ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               11-15-10

 

    “Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”

 

ELITE DOMINATES FALL RALLY;

STRAND EARNS 200 FLY JR. NATIONAL BONUS CUT;

17 DIFFERENT ELITE SWIMMERS WIN 40 (YES, FORTY!) INDIVIDUAL EVENTS;

C. BALBO WINS 7, E. NG WINS 6, K. STEARNS WINS 5;

C. BALBO, M. BALBO, BIGHAM, CRITCHLEY, A. DUREN (2), FU (2), K. IIZUKA (2), PETERSON, L. STEARNS, SUN, WATT, C. XU & G. XU (2) EARN 17 JUNIOR OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TIMES:

 

          In their first major competition of the season, Elite rocked the Witherspoon Pool at Fall Rally in having 17 different swimmers win 40 individual (out of a total 102) events contested. Previous competitions were tune-ups for this meet; here most swimmers were swimming their better events.

 

            Choosing this year to compete in this smaller meet (Elite has traditionally competed at larger & more competitive Fall Festival of X-cellence Meet) allowed Elite to bring every swimmer from 6 of its 7 training groups. Fall Rally also provided more “leg” room for the swimmers between events (Fall Festival is usually very, very crowded & cramped). While the smaller meet provided a little less competition, Elite swimmers did not seem to care as they dropped time in more than 70% of the team’s 778 splashes.

 

            17 year Michael Strand demonstrated the resilience required of a top notch performer by recovering quickly from a disappointing 50 free swim (where he hope to make a SCY Junior National bonus qualifying time) to grabbed an unexpected bonus cut in the 200 fly (1.54.04). Strand’s 50 free swim was particularly frustrating to him as he had previously dipped under the cut time in a scrimmage meet (College Dual Meet) earlier in the season. To ratchet up the intensity after a disappointing performance on the next swim is a trait that Elite attempts to instill in all its swimmers. Strand won 4 of the 5 events he competed within.

 

            Four other Elite swimmers: Chris Balbo, Evan Ng, Ryan Sebastian and Kaitlin Stearns dominated their age groups.

 

            12 year old Chris Balbo, who won 7 of the 8 events he competed in, placed 2nd in the other event. Chris also posted best times in each of his 8 events. Chris dropped 17 seconds in the 1000 free (11.14.34), 7 seconds in the 200 fly (2.20.58) and 6.5 seconds in the 400 IM (4.57.80). Chris’s 100 IM time of 1.07.98 was his 16th JO qualifying time

 

            10 year old Ng won each of the 6 events he swam while dropping significant time in each. Evan dropped 13 seconds in the 200 IM (2.43.81), 12 seconds in the 100 fly (1.19.74), 8 seconds in the 200 free (2.22.45), 7 seconds in the 100 back (1.16.97) and nearly 3 seconds in both the 50 free (29.01) and the 50 fly (34.00).

 

            12 year old Kaitlin Stearns won 5 of the 7 events she competed in; placing 2nd in the other 2. Kaitlin began the meet with a 13 second drop in the 1000 free (11.25.93) and skewered her competition in the 200 back (2.20.16), 200 free (2.06.23), the 100 free (58.03) and the 200 fly (2.34.20). Stearns placed 2nd in the 100 fly (1.09.21) and in the 100 back (1.08.26).  

 

            14 year old Ryan Sebastian won 3 events and placed 2nd in each of his other 3. Ironically, Ryan’s best race was his 2nd place finish in the 100 breast, which until recently has been his weakest stroke (but his hard work has now made it a strength). Behind by nearly a body length at the 3rd turn, Ryan closed almost the entire gap on his former teammate Zach Katz (who was ranked 4th in the country in the 50 breast while at Elite, losing by only 1 hundredth of a second (and producing a 4 second drop). After the race, Head Coach Bill Deatly, who has seen a lot of races, told Ryan it was one of the top 10 races he has ever witnessed by an Elite swimmer!! Ryan won the 400 IM (4.24.45-5 second drop), the 100 fly (58.42) and the 200 fly (2.07.87).

