ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               07-27-09

 

DAZZLING RAINBOW PREDICTS DAZZLING WEEKEND:

26 ADDITIONAL JO CUTS PUTS 2009 NUMBERS AT 50 SWIMMERS, 235 EVENTS:

C. ALLOCCO, DORNEO, P. DUVVURI, GROEL (2), HALL, KOLOGY, MANGO (2), I. MORREALE, SEBASTIAN (2), L. STEARNS (2) & A. WEINBROM WIN 15 SILVER EVENTS:

BROWN, BURNS (2), DEATLY, A. DON (2), FARNOW, FITZPATRICK, GIOSTRA, J. GORHAM, C. LARAIA, K. MCGRATH, A. MORREALE & SCHERB WIN 12 BRONZE EVENTS;

DORNEO, V. DUVVURI, GROEL (3), HALL, KOLOGY (3), MANGO (3), B. MILLER-RADEST, K. MILLER-RADEST (2), I. MORREALE, SEBASTIAN (4), L. STEARNS (4), WEINBROM & WYER POST JO QUALIFYING TIMES:

 

            As swimmers entered the Springfield pool for practice early Friday morning, a dazzling rainbow broke over the trees, greeting Elite prior to its big competition weekend for 13 & Olders. The rainbow signaled the start of an utterly dazzling weekend for Elite. 

 

            In two separate meets (13 & Older Bronze Championships on Friday & 13 & O Silver Championships on Saturday and Sunday), Elite manhandled both its competition and the New Jersey qualifying times (both JO and Silvers). Along the way, 13 swimmers qualified for 26 additional Junior Olympic swims & 23 separate swimmers won 29 events!!! With Junior Olympics starting this coming Thursday, Elite has 50 individual qualifiers in 235 events. While 8 events short of last summer’s team high total JO total of 243, this summer Elite has 12 more individual qualifiers than last year’s squad of 38 (a 38% increase!), speaking to the team’s increasingly prevalent strength & depth!!

 

13 & Older Silvers:

 

            With each swimmer on the 35 NJ teams vying one last time for Junior Olympic qualifying times, four swimmers lead Elite by winning two events apiece. 13 year olds Lindsay Stearns and Ryan Sebastian were simply brilliant; not only did they win two events, but each placed 2nd twice in other competition. Not far behind were 15 year old Alex Mango and 18 year old Scott Groel, who also won twice and placed 2nd in a 3rd event!

 

            Stearns ran away with the 400 IM crown, winning her event by more than 6 seconds (5.40.33). Lindsay followed up by grabbing the 200 IM title as well, in 2.41.31 time. When not winning IM events, Lindsay was placing 2nd in both the 100 (1.15.74) and 200 (2.42.20) backstroke events (placing behind her training partner Alli Dorneo in the 2 back!). All 4 swims were JO qualifiers.

 

            Sebastian, who aged up earlier this month, was undaunted by competing against older swimmers: Ryan won both the 200 breast (2.53.74) and the 800 free (10.02.61-a 24 second drop from an May, 2009 performance). Ryan back-up these swims with 2nd place finishes in the 1500 free (19.02.26) and the 100 breast (1.21.29).

 

            Mango, who joined Elite this spring, won 2 of his 5 competitions and placed no higher than 5th.  Alex touched first in both the 1500 free (17.52.12) and the 200 fly (2.24.12) and was 2nd in the 200 IM (2.24.57).  Alex’s 4th place 200 fly finish was his 3rd JO cut of the meet (along with the 1500 and the fly).

 

            Groel, who at the suggestion of friend Chris Dart joined Elite this spring in order to get in good enough shape to earn a spot on the Clemson University Swim Team this fall, demonstrated his progress by dropping a whopping 19 seconds in the 800 free from a May, 2009 Elite competition to win the event handily. Groel also coasted to a victory in the 400 free, again dropping significant time (9+ seconds from May). Scott’s 3rd and last weekend race was in the 50 free, where he placed 2nd (behind Elite’s Duncan Hall) with a 26.51 time. All 3 swims were gold times.

 

             In perhaps the most surprising performance of the weekend, 13 year old Isabella Morreale outstroked her competition to win the 100 breaststroke (1.25.63) for her 1st Junior Olympic time this summer. 16 year old Duncan Hall, who spent last summer in a back brace and is still dogged by stiffness, was limber enough to win the 50 free (26.32).

 

            16 year old Chelsea Allocco, who has battled shoulder issues this past year, showed what persistence can accomplish by winning the 1500 free with a full minute drop from last summer: 19.58.53. 13 year old Alli Dorneo added her 2nd Junior Olympic swim by winning the 200 back (2.40.72) with a 3 second drop. Dorneo also placed 5th in the 200 IM (2.44.10) with a 4 second improvement.

