ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               11-23-09         

 

TODAY, WE ARE PROUD:

SWIMMERS AND PARENTS PERFORM MAGNIFICIENTLY AT DISTANCE DERBY;

C. ALLOCCO, KOLOGY, G. SORIANO (2), STRAND (2), A. WEINBROM WIN 7 EVENTS;

C. ALLOCCO, C. BALBO (2), A. DUVVURI, FRIDAY, A. GALEA (2), S. HARRIS (2), I. LARAIA (3), MELCHIOR (2), NASH, SEBASTIAN (2), G. SORIANO (3), K. STEARNS, L. STEARNS (2), M. TORTORELLA & A. WEINBROM ADD 25 JO CUTS:

 

            Elite swimmers eclipsed their parents’ magnificent meet hosting performance this past weekend by winning 7 events and adding 25 JO qualifying times to the team total!

 

            Distance Derby 2009 has been officially added to the ever-growing list of spectacular meets Elite has hosted. While the parents provided the opportunity, Elite swimmers grabbed their opportunities and simply rocked!! Both swimmers and parents should be proud of their respective weekend performances today!

 

            10 year old Gian Soriano and 16 year old Michael Strand each collected two first place finishes to lead Elite. Soriano, who joined Elite this fall, won both the 100 yard butterfly (1.17.48) and the 100 free (1.10.66) in JO qualifying style. Gian followed up with a JO performance in the 200 IM (2.59.69). He now has 5 Junior Olympic qualifying times to his credit.

 

            Strand cruised to his victories in events he rarely performs: the 200 free (1.48.63) and the 500 free (4.53.60).

 

            17 year old Chelsea Allocco outlasted her training partner 13 year old Regan Kology in the 1000 yard free, winning (in her first Elite JO qualifying time) with a 11.01.08 time. Kology, who had earlier won the 200 IM (2.19.16), also placed 2nd in her 3rd event the 200 fly (2.24.38). Allocco’s other swim was a 4th place finish in the 200 back (2.24.71).

 

           17 year old Adam Weinbrom pulled away from team mate Ryan Wyer (who placed 2nd) in the last 50 to win the 200 yard butterfly in JO fashion (2.09.72). Weinbrom also finished 6th in the 200 free (1.56. 16).

 

            12 year old Isabel LaRaia continued her torrid swimming by adding 3 new Junior Olympic qualifying times to her resume (she now has 7!). Isabel went gold in the 200 breast (2.51.25-4th place),  1000 free (12.27.16) and the 200 back (2.33.15-5th place).

 

            Finishing 3rd in both the 200 breast (2.49.39) and the 200 fly (2.40.95) earned 11 year old Andrea Galea two additional JO cuts; her total has swollen to 14!! Andrea also placed 2nd in the 400 IM (5.16.28-an 18 second drop).

 

            Despite a goggle filling with water, 14 year old Lindsay Stearns stayed focus to place 3rd in the 500 free (5.37.04-14 second drop) and earn her 8th JO qualifying time. Earlier, Lindsay dropped 4.5 seconds in the 200 breast (2.42.61) for another JO cut.

 

            12 year old Scott Harris recovered enough from being sick earlier in the week to earn JO qualifying times in his first attempt ever in two different events: 200 back (2.37.94) and the 400 IM (5.26.40-3rd place). Scott also placed 4th in the 200 IM (2.38.62) and 6th in the 500 free (6.16.00).

 

14 year old Ryan Sebastian was also on fire, dropping 45 seconds in his 1000 free (10.54.17) to place 2nd. Earlier, Ryan dropped 6.5 seconds in his 200 breast (2.31.43) to place 6th. Both were JO performances.

 

11 year old Chris Balbo emulated Sebastian by also going gold in both the 1000 free (11.43.64) and the 200 breast (2.53.87-4th place). Balbo also placed 5th in the 200 back (2.31.99).  

 

            12 year old Karl Melchior pushed his JO swim count to 7 with 2 additions this weekend: the 400 IM (5.36.74-5th place) and the 200 breast (3.01.00-6th place).

 

            10 year old Katherine Friday posted her 1st JO qualifying time this season by dipping under the cut time in the 200 IM (2.59.36) in her 1st attempt at the event. 12 year old Caroline Nash snuck under the 200 back JO qualifying time by splashing to a 2.33.59 time (6th place). Nash had earlier placed 4th in the 400 IM (5.30.68).

