ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               11-17-08

 

JUST GET UP & RACE!!!:

SENIORS/SENIOR PREPS RACE VS JERSEY GATORS AND MONMOUTH; STRAND ADDS JO SWIM IN 1000;

WAVES AND MARLINS RACE VS MONMOUTH:

BALBO, GALEA, KOLOGY & SEBASTIAN ARE ALL TRIPLE WINNERS!

 

            Ultimately, it is all about racing. Qualifying times are important, but the sport is really about racing.

 

            So this weekend, we raced. Sanwiched between the recent Fall Festival and Hall-o-ween competitions and Distance Derby next weekend, this weekend every Elite swimmer had the opportunity to just race-for fun. The races were often “off” events and for most, even held in a SCM venue. There was no pressure about cut times. It was just about getting up and racing!!!And race they did!!!

 

COLLEGE DUAL MEET:

 

            The Seniors and Senior Preps traveled to Cranford to race against the Jersey Gators and the Monmouth Barracudas on Saturday morning, competing in a “College Dual Meet” format (events most often competed during college competitions. Most of the Elite swimmers swam in events they rarely compete in; and the result was some improved times in “off’ events.

 

            15 year old Michael Strand added a Junior Olympic cut (his 12th) in the 1000 yard free, by winning his event and posting a 10.27.19 time. Michael also won the 200 fly event and posted his fastest 100 free time in the lead-off leg of the 4 x 100 free, crusing to a 50.19 time.

 

            17 year old Brittany Ross also won the 1000 yard free, by dropping 35 seconds from her previous best (11.53.20). Also dropping significant time was Venka Duvvuri, who trimmed 16 seconds off his previous best (5.28.02).

 

            Spencer Fisch, Greg Keiser, Brandon King, Brendan Miller-Radest, Brittany Ross, Erica Takahashi & Lexi Tedesco all posted 2 best times (out of 2 individual swims).

 

Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCY best times):  Chelsea Allocco (1), Lindsay Anderson, Victoria D’Altrui, Priya Duvvuri (1), Venka Duvvuri (1), Spencer Fisch (2), Amanda Grywalski (1), Gregory Keiser (2), Victoria Keiser (1), Brandon King (2), Matt King, Emmie Lai (1), Michael Li (1), Danielle Martinez, Sarah McGrath (1), Brendan Miller-Radest (2), Katie Ragan, Brittany Ross (2), Michael Strand (1), Erica Takahashi (2), Lexi Tedesco (2) & Ryan Wyer.

 

MONMOUTH DUAL MEET:

 

            On Sunday, Elite hosted the Monmouth Barracudas in a dual meet where each Elite Swimmer in each of the Wavebuster and Marlin Training Groups had an opportunity to compete 3 times. The meet was held at Morristown-Beard School, which is a SCM pool. Thus the times were not applicable for qualifying times for JO’s or Silvers. However, since Elite competes several times at Morristown-Beard each calendar year, Elite keeps separate “best” times in the SCM for its swimmers. Correspondingly, the drops seen in best times are significant; a reminder to each swimmer how much they have improved over the past year.

            10 year old Chris Balbo, 10 year old Andrea Galea, 12 year old Regan Kology and 12 year old Ryan Sebastian won all 3 events they competed in. Balbo won the 100 IM (1.23.97), 50 free (34.49) & the 50 Breast (47.44) while Galea also won the same 3 events: 100 IM (1.21.95), 50 Free (32.28) & the 50 breast (44.18).

            Kology dominated the 200 IM (2.38.33), the 100 free (1.05.42) & the 100 breast (1.29.84). Sebastian touched 1st in the 200 IM (2.33.88), the 100 free (1.06.34) and the 100 breast (1.23.63).

            16 year old Rebecca Niccolai won 2 events: the 200 IM (2.56.40) and the 200 free (2.34.92). 7 year old Jack Wenzel won his 1st Elite event, sprinting to a first place finish in the 25 back (23.94). 16 year old Adam Weinbrom won the 200 IM (2.29.25) while Eric Ocheretyaner won the 100 breast (1.24.83).

