ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               07-10-06

 

HARD TO BELIEVE:

CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON IS UPON US:

 

            With the summer competition season being so short, as hard as it may seem the Championship Season actually starts this coming weekend.

 

            Beginning this Saturday and Sunday, Elite swimmers will compete in the next 3 weekends in their “End of the Season Championship Meets.” The fun begins with the 12 & U Silver/Bronze Championship Meet held at Rutgers. Next weekend, the 13 & Olders will have their Silver Championship Meet, also held at Rutgers. Also held next weekend is Sectionals, which is held in Buffalo. On the weekend of July 29, there will be two championship meets: Junior Olympics held Friday, July 28 thru Sunday, July 30 (at Rutgers) and the 13 & Older Bronze Championships (at Bayone).

 

            Swimmers and parents should be aware that UNLIKE the Winter Session, swimmers are encouraged to continue to train with Elite thru the end of July even if their NJ Swimming Championship meet has been held. The longer swimmers remain in shape this summer, the faster they will get back in shape come September.

 

PARENTS OF MORNING SWIMMERS:

PLEASE PROVIDE NUTRITIONAL BARS:

 

            Parents of morning swimmers: please provide your swimmers a nutritional bar (or two) for your swimmer to eat during and right after practice.

 

            Long course training is especially grueling training. This summer, Elite swimmers are working especially hard and as a result, they are extremely hungry during or right after practice. Swimmers have been asking for and receiving nutritional bars from Bill on a daily basis (on some days, swimmers are eating up to 20 bars at a single practice). This is a great sign that the swimmers are working hard and that they need nutrition to build muscle. 

 

            Bill packs nutritional bars to provide swimmers an occasional snack. However, many, many swimmers are asking for nutritional bars day after day. So please, provide your swimmer with a bar or two to consume after practice.

 

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.

              

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.

 

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.”

 

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!!!

 

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) Sectionals will be held in Buffalo, NY from Thursday, July 19 thru Sunday, July 23. Meet Information now posted

 

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

 

            5) Junior Olympics will be held Friday, July 28, Saturday July 29 & Sunday July 30 at Rutgers University. Meet Information now posted     

 

            6) Eastern Zone Championships will be held in Buffalo, NY from Sunday, August 6 thru Saturday, August 12.

 

            7) Junior Nationals will be held Monday, August 7 thru Friday, August 11 in Irvine California.