    

             12 year old Matthew Critchley touched 1st in 2 of his 5 events, and placed 2nd in another 2. Matt dropped 1.4 seconds in the 50 fly to dip under the magical 30 second barrier in winning the 50 fly (29.72). Matt also won the 50 breast in a 35.64 time and followed up with 2nd place finishes in the 100 IM (1.10.17-behind Balbo) in a new JO cut and the 50 back (33.14).

 

            12 year old Danielle Peterson who arrived at Elite a year ago as a breaststroke, has continued to excel in that stroke but has, thru hard work, broadened her horizons significantly as demonstrated by this meets results. In the breast, Danielle earned a 13-14 JO cut (good thing as she ages up in Dec) with her win in the 200 breast (a 8 second drop-2.41.11) also won the 100 breast (1.15.45). Danielle placed 2nd in the 50 breast (behind teammate Alicia Iizuka). Danielle’s 200 IM swim open eyes, as she dropped 16 seconds with her 2.36.03 performance.

 

              10 year old Grace Xu won the 200 IM in a 2.46.08 and placed 2nd in these 4 other events; 50 free-31.12, 100 fly-1.24.54, 200 free-2.27.77, 100 free-1.07.10. Her 100 fly and her 3rd place 100 back finish of 1.19.69 were new JO cuts!

 

            12 year old Morgan Conley, whose enthusiasm and hard work has raised her game several levels, won the 50 back with a 32.86 time. Morgan also had a 7 second drop in the 200 IM (2.40.27).

 

            10 year old Emily Fu, who joined Elite in the spring and is already making a name for herself, won the 100 breast in a 1.30.69 time. Emily also placed 3rd in both the 100 IM (1.22.16) and the 50 breast (42.48). Fu’s 50 & 100 breast times were good enough for JO’s (her 1st JO cuts in SCY).

 

            15 year old Lindsey Giostra worked the back 100 of her 200 breast and went by 3 competitors in the last 50 to win the event (2.40.20). Lindsey also placed 2nd in the 400 IM (5.03.82).

 

            10 year old Katy Shepard thrived despite a funky start (not by her but by the officials-there was feedback thru the microphone jus prior to the star) in winning the 200 free (2.27.50-6 second drop). Katy also placed 3rd in the 500 free (6.48.33 (30 second drop!).

 

            14 year old Jess Gorham rocketed to a 1st place finish in the 50 free (25.93). Jess also placed 3rd in both the 100 free (55.85) and the 100 back (1.02.60).

 

            11 year old Alicia Iizuka clipped .76 off her 50 breast swim, which was good enough to win the race. Alicia posted 2nd place finishes (behind Peterson) in the 100 breast (1.15.76) and the 200 breast (2.48.43) and dropped 8 seconds in her 200 IM (2.43.59).

 

            17 year old Maggie Nelson reached the wall 1st in the 100 free, with a 57.11 time. Maggie also came in 3rd three times: 200 back (2.22.18), 100 fly (1.04.35) and the 50 free (26.55).  

 

            17 year old Priya Duvvuri, who took July off to attend the academically prestigious Governor’s School at Rutgers, is working her way back into shape and posted a win in the 200 back (2.18.84).

 

            12 year old Amy Duren earned her 2nd and 3rd JO cuts of the year with her 3rd place finishes in the 400 IM (5.37.07) and in the 100 fly (1.10.48). 12 year old Karen Iizuka earned her first two JO cuts this season, both in breast (100 breast-1.20.52 & 200 breast-2.51.55).

 

            12 year old Abbie Bigham added her 2nd JO cut to her current resume, this one in the 200 fly (2.42.19). 10 year old Megan Balbo earned her very first JO swim, with her 5th place and 16 second drop in the 500 free (7.10.42).

 

            15 year old Lindsay Stearns snagged her 5th JO cut (in her future age group-Lindsay ages up in Feb) with her 11.08.09 swim in the 1000 free. Stearn’s training mate Caroline Watt earned her 4th JO swim with her 400 IM time of 4.57.23.