16 year old Kevin Greener won the 200 Free (2.16.04) and placed 2nd in both the 200 IM (2.35.54) & the 100 breast (1.25.93).  15 year old Daniela Manzi won the 200 breast in 3.20.95.

11 year old Zach Katz and 10 year old Jared Kovas both finished 2nd in all 3 of their events. Katz placed 2nd behind Sebastian in the 200 IM (2.48.95), the 100 free (1.07.55) & the 100 breast (1.24.86) while Kovacs was runner-up to Balbo in the 100 IM (1.32.04), the 50 free (36.13) & the 50 breast (48.74).

10 year old Kaitlin Stearns finished 2nd twice and 3rd once: 100 IM (1.26.18), 50 Free (32.35) & 50 breast (49.08). 10 year old Christina Pick placed 2nd once (50 breast-46.95) and 3rd twice (100 IM-1.27.04 & 50 free-35.96). 12 year old Lindsay Stearns placed 2nd in both the 200 IM (2.43.49) and the 100 breast (1.31.23). 13 year old Marisa Manzi grabbed a pair of 2nd place finishes (200 IM-2.57.47) & 200 breast (3.25.75).

16 year old John Burns was runner-up in the 200 Free (2.18.59) while 12 year old Alli Dorneo came in 2nd in the 100 free (1.09.06). 7 year old Colin Hart scored a 2nd place finish in the 25 back (24.39).

12 year old Matthew Hong scored two 3rd place finishes: 200 IM (2.51.29) and the 100 free (1.11.22) and 12 year old Andrea Shepard garnered two 3rd place finishes (200 IM-21.49.74 & 100 free-1.09.22). 13 year old Emma Harris dropped 1.5 seconds to place 3rd in the 200 breast (3.25.94). Interestingly, Emma dropped over 78 seconds in her other two events!!!

17 year old Jeff Beamer cruised to a 3rd place finish in the 200 free (2.19.69) while 8 year old Richie Carchia rocketed to a 3rd place finish in the 25 free (19.08). 13 year old Brannon Cho churned to a 3rd place finish in the 200 IM (2.35.76) and 10 year old Matt Critchley posted a 3rd place finish in the 100 IM (1.32.05).

8 year old Ryan Dorneo glided to a 3rd place finish in the 25 breast (28.78). 12 year old Juliet Felsen dolphined to a 3rd place finish in the 100 breast (1.31.35). 12 year old Chris Roser added a 3rd place finish in the 100 breast (1.29.20) while 9 year old Michael Tortorella sped to a 3rd place finish in the 50 breast-49.81. 13 year old Richard Yu’s 1.26.16 time in the 100 breast garnered him a 3rd place finish.

            Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCM best times):  Matt Ahlmeyer (3), Arlynn Baer (3), Chris Balbo (3), Megan Balbo (3), Brielle Barba (2), Jeffrey Beamer (3), Lindsay Behar (1), Phillippe Bethlem (3), Abbie Bigham (3), Ethan Blum (3), Nicole Blum (2), Annie Botte (2), Katie Brosnan (2), Emily Buckman (3), Thomas Burke (3), Eloise Burn (3), Sarah Burn (2), John Burns (2), Meggie Butler (3), Richard Carchia (2), Stephanie Chen (3), Brannon Cho (2), Morgan Conley (3), Jimmy Coyne (3), Matthew Critchley (3), Elizabeth D’Altrui (3), Drew D’Andrea (3), Elizabeth Denehy (3), Anthony Don (3), Ali Dorneo (3), Ryan Dorneo (3), Amy Duren (3), Sam Duren (2), Avinash Duvvuri (3), Krishna Duvvuri (3),Katie Fell (3), Juliet Felsen (3), Andrea Ferrell (2), Andy Fresen (2), Erika Fresen (3), RJ Fresen (3), Katherine Friday (3), Andrea Galea (3), Clio Galea (3),Tabatha Georget (3), Emily Goad (2), Katie Golway, Emily Gorham (3), Jess Gorham (3), Lydia Gracey (3), Kevin Greener (3), Julia Guacelli (3), Emma Harris (3), Colin Hart (3), Alyssa Hartigan (3), Jason Hoehn (2), Matthew Hong (3), Patrick Hong (2), Rachel Hong (3), Elana Horowitz (1), Andrew Huang (3), Aiden Hughes (3), Jack Hughes (3), Katie Iovel (3), Alex Jacobs (3), Sarah Jacobs (3), Zach Katz (3), Rachel Keselman (3), Sarah Kleppe (3), Regan Kology (3), Jared Kovacs (3), Jessica Kraus (3), Patrick Lai (1), Clark LaRaia (3), Aaron Levin (3), Brandon Li (3),  Jessie Lowe (2), Sarah Lowe (3), Danila Manzi (1), Marisa Manzi (3), Katie McGrath (3), Karl Melchior (3), Kara Miller-Radest (3), Isabella Morreale (2), Charlotte Morrissey (3), Sandeepan Mukherjee (2), Dan Muro (2), Julia Muro (3), Caroline Nash (3), Gregory Niccolai (3), Rebecca Niccolai (3), Eric Ocheretyaner (3), Gail Ocheretyaner (3), Christina Pick (3), Gabrielle Pick (3), Joe Pick (3), Michelle Pick (2), Natalie Pruitt (3), Mikala Quinn (2), Camille Relota (2), Chris Roser (3), Stephanie Roser (3), Monica Samtani (3), Sonia Samtani (3), Taylor Savarese (1), Ryan Sebastian (3), Andrea Shepard (3), Katy Shepard (3), Abigail Shvorin (3), Jonas Singer (3), Jessica Solodkin (3), Kaitlin Stearns (3), Lindsay Stearns (3), Will Stearns (3), Kara Stevens (3), Abir Thakur (3), Michael Tortorella (3), Rachael Tortorella (3), Katie Tselepis (3), Caroline Watt (3), Adam Weinbrom (1), Sarah Weimbrom (2), Jack Wenzel (3), Harry Woods (3), Kyle Yih (3), Sarah Yih (3) & Richard Yu (3).

 

WAVE GOLD PARENT & SWIMMER MEETING TUESDAY, NOV 18TH AT NEWARK ACADEMY:

 

            Bill, Leighann and Ashley have scheduled a Wave Gold swimmer and parent meeting for Tuesday night, Nov 18 at Newark Academy at 6:45 pm. All Wave Gold parents and swimmers are requested to attend.

 

The meeting should not last more than 30 minutes. The Wave Golds will have practice at the conclusion of the meeting.

 

DISTANCE DERBY THIS WEEKEND; VOLUNTEER LISTS POSTED ON WEBSITE:

 

            Distance Derby, the 1st of 3 NJ Swimming Competitions that Elite hosts, will be held this coming weekend at Newark Academy. The Volunteer Lists, as coordinated by Debbie Scherb mailto:debra.scherb@novartis.com, has been emailed and has also been posted on the website under Distance Derby. Parents are requested to review the list and to contact Debbie if there is a problem.

 

While there is a lot of work to pull off these types of meets, everyone is reminded that this meet is one of Elite’s efforts to provide our swimmers and all NJ Swimming members an opportunity to provide competitions. Other NJ Swim teams provide similar opportunities (including Holiday Classic, Winterfest and the championship meets!

 

Thanks to everyone in advance for their help! :

 

PRACTICE SCHEDULE CHANGES (SLIGHTLY) TODAY-NOVEMBER 17 FOR MARLIN TEALS & MARLIN BLACKS….

 

Swimmers and Parents are reminded that the practice schedule will change come Monday, November 17. The changes will only affect the Marlin Teals and the Marlin Blacks practices.

           

Starting Monday, November 17, Newark Academy’s high school and middle schools will begin training for their winter competitions. To accommodate NA, the immediate effect will be that the Marlin Teals and Marlin Blacks will “lose” 15 minutes of training (actually, we add 15 minutes of training in September and October and just revert back to the original practice schedule) and begin training at 5:15 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Practice for these groups will still conclude at 6:00 pm.

 

….JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE NOT TO LOOK AT OUR PRACTICE SCHEDULE: HIGH SCHOOL MEETS TO DISRUPT PRACTICES:

 

            In December, January and thru the middle of February, high school & middle school swim teams conduct practice and meets at the two pools Elite uses. Incredibly, a total of 7 high school and middle school teams use either Newark Academy or Morristown-Beard School during this time in addition to Elite. What these means to us is that Elite’s practices will be disrupted as meets will encroach into Elite’s practice times.

