ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               09-18-06

 

TIME TRIALS THIS WEEKEND TO SOLVE “HAPPY” PROBLEM:

 

As the tentative meet schedule describes, New Jersey Swimming has two opening (& important) meets being held on the same weekend in late October (Fall Festival & Hall-O-Ween). Each meet is designed to accomondate a particular level of swimmer (Fall Festival is for Gold/Silver level, Hall-O-ween is for Silver/Bronze level).

 

Since entering NJ sanctioned meets is done about 4-6 weeks prior to the meet, getting times on Elite’s swimmers early in the season is crucial (times gathered in October will affect entries for meets held in January). 

 

The coaches believe the swimmers at Elite have a “happy” problem: many of our swimmers have improved significantly during the past 6 months (since our championships last March) thru a combination of hard work this past spring at Elite practices, hard work this summer at Elite & summer team practices and the athlete’s simply being bigger and stronger by physically growing.

 

            The quandry goes even deeper, as some swimmers may be both silver and bronze level depending on the event, so knowing how many events a swimmer is silver and how many events are bronze will help establish where to send a swimmer to this opening week of competition. Returning Elite swimmers are well aware that Elite is extremely diligent in using only established times in its entry process for NJ Sanctioned meets. Elite does not use “guestimate” times for entries unless the meet is a Bronze level (no bottom cut times) nor does Elite use “conversion times” (attempting to translate Long Course Meter times-50 meter pool times- into SCY times). By holding steadfastly to this practice, Elite swimmers who have improved since last March (quite possibly a large number because of the hard training many Elite swimmers put in this past spring and summer), these swimmers would be incorrectly entered into the Hall-O-Ween Meet (Bronze level meet) in late October rather than into the higher level meet Fall Festival. (Silver level meet).

 

To solve this “happy” problem, Elite will be holding a time trial meet at Newark Academy on Saturday morning, September 23 for the Wavebuster level swimmers only (the swimmers most likely affected). Only Wavebuster Golds, Wavebuster Blacks and Wavebuster Teals are entered into these Time Trials (entries are posted on the website).

 

            Swimmers are reminded to check the website for start time, what uniform to wear (if new swimmers have not yet been provided with a team uniform, obviously they are not required to wear the uniform) and they should check with their coach as to pre-meet preparation (goal books, hydration, eating, etc).

 

            Parents are reminded to park in the Upper Lot at Newark Academy and to volunteer to time (as this is training for you!!!).

 

            Any swimmer who has a conflict with the Time Trials should speak to Leighann or Bill (so an alternative way of collecting times can be coordinated).

 

NEWLY CREATED “ESCPO” SAYS HELLO,

LOOKING FOR PARENT VOLUNTEERS:

 

            The following is a note from the newly created ESCPO Board:

 

With our children back in school, and the smell of chlorine permeating our households and cars, it can only mean one thing…..Swim Season!!  This fall marks the 12th year of operation for Elite.   This season also ushers in the inaugural year of the Elite Swim Club Parents Organization (ESCPO).  Over the course of the summer, the Board of ESCPO were hard at work laying the foundation for the formation of the organization including drafting by-laws, a mission statement, legal filings, etc. 

 

The development of our children as people, scholars and swimmers is based on not only the individual, but also the support network provided by coaches, teachers and family.  This includes the commitment we as parents make to drive our swimmers to practice, get everyone out the door for those 7 a.m. meet warm-ups, or providing those words of encouragement at the right time.

 

Elite has grown tremendously in the last few years.  One constant has been (other than Bill and Brandy) and will continue to be parental support of the team.  We extend a warm welcome to all new and returning Elite families and we are proud to include you as members in the ESC Parents Organization.  Remember, that first 7 a.m. meet warm-up is only a few weeks away.

 

Look for more information on the ESCPO on the team website and at the upcoming suit sale at Morristown Beard.  Register your family and tell us how you would like to help by volunteering your time or a special skill by filling out the attached registration and volunteer forms. 

 

See you at the pool!

