ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               8-1-11

 

    “Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”

 

ELITE PLACES 5TH AT LCM JUNIOR OLYMPICS WITH 975.5 POINTS!!

11-12 GIRLS BREAK STATE RECORD

IN 200 MEDLEY RELAY!!

SEBASTIAN (2) & SLEPIAN (2) EARN SECTIONAL CUTS!!!

A DUREN (3), FU, GIOSTRA, E. IIZUKA, MALINOWSKI, C. PICK, S. SLEPIAN & STEINBERG POST ZONE TIMES!!

A IIZUKA (2), C. PICK (2) & A. RIZZO (3) & S. SLEPIAN

WIN 8 EVENTS!!!

A RIZZO WINS 13-14 BOYS HIGH POINT RACE;

SEBASTIAN 2ND IN BOYS 15 & O!!

 

            With 975.5 points, the Elite Swim Club placed 5th in New Jersey Swimming’s 2011 LCM Junior Olympics competition this past weekend at Rutgers University. Elite team totals for post JO swimming now stand at:

6 swimmers qualified for 31 events at Sectionals and 24 swimmers qualified for 97 events at Zones (both new highs)!!

 

            Along the way, Elite broke its 2nd NJ Swimming LCM relay record in 3 weeks!12 year old Christina Pick (back), 12 year old Alicia Iizuka (breast), 12 year old Emily Gorham (fly) and 12 year old Isabelle Malinowski (free) smashed the 9 year old record by over 2 seconds. Ironically, the 2nd place team was Somerset Valley YMCA, who also went under the old record (a role reversal of the 13-14 Girls Free Relay 3 weeks ago when SVY & ESC both broke that record, with SVY having the faster time).

 

              14 year old Anthony Rizzo, who joined Elite this spring, scored 151 points (out of a possible 180) to win the 13-14 Boys High Point Race. Anthony won the 200 free (2.06.11), the 800 free (9.10.96), the 1500 free (17.25.98-missing a sectional cut by just 2 seconds) and placed 2nd in the 400 free (4.22.67), the 200 IM (2.22.85) & the 400 IM (4.59.34).

 

            15 year old Ryan Sebastian (who aged up less than 4 weeks ago), added 2 Sectional qualifying times (800 free-8.55.72-1st Elite swimmer under 9 minutes & 200 fly-2.14.09) to bring his individual total to 10. Prior to SCY JOs in March, Ryan did not have a Sectional time!! Ryan’s times in the 200 IM, 400 IM and the 200 breast may also be Scholastic All-America Times; USA Swimming as not yet posted these time standards but Ryan’s times in these 3 events are lower than the 2010-11 Standards and Ryan has performed them within the designated time period. Ryan would be the 4th Elite swimmer to earn this prestigious award. Ryan also placed 2nd in the high point race for his new age group with 98 points. Significantly, Ryan is also tantalizingly close to Junior National qualifying times by reason of his 400 IM, 2nd place finish of 4.40.73 (just 2 seconds over) and his 200 breast time of 2.29.11 (just 1.5 seconds).

 

            13 (or 14, depending on which day as she was a birthday girl this weekend) year old Sarah Slepian grabbed her 5th and 6th Sectional qualifying time with finals performance in the 200 IM (2.28.04) and her 2nd place finish in the 200 breast in 2.46.04). However, Sarah’s best race this weekend was her 8 second drop in the 400 IM (5.08.84) to win the event.

 

            12 year old Alicia Iizuka, in addition to participating in the record breaking relay, won both the 100 breast (1.19.47-less than 1 second from a Sectional qualifying time!!) and the 200 breast (2.55.61).

 

            12 year old Christina Pick (also a birthday girl this weekend) touched 1st in both the 200 (2.37.02) and the 400 (5.30.50) IMs!! Christina was 3rd in the 200 back (2.37.70), 4th in both the 400 free (4.56.89) and the 100 back (1.13.27), 5th in the 200 fly (2.41.24) and 6th in the 100 fly (1.12.01). Information regarding high point scores for this age are not posted but it is likely Christina was in the mix!! Christina’s 200 IM swim was so fast that it was a Zone time in her new age group!!