 

            On days when there are no meets, Elite’s practices will be held at the identical time. However, on those days when a high school or middle school is using one of our pools for a meet, our practices might be shortened at the front end or on the back end. And meets get canceled and rescheduled. So, please continue to check the practice schedule for practice time changes on a daily basis!!

 

“COLLEGE DAY;” BILL TO DISCUSS THE COLLEGE HUNTING/SWIMMING RECRUITMENT PROCESS ON FRIDAY, NOV 28:

 

            All swimmers (particularly juniors and sophomores) and parents are welcome to a seminar Bill will conduct on Friday, Nov 28 at Morristown-Beard School from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm regarding the College Hunting/Swimming Recruitment process.

 

            Bill will provide his insight into when to start the college hunting process, how to determine what colleges are right for the student, how to attack the recruiting process and when and how often to engage conversation with college swim coaches.

 

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

 

REPORTS OF PARENTS NOT RECEIVING WEEKLY MEMO EMAIL; IF YOU HAVE BEEN ACCIDENTLY “DROPPED”, PLEASE CONTACT BILL:

 

5 separate families have contacted Bill that they have not been receiving the blast weekly memo email for the past two weeks. Bill, in conjunction with a parent of a former swimmer (Paul Tukey), is working on solving the problem. If you have also been accidentally dropped, please notify Bill immediately.

 

BEST TIME RIBBONS PROVIDED BY ESCPO; SWIMMERS TO RECEIVE THEM AT PRACTICE;

 

The Elite Swim Club Parents Organization (ESCPO) sponsors and funds a best time ribbon program for the Elite Age Group Swimmers.  This year the ribbons will be distributed by the Training Group Representatives either before or after practice.  All best time ribbons to date for this season will be distributed beginning this week.  Going forward, the ribbons will ready for distribution within a couple of days of the meet results being posted on the website.  If you have any questions regarding the production of best time ribbons, please contact Carolyn Balbo at cbalbo@comcast.net.  The Age Group Training Group Representatives are as follows:

 

Marlins -          Jodi Shepard                jc.shepard2@verizon.net

Wave Teal -     Amie Goad                   AMIEGOAD@aol.com

Wave Black -   Kelly Savarese             kksavarese@gmail.com

Wave Gold –    Margie Lowe                swimming07@zoinks.us

 

DATES CHANGED FOR 9-10 SILVER BRONZE CHAMPIONSHIPS AND 11-12 SILVER BRONZE CHAMPIONSHIPS:

            The dates for the 9-10 Silver Bronze Championships and the 11-12 Silver Bronze Championships have both been moved back one week (giving our swimmers an additional week in the training cycle). Please check the updated Meet Schedule posted on the website. In addition, two 11-12 times have been corrected on the NJ Swimming website. 

 

            Elite will be hosting the 9-10 Silver Bronze Championships at Newark Academy. All Parents of 10 & Unders (including 8 & 7 year olds) are expected to work this meet. Please mark your calendar.

 

LOST ITEMS AT MEETS BROUGHT BACK TO NEWARK ACADEMY:

 

            Items that are left at swim meets and that are clearly Elite belongings are brought back to Newark Academy on the Monday following the meet. If the item has a name in it, it is easily returned to its rightful owner. If your shirts, caps and suits do not yet have your name in them, please take the time to do so in order to insure your belongs get back to you.

           

TIMING EMAILS LISTED AS SPAM; PLEASE ADD CAROLYN BALBO AND MARY D’ALTRUI TO YOUR EMAIL LISTS:

 

Several people informed Carolyn Balbo, one of Elite’s timing coordinators at the meet yesterday that the timing e-mails that she sent out went to their SPAM folder.  Please add both Carolyn’s e-mail address cbalbo@comcast.net and Mary’s D’Altrui’s e-mail md‘altrui@guideline.com to your address books. Hopefully this will prevent future e-mails from going to SPAM Folders.

 

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!!!