 

ESCPO Board:  Dave Dart, Moya Chew-Lai, Sharon Brosnan, Sandi Niccolai

 

PRACTICE SUIT, ACCESSORIES SALE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1ST:

 

            Elite will hold a “Swimming Accessories Sale” Sunday, Oct 1) at Morristown-Beard from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. The sale will have four components:

 

Component #1 will have Donna Kay of Swimming, Etc. selling all swimming related items from fins, goggles, practice suits, practice racing caps, pull buoys, flip-flops, and paddles. Credit cards can be used to purchase these items. All Elite swimmers need fins while all Wave Blacks, Wave Golds, Seniors Preps and Seniors need pull buoys. Payment will made directly to Swimming Etc and credit cards can be used.

 

Component # 2 will have Elite selling excess inventory of “Elite Apparel” such as Elite racing caps, last year’s t-shirts, last year’s towels and sweatpants.  Checks or cash can be used to purchase the Elite Apparel.

 

Component #3 will have the Parents Organization providing additional “Elite Wear” such as collared shirts, fleeces, etc.

 

          Component #4 will have the Parents Organization providing information regarding the structure and plans of the Elite Swim Club Parents Organization (ESCPO).

 

Please remember that all Elite members will receive a team suit, a team t-shirt and a team sweatshirt as part of their membership of Elite apart from this sale.

 

ELITE WELCOMES NEW SWIMMERS FROM BOTH SUMMER & MAKE-UP TRYOUTS:

 

            As a result of Make-Up Tryouts, Elite has added 11 new swimmers to its Winter 2006-07 Roster. The quality of the swimmers at the Make-Up Tryouts was truly oustanding.

 

Coupled with the July 24 tryouts in which Elite took 33 swimmers, the 44 new swimmers will account for approximately Ľ of the team this year. And these new swimmers will also significantly increase Elite’s talent pool to help assemble the strongest team in Elite’s history for this coming season.

 

            The swimmers and the coaches of Elite welcome the following 44 swimmers (both tryouts) into the fold and look forward to working these these swimmers:

 

            Wave Blacks:    Laura Culiuc, Matt Lemons, Daniel Muro, Evan O’Hara,

                                       Sydney Todd

            Wave Teals:      Nicole Blum, Jonny Crowther, Jeffrey Dong, Juliet Felson,

                                       Victoria Fetner, Rachel Greene, Kara Miller-Radest, Caroline

                                       Nash, Rachel Torrorella & Richard Yu

            Marlin Blacks:   Alexandra Burkard, Emilie Ferguson, Payton Hakes, Scott

                                        Harris, Sarah Kleppe, Jared Kovacs, Clark LaRaia, Isabel

                                        LaRaia, Megan McEvoy, Katie McGrath, Killian O’Gorman,

                                       Nicholas Pachiolo & James Sullivan

            Marlin Teals:     Megan Balbo, Brielle Barba, Abbie Bigham, Kayla Burakovsky,

                                        John Burkard, Elizabeth D’Altrui, Anna Elston, Erika Fresen,

                                        Joe Gleason, Alyssa Hartigan, Brandon Li, Sarah Lowe,

                                        Matthew Miggliozzi, Colin Miller-Radest, Spencer Todd &

                                        Emily Torre

 

SCHOLAR/ATHLETE AWARDS WILL BE HIGHLIGHT OF AWARDS BANQUET:

 

          Swimmers are reminded that the ultimate award an Elite swimmer can earn at the season ending Awards Banquet (Sunday, March 25, 2007) will once again be the Elite Scholar-Athlete Awards. Great grades, in addition to great swim times, are required for a swimmer to earn one of these awards.

 

            These awards will be broken down into three levels:

 

1) All-American Scholar Athlete Award: Swimmer must have a 3.5 grade average and at least 1 Sectional Qualifying time. This award is actually a USA Swimming Award and will be presented by New Jersey Swimming. Elite will also provide a certificate to those swimmers who have qualified for this award.