 

            12 year old Amy Duren was on fire this weekend, as she placed 4th in the 200 fly (2.39.73), 9th in the 100 fly (1.13.04) and 11th in the 50 fly (32.48), all of which were new Zone cuts!!

 

             14 year old Jason Steinberg won the consolation heat in the 100 breast (1.17.79) and in doing so, dipped beneath the Zone qualifying time.

 

            10 year old Sydney Slepian earned her 1st Zone cut by dropping nearly 1 second to earn a 14th place finish in the 50 back (39.88).

 

            10 year old Emily Fu snagged her 2nd Zone cut in placing 12th in the 100 breast (1.37.52).

 

            9 year old Erica Iizuka also earned her 2nd Zone swim with her 10th place finish in the 100 fly (1.26.75).

           

            16 year old Lindsey Giostra also posted her 2nd Zone qualifying time with her 12th place, 2 second drop in the 200 breast (2.55.86).

 

            Leading off the 4 x 50 Free Relay, Isabelle Malinowski snuck under both the 30 second mark & the Zone cut with her 29.92 swim.   

 

            The 10 & Under Boys 4 x 50 Free Relay, consisting of Sandeepan Mukherjee, Will Stearns, Joe Pick and Michael Rizzo placed 3rd while the same 4 boys combined for a 4th place finish in the 4 x 50 Medley Relay.

 

            Other highlights include:

1)      12 year old Emily Gorham’s 6th place finish in the 50 free (29.68) and her 7th place finish in the 50 fly (32.25)

2)      14 year old Gabrielle Pick nabbed 8th place in the 200 fly (2.37.95) and won the consolation heat in the 100 fly with a 1.08.34 time.

3)      12 year old Jimmy Coyne’s 9th place finish in the 200 breast (3.02.29) and his 10th place finish in the 100 breast (1.24.38)

4)      15 year old Isabella Morreale won the consolation heat to place 9th in the 200 breast (2.52.93) and placed 11th in the 100 breast (1.19.48)

5)      13 year old Chris Balbo’s 10th place finish & 3 second drop in the 200 fly (2.31.44) & his 11th place finish in the 1500 free (18.31.82)

6)      12 year old Abbie Bighman’s 12th place finish in the 1500 free (20.58.00). Along the way, Abbie swam under her best 800 free time from earlier in the meet!!

7)      13 year old Kaitlin Stearns earned a 13th place finish in the 200 free (2.16.33) and a 14th place finish in the 100 back (1.13.18)

8)      17 year old Michael Li placed 13th in the 100 breast (1.11.11)     

 

          Full results are posted on the team website.

 

Swimmers who participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite LCM best times):  Matthew Ahlmeyer, Chris Balbo (6), Abbie Bigham (5), Melody Chen, Morgan Conley, Jimmy Coyne (2), Amy Duren (6), Avi Duvvuri, Krishna Duvvuri, Emily Fu (5), Lindsey Giostra (2), Emily Gorham (5), Angharad Healey (1), Alicia Iizuka (2), Erica Iizuka (4), Karen Iizuka (1), Monica Iizuak (4), Isabel LaRaia, Brandon Li (1), Michael Li, Isabelle Malinowski (7), Katie McGrath, Karl Melchior, Isabella Morreale (1), Charlotte Morrissey, Sandeepan Mukherjee (1), Caroline Nash, Evan Ng (2), Emily Peter (1), Christina Pick (9), Gabrielle Pick (3), Joe Pick (2), Anthony Rizzo (6), Michael Rizzo, Brandon Rossi (1), Ryan Sebastian (11), Sarah Slepian (5), Sydney Slepian (5), Gian Soriano, Kaitlin Stearns (2), Lindsay Stearns, Will Stearns, Jason Steinberg (2), Cullen Walsh (2), Caroline Watt, Adam Weinbrom, Ryan Wyer & Claire Xu (1).

GORHMAM SAMPLES CANADIAN SWIMMING:

            15 year old Jessica Gorham, a Canadian citizen, participated in the 2011 Canadian Age Group Championships (a meet roughly equivalent to USA Swimming’s Junior Nationals held in Montreal, Canada this past week.

