA, BTSC is located a mile above sea level (serious altitude training!!!) in a mining/college town that is rich in history.

           

            Pete reports that due to the large distance between swim clubs, there are very few dual and regional meets and that all qualifying times are related to USA Swimmings Motivational times (there are no JO or Silver Cut times). Interestingly, Pete reports that there is considerable swimming talent within the program and his Seniors will be training doubles during the winter! As part of his new duties, Pete will also be required to give a radio interview after each team competition!!!

 

            Pete begins his new coaching duties on July 1st. For those who want to wish him well directly, he can still be reached at swimcoach666@aol.com.

 

            Good luck to Pete!! Anyone up for a dual meet in Montana???

 

THIS SUMMER REMEMBER: ELITE PRACTICES FIRST!!!!

 

            During the summer season, Wavebuster Gold and Wave Black Swimmers are highly encouraged to compete for their summer clubs. Show your summer world how hard you been working and how good you’ve become from that work!!!

 

However, Wave Golds and Wave Blacks are reminded that summer club practices are not a replacement for Elite practices. Wave Golds and Wave Blacks need to be at Elite practices on those days that do not conflict with competition, vacation or summer swim camps. The instructional and intense practice at Elite will continue to help you reach your goals!!!

 

In addition, swimmers should attend Elite practices prior to swim meets (particularly Saturday morning). There is nothing better for your long term training than practicing and then racing!!!

 

WAVE TEALS, MARLIN BLACKS & MARLIN TEALS:

SUGGESTED SUMMER WORKOUTS ON WEBSITE;

AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED FOR THE “OVER 20” CLUB:

 

            For those Wave Teals, Marlin Blacks and Marlin Teals who are “Stud-like” rather than “Slug-like,” Leighann and Bill have posted suggested workouts on Elite’s website (under Summer Workouts) for swimmers in these training groups to perform throughout the summer season.

 

            To help motivate these swimmers, Elite will provide awards (to be announced) for swimmers who complete 20 or more of these workouts (parents are requested to closely monitor the dates the workouts and type of workouts that were performed).

 

            While most of the Wave Teal, Marlin Blacks and Marlin Teal swimmers will participate at workouts and meets with their local swim clubs, doing an extra workout each day will help keep Elite swimmers practicing their body position drills and building their conditioning. These workouts are designed to remind the swimmers to stay long in the LA (LA= long axis-free & back) strokes and to get their bodies into the SA (SA= short axis-breast & fly) strokes. These workouts should be done routinely to help reminding the swimmers (and their bodies) how to swim properly.

 

            This week, Bill will post a calendar so that swimmers and parents can keep track of the dates and the workout performed. Let’s see how many awards Elite can present next fall!!!

 

DEPOSITS TO SECURE WINTER 2006-07 ROSTER SPOTS DUE  AUGUST 1ST:

 

            Information regarding the Winter 2006-07 Season was mailed last week to each Elite swimmer whom participated in the Spring 2006 Session. That information provided the master schedule (identical to this spring’s schedule), the training group that a swimmer is slated for and the cost of the Winter 2006-07 Session.

 

            Receipt of the $200 deposit will 1) reserve a spot for the swimmer on the Winter 2006-07 training roster 2) will trigger the purchase of the team uniform (suit, t-shirts and sweatshirts) for that swimmer and 3) allow Elite to understand the training group size vis a viz tryouts (slated for Monday, July 24 at Morristown-Beard School at 4 pm).

 

            The deposit is non-refundable.

 

TRYOUTS FOR WINTER 2006-07 SESSION AT MBS ON MONDAY, JULY 24:

 

            Elite will hold tryouts for their 2006-07 Winter Session on Monday, July 24 at Morristown-Beard School from 4 pm to 6 pm. Tryout information is now posted on the website under Tryout 2006.

 

            At tryouts, swimmers will be required to swim 3 times: once freestyle and two out of three of the other competitive strokes. 8 & Unders will swim 25 meters for each stroke while 9 & older swimmers will swim 50 meters of each stroke.

 

            Swimmers who joined Elite for the Spring 2006 Session are required to tryout again this summer to secure a roster spot. Swimmers who trained with Elite during both the Winter 2005-06 Session and the Spring 2006 Session need to send in their $200 deposit prior to August 1st to secure their roster spot. 

 

            In order to keep each training group size manageable, no training group will exceed 36 swimmers (6 swimmers to a lane). With regards to the Senior and Senior Preps (who practice at the same time, the combined number will not exceed 36 swimmers).

 

            Parents of Elite swimmers who have siblings who are interested in trying out should contact Bill in advance.

 

            A make-up tryout is slated for Tuesday, September 5 at Newark Academy from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Very, very few swimmers are expected to be taken as a result of these make-up tryouts.

 

BILL AVAILABLE FOR SUMMER SWIM CLINICS:

 

            Over the past 10 summers, Bill has provided dozens of free instructional clinics at local summer swim clubs in the area. Designed to promote both swimming as a sport and Elite to seasonal swimmers, these clinics are provided for swimmers of all ages and abilities.

 

            Usually held during a summer club’s pool during swim practice time, the clinics touch upon the body position and balance drills that are the foundation of Elite’s teaching system. The clinics generally last about 1 hour.

 

            Two teams (Bee Meadow & Fells Brook) have already scheduled clinics this summer. Elite parents whom are involved with their local swim clubs are welcome to contact Bill to set up a date this summer for a clinic!!! 

 

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)  12 & Under Silvers will be held Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16 at Rutgers Meet Information now posted

 

2) 13 & Older Silvers will be held Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23 at Rutgers Meet Information now posted

 

           3) Bronze Championships will be held on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30 in Bayonne (at an outside venue!). Meet Information now posted

 

            4) Due to a entry deadline situation pertaining to the Summer Zones Competition, Junior Olympics HAS BEEN MOVED TO Friday, July 28, Saturday July 29 & Sunday July 30 at Rutgers University.