 

2) The Elite Scholar-Athlete Gold Award: A swimmer must have all A’s and no more than 1 B (or the equivalent of all A’s and 1 B) plus at least 1 individual Junior Olympic QualifyTime

 

3) The Elite Scholar-Athlete Teal Award: Swimmer must have all A’s and B’s (of the equivalent) plus at least 1 individual Silver Qualfying Time

 

In addition to each swimmer receiving an impressive certificate from Elite acknowledging this achievement, from this season forward Elite will post the names of its scholar athletes on its website-forever acknowledging its most special scholar-athletes. 

 

Parents will be requested to provide the scholastic information in early March, 2007.

 

SUMMER “20”: PARENTS NEED TO GET INFO TO BILL:

 

            Last spring, the Elite coaches challenged swimmers in the Wavebuster Teal, Marlin Black and Marlin Teal training groups to add Elite swim practices to their summer regiment. Five workouts for each of these training groups plus a calendar. Swimmers were challenged to do 20 workouts during the summer and parents were requested to keep tabs of these workouts on the calendar.

 

            Parents of the “stud” swimmers who met the challenge and completed a minimum of 20 of these workouts are requested to get the calendar to Bill (by email or place it in Bill’s mailbox) so that Elite can organize and present the earned rewards. This needs to be done by Friday, Sept 22 (end of the 1st week of practice for these training groups).

           

SCHEDULE CHANGE FOR WAVE BLACKS AND WAVE GOLDS; WB: DRYLANDS & WG:YOGA:

 

            In Elite’s continual effort to provide the best possible training for our swimmers, the master schedule has been slightly altered with regards to the Wave Golds and the Wave Black training groups.

 

With regards to the Wave Blacks, Elite will add dryland training to the group’s weekly regiment (adding 30 minutes of stretching and shoulder muscle/rotator cuff development). 

 

With regards to the Wave Golds, Elite will add Yoga Training on Thursday nights, led by Fran Scarlessa of Bank Street Yoga (Summit).

 

The master schedule for the remaining groups is identical to last spring’s schedule. Wave Blacks are reminded that their Saturday morning (9:30 am-11:00 am) practice will be moved to Saturday afternoon (2:30 pm-4:00 pm) starting in mid November. 

 

ELITE TO “START” RACING SEASON WITH CLINIC:

 

            Dean Hutchinson, Assistant Coach at Rider University, will conduct a 4 hour clinic on starts on Saturday, Oct 14 from 2 pm to 6 pm at Morristown-Beard School.

 

            Hutchinson, who attended Auburn University and was ranked 8th in the world in 1994 in the 50 meter freestyle, is a starts expert. Along with providing clinics nationwide, Hutchinson has worked with Pieter von den Hoogenband, an Olympian Gold Medalist from Holland.

 

The clinic will only be open to Elite swimmers. There will be a cost to the clinic and the clinic will be limited. More details to follow!! Mark your calendar! 

 

REGISTRATION FORMS DUE (AS SOON AS POSSIBLE):

 

            On the first day of practice, each Elite swimmer will be presented with a folder containing information regarding the 2006-07 Winter Season.

 

Within each swimmer’s folder are: 1) an Elite Membership form (last year’s form if you are returning 2) 2 Emergency Contact Forms (1 for each pool) 3) an Elite Code of Conduct form and 4) if you were a member of another USA Swim Club last season, a Transfer Form.

 

It is critical that these forms be returned to Bill’s mailbox as soon as possible so that each Elite swimmer is registered (and thus insured). 

 

PARKING AN ISSUE AT NEWARK ACADEMY:

 

            There is a distinct shortage of parking spaces at Newark Academy, especially on weekdays between 5:15 pm and 6:30 pm. Parents are welcome to “drop off” or “pick-up” their swimmers by the field house entrance during this time period if the driver remains in the car. If a parent is coming into the building, they are requested to park in the “upper” lot and walk thru the school to reach the pool.

 

            Please remember to drive slowly thru the parking lots and do not park in the fire lanes, as the Livingston Police will ticket improperly parked cars.

 

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!!!