            Set up with qualifying times for each age 12 & Older (thru 16, then there is a 16-18 age group), the Canadian Age Group Championships are Canada’s national meet for age groupers. Jess had qualified for 4 events and was able to bonus an additional swim.

            While in the middle of her taper (Jess’s taper is aimed at next weeks Sectionals meet), just was near her best times in her 4 events: 50 free (28.40), 100 free (1.01.95), 100 back (1.08.79) & 200 back (2.29.66). As her bonus event, Jess picked the 50 back (32.49), an event that many countries compete in (but the US does not).

            The event was held at an outdoor venue with two long course pools set in a large municipal park. Literally yards away were two separate stages where the park hosted a 4 day rock concert (Elton John, Rod Stewart and Eminem all played during finals!!). The music and sound checks made it challenging for the swimmers to hear the start (although no one complained).

            Interesting Canadian tidbits:

1)      There is a team in Canada called Natation Elite, which literally means Elite Swimming

2)      The 10 lane competition pool was numbered 0 thru 9.

3)      Dos= backstroke; papillon=butterfly

4)      Announcements were made both in English and French, though the race start was in English

5)      Disqualifications were announced over the loud speaker, with the swimmer only being identified thru their heat and lane

6)      Jess made fast friends with Joyce Arends of a Saskatchewan (north of North Dakota) team called: Moose Jaw Kinsman Flying Fins (Jess has the cap to prove it)!

TRYOUTS YIELDS NEW TALENT!!

15 NEW SWIMMERS WILL JOIN COMPETITIVE PROGRAM:

MARLINS GROUPS FULL;

WAVEBUSTERS & PRE-ELITE STILL HAS SPACE: 

            July tryouts for the Elite Swim Club’s Winter 2011-12 Training Session has yielded 18 new swimmers to the competitive club and 18 new swimmers to Pre-Elite.

 

            Joining Elite this spring will be:

 

Wave Blacks: Marie Fagan, Caroline Kelly & Emma Zawacki

 

Marlin Blacks: Alex Ferandes, Owen Healey, Keerthi Jayaraman & Naomi Lynch

 

Marlin Teals: Kelly Adamski, Lily Connor, Luc Francis, Abhinav Khandrika, Adithi Jayaraman, Zoe Lynch,

                       Caitlyn Sleeman, Alisa Stellini

 

            Also joining Elite in the Pre-Elite program will be 16 new swimmers:

 

Pre-Elite Wavebuster Teals: Gabriella Bellard, Cynthia Cheng, Jennifer Speckhart & Sarah Speckhart

 

Pre-Elite Marlins: Devanshi Banerjee, Ryan Boyd, Rebecca Brown, Stephen Chang, Evan Fagan, Alex Facq, Jonathan Fu, Anirudh

                                Khandrika, Ruby Pollack, Gabrielle Romano, Nick Slover, Michael Speckphart, Anusha Veluri

            The Supplemental Tryouts will be held Tuesday, September 6 at Newark Academy at 4:30 pm. By reason of our successful July Tryouts, the Marlin training group is now closed. Openings are available in all three Wavebuster training groups and within Pre-Elite.             

WINTER 2011-12 SEASON TO HAVE STAGGERED START:

            Elite will stagger the start of its Winter 2011-12 season. The start will occur as follows:

            Seniors & Senior Preps-begin Monday, August 29th

                Supplemental Tryouts: Tuesday, Sept 6

            Wavebuster Golds: Wednesday, Sept 7

            Wavebuster Blacks: Wednesday, Sept 7

            Wavebuster Teals: Tuesday, Sept 13

            Marlin Blacks: Monday, Sept 12

            Marlin Teals: Monday, Sept 12

            Head Coach Bill Deatly will hold a “New Parents Meeting” on Wednesday, Sept 21 at Newark Academy at 5:00 pm.

OLYMPIANS COMING TO DREW UNIVERSITY SUNDAY, SEPT 25TH:

            Drew University Swimming has announced that the Swim Champions: Fitter & Faster Tour will once again be stopping in Madison, NJ. This year’s clinic will be held on Sunday, September 25th @ 1:00 pm.  Local Olympic Silver & Bronze Medalist (2008) Julia Smit and Olympic Gold Medalist (2000, '04 & '08) Ian Crocker.