 

            10 year old Brittany Sun went gold (JO cut) in the 100 fly with her 1.26.12 swim. 10 year old Claire Xu earned her 4th JO cut with her 100 free swim of 1.09.46.

   

            Full results are posted on the team website.  

 

Swimmers who participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Matthew Ahlmeyer (7), Jenni Allocco (5), Chris Balbo (8), Megan Balbo (7), Brielle Barba (6), Lindsay Behar (1), Natalia Beltran (6), Mark Berns (4), Abbie Bigham (6), Katie Brosnan (4), Caitlin Brown, Emily Buckman (5), Schuyler Bunn (6), Eloise Burn (6), Sarah Burn (3), Meggie Butler (6), Richie Carchia (5), John Chiang (5), Claire Chiperfield (3), Morgan Conley (5), Jimmy Coyne (4), Matthew Critchley (4), Elizabeth D’Altrui (6), Drew D’Andrea (3), Nathan Davidovich (6), Gauri Deorkar (5), Anthony Don, Amy Duren (7), Corey Duren (3), Sam Duren, Avinash Duvvuri (5), Krishna Duvvuri (4), Priya Duvvuri, Lindsay Ellerthorpe, Rachel Emodi (6), Madeleine Faust, Juliet Felsen (1), Summer Felsen (6), Andrea Ferrell (4), Katherine Friday, Emily Fu (6), Ariel Gelman (1), Lindsay Giostra (2), Emily Gorham (5), Jess Gorham (3), Paul Guenther (6), Jasmine Gulati (5), Claire Hagerstrom (3), Abbie Hartwig (6), Meg Hawkins (5), Gab Hayek (6), Andrew Huang (5), Sarah Hui (3), Jennifer Huo (2), Alicia Iizuka (5), Karen Iizuka (6), Katie Iovel (6), Alex Jacobs (5), Sarah Jacobs (5), Brent Jones (2), Rachel Keselman (6), Audrey Kim (6), Jared Kovacs (5), Jessica Kraus (6), Sophie Kushen (5), Emmie Lai, Patrick Lai (5), Clark LaRaia (3), Isabel LaRaia (2), Chloe Lawrence (6), Brandon Li (5), Michael Li, Ben Litvin (5), Sarah Lowe (1), Greg Macchia (6), Michael Macchia (2), Teddy Maguire (6), Isabelle Malinowski (6), Alex Mango (2), Cody Matheson (5), Leighton Mayers (6), Katie McGrath, Karl Melchior (3), Matthew Migliozzi (3), Ryan Miller (4), Ali Morreale, Isabelle Morreale (4), Charlotte Morrissey (5), Sandeepan Mukherjee (6), Dan Muro (3), Fred Nagle (6), Caroline Nash (1), Alex N’Diaye, Maggie Nelson (1), Eugene Ng (5), Evan Ng (6), Dara O’Gorman (6), Nicholas Pachiolo (5), Betsy Peinado (2), Danielle Peterson (6), Gabrielle Pick (6), Joseph Pick (6), Natalie Pruitt (6), Mikala Quinn (3), Camille Relota (5), Joseph Romano (6), Brandon Rossi (6), Ryan Sebastian (3), Andrea Shepard (1), Katy Shepard (6), Abigail Shvorin (3), Jonas Singer (5), Samantha Siracusa (6), Delaney Smith (6), Gian Soriano (4), Kaitlin Stearns (3), Lindsay Stearns (2), Will Stearns (5), Jason Steinberg (6), Michael Strand (2), Brittany Sun (6), Sachi Tanwar (5), Abir Thakur (6), Katie Tselepis (4), Zowie Vukasinovic (3), Cullen Walsh (8), Caroline Watt (6), Ryan Wyer, Vivian Xia (6), Claire Xu (3), Gloria Xu, Grace Xu (6) & Katherine Zhang (4)..