 

            17 year old Venkatesh Duvvuri was hot all weekend long, winning the 100 fly in a 1.02.29 JO time. Venka just missed going gold in both the 100 back (4th place finish) and the 200 back (3rd place finish!).  Sister Priya Duvvuri also swam magnificently, but failed to add a JO swim. Priya won the 200 back (2.34.63), placed 2nd in the 50 free (29.38), and placed 3rd in both the 200 breast (2.59.05) and 200 IM (2.34.75).

 

            16 year old Adam Weinbrom won the 100 free (56.83), dropping 1.6 and dipping under the JO cut. 13 year old Regan Kology continued to see improvement on all fronts; Regan won the 200 fly (2.39.60), placed 2nd in both the 200 breast (3.04.50) and the 100 fly (1.12.76). All three were JO cuts, giving Regan 11 cuts in her new age group.

 

            13 year old Kara Miller-Radest showed her toughness by placing 3rd & going gold in the 200 fly (2.43.60) and then racing the 100 free with just 10 minutes of recovery time (with a time just .01 off her best!). Kara added the 800 free to her JO schedule with her 5th place finish of 10.32.08 (a 21 second drop!).

 

            15 year old Brendan Miller-Radest stroked to a 2nd place finish in the 200 fly (behind Mango) & a JO cut with his 2.26.06 swim. 16 year old Ryan Wyer snuck under the JO qualifying time in the 50 free (by just .01) with his 26.68 time.

 

             Other notable performances:

 

1)      15 year old Michael Li placed 2nd in the 200 back (2.28.93) and place 8th three times: 400 IM (5.16.84), 200 fly (2.41.34) and 200 IM (2.27.14)

2)      18 year old Brittany Ross stroked to a 3rd place finish in the 100 fly (1.11.12)

3)      16 year old Maggie Nelson was 4th in the 100 back (1.14.56) and 6th in the 200 back (2.38.96)

4)      14 year old Krishna Duvvuri placed 6th in the 100 fly (1.13.68) and 7th in the 100 back (1.14.66)

5)      16 year old Anthony Don came in 6th in the 200 back (2.30.53)

6)      14 year old Caitlin Brown placed 6th in the 50 free (30.68)

7)      18 year old Cassandra Farnow was 7th in the 100 back (1.14.90)

8)      13 year old Andrea Shepard was 8th in both the 800 free (10.42.51) and the 1500 free (21.00.54)

9)      14 year old Matt Ahlmeyer was 8th in the 200 back (2.40.16)

10)  16 year old Emmie Lai came in 8th in the 100 fly (1.12.37)

 

Swimmers who participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite LCM best times): Matt Ahlmeyer (2), Chelsea Allocco (1), Jenni Allocco (5), Lindsay Behar (1), Mark Berns (2), Caitlin Brown (6), John Burns (6), Tad Deatly (1), Kelly Delaney, Anthony Don (2), DeYoung Don (1), Jeffrey Dong (1), Alli Dorneo (6), Sam Duren (3), Krishna Duvvuri (6), Priya Duvvuri (5), Venka Duvvuri (6), Cassandra Farnow (1), Jess Gorham (4), Kevin Greener (2), Scott Groel (3), Duncan Hall (4), Brent Jones, Greg Keiser (2), Brandon King (3), Regan Kology (5), Emmie Lai (1), Patrick Lai (2), Clark LaRaia (6), Michael Li (6), Alex Mango (5), Danielle Martinez (2), Katie McGrath, Sarah McGrath (2), Brendan Miller-Radest (5), Kara Miller-Radest (5), Ali Morreale, Isabella Morreala (2), Maggie Nelson (4), Eugene Ng (3), Darragh O’Gorman (5), Nick Pachiolo (1), Brittany Ross, Ryan Sebastian (6), Andrea Shepard (2), Jonas Singer (5), Lindsay Stearns (6), Caroline Watt (1), Adam Weinbrom (2), Sarah Weinbrom, Ryan Wyer (3) & Richard Yu.

 

13 & Older Bronze:

 

            Capitalizing on the small turnout, the Elite swimmers treated the 13 & Older Bronze Championship Meet like it was their own playground (and they shared their toys very unwillingly!).

 

            12 Elite swimmers won 14 out of a total of 32 possible events!!

 

16 year old John Burns and 16 year old Anthony Don both won two events apiece. Burns, who has earned a promotion into the Senior Program this coming fall, won both events he was entered in: the 200 free (2.17.47) and the 200 IM (2.36.10) and both swims were Silver qualifiers. Don, who has just finished his first full year training cycle, showed what conditioning will do as he won both the 50 free (28.53) and the 100 free (1.02.39). Anthony also placed 6th in the 100 fly.