 

            Please note that in order to afford a world class swimmer like Jason Lezak to come to Elite, ESCPO will not be hosting an Olympian Day this year but will be saving its money for 2012-13. Thus, this clinic at Drew University may be one’s best opportunity to see Olympians this coming winter!

 

            Space will be limited, so sign up early. Be sure to go directly to the web page to register: http://www.swimchampions.com/detail/madison-nj/.  

SENIORS & SENIOR PREPS: YOUR VIDEO IS ON YOUTUBE;

            Along with the new website that will signal a new technological era in Elite Swimming history, Coach Bill Deatly has begun filming Elite swimmers in their competition. Most recently, Seniors and Senior Preps were filmed digitally at Summer Sizzle and many of those videos have been uploaded to YouTube: EliteswimmingNJ link: http://www.youtube.com/user/EliteSwimmingNJ#p/u.

            Going forward, Elite coaches will devise a plan on what and whom to video. Plans are being made to have the Seniors & Senior Preps underwater stroke technique video uploaded so parents and swimmers can visit the coaches stroke technique sessions.

            Filming all swimmers at all meets is not feasible (especially during short course-winter session, when many of our competitions are held in two pools simultaneously).

 “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!  

RISING SENIORS (IN HIGH SCHOOL), JULY AND AUGUST ARE THE “OFFICIAL COLLEGE ESSAY MONTHS!!!:

            All rising Seniors in high school should take advantage of some down-time and prepare your college essay this summer. July and August are “Official College Essay Months!!!

            1st semester Seniors have a tremendous workload in addition to being under a tremendous amount of stress. 1st semester Seniors have: 1) college visits (swimmers may have college recruiting visits that last Friday thru Sunday) 2) SAT preparation 3) preparing college applications 4) keeping up their grades (colleges will want to see the 1st semester grades) and 4) swimming workload (college coaches expect swimmers to be training at their usual full schedule).

            Thus, organizing and writing one’s college essay during the “down” months of July and August is extremely productive and wise.

SAY CHEESE AND DOWNLOAD PLEASE!

MEMORY BOOK PICTURES NEEDED!

 

            It is never too early to think about next years memory book!  Thank you Pam Coyne for doing a great job with the memory book this year!  Laura Matheson (Cody's mom!) has agreed to put together the book and slide show for next years banquet.   Parents and swimmers can provide pictures to Laura by email kmatheson531@earthlink.net, by thumb drive or by compact disk.  Laura can usually be found in the bleachers during Wave Gold practices.  Send your pictures to Laura as you take them and she will be sure that some of your favorite photos are included in this years memory book!  Remember, summer is a great time to get candid shots of your favorite swimmers at practice or at our many fun filled events.   

 

PARENTS: PLEASE BE PROMPT IN PICKING UP SWIMMERS:

 

            Parents are requested to be prompt in picking up their swimmers at the end of practice. Recently, especially after the Wave Golds on weekdays and the Wave Teals on Saturday, swimmers have had to wait 30-45 minutes after practice for their ride.

 

            Bill has asked the coaches to remain at practice until the last child has been picked up (for the obvious safety reasons). Coaches are more than willing to do so occasionally. But Elite coaches have other full time jobs and several are attending school in addition to their primary jobs and coaching. It is unfair to ask the coaches to spend an additional 30-40 minutes waiting for parents to pick up their children.

 

            Elite is prompt about ending practice on time. Please help out the coaches by being prompt to pick up your child.

 

TIMING COORDINATORS ASK FOR YOUR HELP IN RESPONDING TO EMAILS:

 

            Parents of Elite swimmers are asked to add the following four email addresses to your e-mail address book to ensure you receive important information regarding Elite Hosted Meets, Timing Information for all other meets and Parent Association Information.  Adding the e-mail addresses will insure that these important e-mails do not go to your junk/spam folder. 

 

Carolyn Balbo -                     cbalbo@comcast.net

Sanjeeta Mukherjee -        sanjumukhe@gmail.com         

Sue Duren -                            sueduren@aol.com

Antone Balbo -                      abalbo@comcast.net

 

 

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!!!