 

MARLIN PRACTICE SHORTENS BY 15 MINUTES STARTING TODAY!!; NEWARK ACADEMY’S VARSITY SWIM TEAM TO USE POOL TO 5:15 PM, VARSITY MEETS AT NA AND MBS TO AFFECT PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

 

            Elite’s practice schedule will adjust on Monday, Nov 15 when Newark Academy’s Varsity Swim Team begins their Winter Sports Season. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s, practice will begin at 5:15 pm and run til 6:00 pm.

 

            The Varsity Swim Teams at both Newark Academy and Morristown-Beard will affect the schedule at both pools once high school dual meets start. Millburn High School also uses Newark Academy’s pool to train and compete (starting at 8:30 pm Monday thru Thursdays).

 

            Elite’s practice time at Newark Academy will occasionally be clipped either at the front end (NA’s meets usually end at 5:15 pm or 5:30 pm) or the back end (Millburn’s meets start at 8:00 pm). Morristown-Beard, Villa Walsh & Delbarton (both with occasionally host meets at MBS) meet schedule will occasionally clip the Senior practices at MBS.

 

DISTANCE DERBY THIS WEEKEND; CAROLYN BALBO REQUESTS EACH PARENT TO CONFIRM BY EMAIL THEIR MEET ASSIGNMENT:

           

            As all Elite family members know, this coming weekend Elite will host Distance Derby 2010 at Newark Academy. In order to host this meet, Elite requires ALL Elite parents to work the session their child is scheduled to swim.

 

            Carolyn Balbo, Elite Meet Coordinator, requests that each parents to respond to her email as soon as possible this week to verify receipt/acknowledgement of their volunteer assignments: cbalbo@comcast.net.          

 

Distance Derby Meet Schedule:

 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Warm-up

Start

Session 1

10 & Under Day 1 Session

 12:00 p.m.

12:40 p.m.

Session 2

12 & Under 500 yd Free Session

2:40 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

Session 3

11 - 12 Day 1 Session

4:30 p.m.

5:10 p.m.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Warm-up

Start

Session 4

13 & 14 Day 2 Session

  7:00 a.m.

    7:40 a.m.

Session 5

Open 1000 Free Session

  9:40 a.m.

  10:00 a.m.

Session 6

15 & Older Day 2 Session

11:30 a.m.

 12:10 p.m.

Session 7

10 & Under Day 2 Session

  2:10 p.m.

   2:50 p.m.

Session 8

11-12 Day 2 Session

  4:50 p.m.

   5:30 p.m.

MARLIN TEALS TO BE INCLUDED IN DISTANCE DERBY IN SESSION #1 (SATURDAY 10 & UNDERS): MEET ENTRIES TO BE POSTED SHORTLY; MARLIN TEAL PARENTS REQUESTED, BUT NOT REQUIRED, TO HELP OUT AT THE MEET:

            Due to room within Session #1 (Saturday, 10 & Under Session), Elite will include the Marlin Teals at Distance Derby in Session #1 this year. All Marlin Teals will be entered into two new events: the 50 free and the 50 back.

 

            This year’s Distance Derby event format was structured to be swimmer and parent friendly; each session was designed to be limited to 2 hours, with the theory that shorter sessions will allow swimmers to get their races in and then get out and enjoy the rest of their day. 9 of the 10 offered sessions will be between 1.5 and 2.25 hours long.

 

            The one Session exception is Session 1 (Saturday, 10 & Under Session). Based upon the current entries, this session is timed out to just 1 hour, which is just not long enough for swimmers of this level to recover between events. Quite simply, Session #1 needed to be elongated.   

 

            Head Coach Bill approached NJ Swimming and they have approved Elite to add 2 events (10 & U 50 free & 10 & U 50 Back for both girls and boys).  The 50 free event will be swum after the 200 frees and the 50 back event will be swum after the 100 butterfly.  

 

ATHLETE PROTECTION: ELITE NOW HAS NAVIGATION BAR TO HELP!!

 

            Following USA Swimming’s lead in trying to be the at the forefront of Athlete Protection in structures sports programs, Elite has added an Athlete Protection Navigation Button on its website. Information on our website is identical to that on USA Swimming’s website.