 

13 year old Jess Gorham won the 200 free with a 9.5 second drop (2.27.01) and placed 3rd in the 100 free with a 3 second drop (1.08.66). Both times were silver.

 

16 year old Ali Morreale won the 100 back (1.18.85) and placed 2nd in the 100 free (1.07.79). Teammate Breana Fitzpatrick won the 100 free (in just beating Ali) in a 1.07.63 time while placing 2nd (just behind Ali) in the 100 back (1.18.89).

 

17 year old Tad Deatly, competing in the 100 fly for the first time in over a year, won the event by dropping 8.77 seconds (expect to see him doing more fly in the future!) in a Silver time. Tad also placed 3rd in the 100 free (1.03.58).

 

14 year old Lindsey Giostra won the 200 IM in 2.47.40 while placing 5th in the 50 free (32.41)-both Silver.

 

18 year old Cassandra Farnow touched out the competition in the 100 butterfly, splashing to a 1.13.63 Silver time.

 

13 year old Clark LaRaia was 1st in the 100 fly (dropping 11 seconds) and 2nd in the 200 IM (2.55.68) and found Silver in each swim.

 

13 year old Katie McGrath, working thru a shoulder issue this summer still won the 100 back in a 1.23.50 time.

 

15 year old Daniel Scherb won the 100 back with a 1.14.42 time. Scherb also placed 4th in both his other events (100 free-1.03.96 & 50 free-29.42).

 

            Other notable swims:

 

1)      14 year old Jenni Allocco placed 2nd in the 200 IM (2.50.59)-Silver

2)      13 year old Alli Dorneo was 2nd in the 200 free (2.29.54) and 4th in the 100 fly (1.19.63)-both Silver

3)      16 year old Sam Duren went Silver during his 2nd place 100 free swim (1.02.85)

4)      15 year old Brent Jones found Silver in his 2nd place 100 fly swim (1.15.83) and was 3rd in the 50 free (29.37)

5)      15 year old Greg Keiser placed 2nd in the 200 IM (2.41.20)

6)      16 year old Emmie Lai was 3rd in the 200 IM (2.58.86) and 4th in the 100 breast (1.39.53)

7)      16 year old Sarah McGrath placed 2nd in the 50 fre (31.40)

8)      13 year old Kara Miller-Radest placed 2nd in the 100 back (1.24.16) and 3rd in the 200 IM (2.52.24)

9)      16 year old Alex N’Diaye came in 3rd in the 50 free (31.50)

10)   13 year old Dara O’Gorman placed to a 2nd place finish (and Silver time) in the 200 free (2.43.01)

11)  13 year old Andrea Shepard splashed to a 2nd place finish in the 100 fre (1.08.64) and a Silver time

 

            Swimmers who participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite LCM best times): Jenni Allocco (3), Lindsay Anderson (1), Mark Berns (3), Caitlin Brown (2), John Burns (2), Stephanie Chen (3), Tad Deatly (3), Kelly Delaney (2), Anthony Don (3), DeYoung Don (3), Alli Dorneo (2), Sam Duren (2), Cassandra Farnow (2), Madeleine Faust (2), Breana Fitzpatrick (1), Lindsey Giostra (2) Jess Gorham (2), Lydia Gracey (1), Julia Guacelli (1), Brent Jones (3), Greg Keiser (2), Emmie Lai (1), Patrick Lai (3), Clark LaRaia (2), Jessie Lowe (2), Gregory Maccia (2), Danielle Martinez (1), Katie McGrath, Sarah McGrath, Kara Miller-Radest (2), Ali Morreale (2), Isabella Morreala (2), Alexandra N’Diaye (2), Darragh O’Gorman (3), Nick Pachiolo (1), Taylor Savarerse (2), Daniel Scherb (3), Andrea Shepard (2), Lexi Tedesco (1), Caroline Watt & Sarah Weinbrom (2).

 

MORE TALENT ON THE WAY; TRYOUTS YIELD 16 NEW SWIMMERS:

 

            From perhaps the most competitive tryouts in the history of Elite, 16 new swimmers have committed to training with Elite during the Winter 2009-10 Season.  Most of the swimmers accepted have previous year round swimming experience.

 

Joining Elite will be:

 

Wave Golds: Brian Liu, Ria Iizuka & Remenna Xu

 

Wave Blacks: John Chiang, Ryan Miller

 

Wave Teals: Lynna Huo, Giancarlo Soriano, Vivian Xia & Grace Xu

 

Marlin Teals: Cordelia Burn, Lara-Grace Kology, Kristen Liu, Livia Maguire, Teddy Maguire, Dante Soriano & Doris Xia

 

MICHELLE DUCHARME NAMED NJ EASTERN ZONE COACH:

 

            Elite Coach Michelle DuCharme has been named as a New Jersey Eastern Zone Coach for the Summer 2009 Zone Championships to be held August 12 thru 15 at Penn State University.

 

            This is the 2nd time Michelle has been named a Zone Coach; she represented NJ (and Elite) this past spring at the Spring 2009 Championships.

 

            Prior to JO competition, 19 Elite swimmers have qualified for 74 Zone events (last year’s totals were 19/67).

 

            Current Elite Coaches Ashley Johnston and Becky Marcelliano have also been Zone Coaches in the past.

 

FINA PASSES USA SPONSORED PROPOSAL LIMITING HI-TECH SUITS:

 

            FINA, the world federation that governs international swimming competition, passed a resolution Friday, July 24 limiting (eliminating?) the use of high-tech suits at international competition. Presumably, USA Swimming will comply with the resolution with regards to USA competition. New Jersey Swimming will comply with all USA regulations.

 

            The two significant features of the resolution speak to length (men suits will be limited to the waist to the knee-Jammer size and women suits will be limited from the neck, shoulders and knees) and to the material (textile only). It is unclear as to the definition of textile, yet it presumably limits/eliminates the high-tech suits that have been introduced since February, 2008.

 

            The FINA resolution does not take into effect until 2010. USA will hold a convention in Chicago in September (Bill will be a voting representative from NJ) where presumably a new USA resolution will be adopted.

 

ELITE BACK TO WORK EARLIER THIS FALL:

 

            Attempting to squeeze a couple more practice opportunities out of next season, Elite will start practice earlier this coming training season.

 

            As per the tentative September 2009 practice schedule now posted on the website under Practice Schedule, the Seniors and Senior Preps will begin training on August 31st and September 1st respectively.

 

            The Wave Golds and the Wave Blacks will begin on September 9 (the day after tryouts).

 

The Wave Teals, the Marlin Blacks and the Marlin Teals will begin September 13th. Each training group is starting 1 week earlier than last year.

 

This schedule is still tentative and updated schedules will be posted in August.

 

EASTERN ZONE INFORMATION NOW POSTED ON NJ SWIMMING WEBSITE:

 

New Jersey Swimming has now posted the athlete application for those swimmers who have qualified and plan to attend the Eastern Zone LCM Age Group All-Star Meet to be held at Penn State University from August 12 thru August 15, 2009. Currently, Elite has 18 swimmers who have qualified for 69 events (last summer we qualified 19 swimmers in 67 events).

 

Swimmers who are interested in competing at Zones and who have already qualified are requested to complete the application and mail it in as soon as possible. NJ Swimming will allow for amendments if swimmers qualify for additional events during Junior Olympics. The link is: http://www.njswim.org/njswimmingzones.html. Stephanie Crofton noted last week that uniform items may not be ready by Zones if a swimmer turns in their form at JO’s. Please strongly consider sending your information in early!!!

 

Gail Kology has already made arrangements at the Residence Inn at Marriott for zones and has locked in a great rate for Elite families.  Per her email to Bill this week: “They seem to be the hotel of choice because they have the refrigerator/cook top and with the early rise for the older kids, well, we all remember the issue last summer with finding breakfast.  None of the hotels offered by NJ Swimming offers any kind of kitchenette.  Anyway, I found the rate on orbitz.com cheaper than what the hotel was offering.  However, the hotel and I worked out $129 which was the average of the two prices that I found on orbitz (one price for weekday and then it was cheaper for weekend stay so the hotel averaged the two prices and took off another 5 dollars a day).  If you would like to stay at the Marriott, my contact there is Shawn and he can be reached at 814-235-6960.  Please remind him that he spoke with Gail Kology on Tuesday, June 30 and again, $129 was our final price and he is willing to give that to any of our swimmers for zones. You may be able to get a cheaper price at one of the other hotels (again, no kitchenette, though). I am not obligated to a minimum number of rooms or nights as this rate is good no matter. The address for the Marriott is 1555 University Drive, State College, Pa and they are located about a mile from the University.”  

 

WINTER PRACTICE SCHEDULE SAME NEXT YEAR AS LAST YEAR:

The Winter 2009-10 practice schedule will be identical as last year’s schedule. Elite will continue to extend the Wavebuster Black Friday night practice to 7:30 pm. In addition, the Wavebuster Golds will utilize Newark Academy on Saturday mornings early in the season prior to joining the Seniors & Senior Preps at MBS later in the season to race.

NOMINATIONS WANTED FOR ESCPO:

 

            Nominations for positions are wanted and needed for the Elite Swim Club Parents Organization. Parents who are interested or who have nominees should email Sandi Niccolai at sandnic@aol.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!!!