 

            As additional information regarding Athlete Protection is provided by USA Swimming, Elite will update its Athlete Protection data according.

3rd PARENT WORKSHOP WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17 AT NA; TOPIC: LEARNED OPTIMISM:    

            Head Coach Bill Deatly will hold the season’s 3rd Parent Workshop on Wednesday, November 17 from 6:45 pm to 8:15 pm at Newark Academy. The main topic of discussion will be “Learned Optimism” or how we can train our swimmers to turn failure into hope (will work for all facets of life and for Adults, too!!).

            All Elite parents are welcome (and highly encouraged!) to attend.

ESCPO ANNOUNCES SWIM BAGS AND CLOTHING ITEMS HAVE ARRIVED:

            The Elite swim bags and clothing items are in (with the exception of the jackets and the performance polos).  We expect the jackets in by Thanksgiving.  Jodi Shepard will be at Newark Academy on Tuesday at 6:30 for Wave Teals and Wave Golds and at 6 on Wednesday for the Marlins and Wave Blacks.  Senior and Senior Preps will have their orders delivered to Morristown Beard.  If you are unable to meet Jodi at these times, please contact Allison Nash at allisonrnash@msn.com or Jodi Shepard at jc.shepard2@verizon.net to make alternate arrangements.  Also if you have items that are gifts, Jodi or Allison will be in touch to make arrangements.

            Allison also has Elite magnets and Elite Window Clings.  Email her at allisonrnash@msn.com if you need them.
Thanks, in advance, for picking up your Elite wear!!!

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.

 

JOURNALISM INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE WITH SWIMMING WORLD AT CERA VE INVITATIONAL IN JANUARY:

 

            Recreating the opportunity provided to New Jersey Swimmers last winter, Swimming World and Berkeley Aquatic Club will provide journal internships during the CeraVe Invitational Meet to be held January 14 thru January 16, 2011.

 

            With the overwhelming success of the Summer 2008 Beijing Olympics and what swimming as a sport provided to that success, swimming is becoming more main-stream each year. NBC Sports has increased its coverage of high level swimming, including telecasting the Pan Pacific Games this past summer.

 

            Swimming World, the most widely read swimming magazine, will be providing internships for those people in New Jersey to 1) to interview Olympians and top swimmers at the meet 2) to be  involved in producing content for Swimming World’s magazine and website-both audio and visual and 3) to interact with the Swimming World Staff.

 

            For the past two years, Elite swimmer Sam Duren (now a Senior Prep) took advantage of this opportunity.

 

            Forms for applying for the internship are attached to this memo.

           

“COLLEGE DAY”; BILL TO DISCUSS THE COLLEGE HUNTING/SWIMMING RECRUITMENT PROCESS ON FRIDAY, NOV 26:

 

            All swimmers (particularly juniors and sophomores) and all parents are welcome to a seminar that Bill will conduct on Friday, Nov 26 (day after Thanksgiving) at Morristown-Beard School from 9:30 am to 10:30 am regarding the College Hunting/Swimming Recruitment process.

 

            Bill will provide his insight into 1) when to start the college hunting process 2) how to determine what colleges are right for the student 3) if your swimmer plans to swim in college, how to attack the recruiting process and 4) when and how often to engage conversation with college swim coaches.

 

            Swimmers should bring pens and several pieces of paper to take notes.

 

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

 

NEXT UP: DISTANCE DERBY; GO ELITE!!!; MEET INFORMATION POSTED; PLEASE RESPOND TO TIMER COORDINATORS EMAILS:

 

            Elite’s next competition will be Distance Derby (Seniors, Senior Preps, Wave Golds, Wave Blacks, Wave Teals, Marlin Blacks & Marlin Teals). Information regarding this meet is posted on the team website at: http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Meet%20Schedule/homepage.htm. Please have your swimmer get in the habit of checking this page on a regular basis (and report back to you about details such as warm-up times, entries, meet locations!

 

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!!!