 

            11 year old Kaitlin Stearns rocked the 1000 free (dropping 1 minute 17 seconds with a 12.18.70 time) for her 9th JO cut. Stearns also placed 4th in the 200 IM (2.39.06).

 

            12 year old Avi Duvvuri collected his 5th JO swim, this time in the 200 back (2.37.72) to placed 8th. 10 year old Michael Tortorella ran his JO total to 6 by dropping 30 seconds in the 500 free  (6.48.94).

 

            Other top 6 finishes were:

 

            2nd place finish for 16 year old Priya Duvvuri in the 200 breast (2.38.91) and a 3rd place finish in the 200 free (2.04.65)

            2nd place finish for 10 year old Abbie Bigham in the 100 back (1.20.62)

            2nd place finish for 17 year old Duncan Hall in the 200 back (2.13.29)

            3rd place finish for 10 year old Emily Gorham in the 100 breast (1.33.74)

            3rd place finish for 15 year old Alex Mango in the 200 breast (2.29.78)

            3rd place finish for 9 year old Abigail Tsay in the 100 fly (1.34.56)

            4th place finish for 17 year old Kevin Greener in both the 200 back (2.15.59) and the 1000 free (11.09.15-a 56 second drop!)

            4th place finish for 14 year old Jess Gorham in the 1000 free (11.40.92-a 143 second drop!!!)

            4th place finish for 14 year old Caitlin Brown in the 400 IM (5.12.64)

            4th place finish for 16 year old Emmie Lai in the 200 fly (2.34.13)

            4th place finish for 16 year old Maggie Nelson in the 200 free (2.05.62) and a 5th place finish in the 1000 free (11.41.10)

            4th place finish for 12 year old Gabrielle Pick in the 200 fly (2.45.16) and two 5th place finishes (200 breast-2.58.07 & 400 IM-5.31.34)

            4th place finish for 12 year old Camille Relota in the 500 free (6.23.41)

            5th place finish for 15 year old Mark Berns in the 200 fly (2.36.05-1st attempt!)

            5th place finish for 11 year old Matt Critchley in the 200 free (2.27.66)

            5th place finish for 17 year old Venka Duvvuri in the 200 breast (2.31.17)

            5th place finish for 18 year old Tad Deatly in the 1000 free (11.16.37)

            5th place finish for 11 year old Jared Kovacs in the 200 IM (2.44.69)

            5th place finish for 9 year old Brittany Sun in the 100 butterfly (1.36.81)

            6th place finish for 13 year old Juliet Felsen in the 200 fly (2.35.56)

            6th place finish for 14 year old Lindsey Giostra in the 400 IM (5.13.74)

            6th place finish for 12 year old Andre Guacelli in the 200 IM (2.46.40)

            6th place finish for 13 year old Matt Hong in the 400 IM (5.07.62)

            6th place finish for 9 year old Jennifer Huo in the 100 fly (1.45.41)

            6th place finish for 12 year old Aaron Levin in both the 200 fly (2.51.28) and the 400 IM (5.38.83)

            6th place finish for 16 year old Andrew Morrison in the 200 fly (2.38.10)

            6th place finish for 14 year old Dan Muro in the 1000 free (11.17.93)

            6th place finishes for 11 year old Christina Pick in the 200 free (2.25.95), the 200 IM (2.40.98) & the 200 fly (2.50.79)

            6th place finish for 10 year old Vivian Xia in the 100 free (1.14.45)

 

            Official results are posted on the website.

 

Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Matt Ahlmeyer (2), Michael Alelov, Chelsea Allocco (2), Jenni Allocco, Lindsay Anderson, Chris Balbo (2), Megan Balbo (5), Brielle Barba (4), Lindsay Behar (3), Mark Berns (3), Abbie Bigham (5), Katie Brosnan (3), Caitlin Brown (2), Emily Buckman (4), John Burns (1), Meggie Butler (4), John Chiang (3), Daniel Chu (1), Jessica Chu (1), Morgan Conley (4), Jimmy Coyne (3), Matthew Critchley (2), Elizabeth D’Altrui (3), Victoria D’Altrui, Drew D’Andrea (3), Tad Deatly, Kelly Delaney (3), Jeffrey Dong (1), Alli Dorneo (2), Amy Duren (5), Corey Duren (3), Sam Duren (1), Avinash Duvvuri (4), Krishna Duvvuri (2), Priya Duvvuri (1), Venka Duvvuri (1), Lindsay Ellerthorpe (3), Madeleine Faust (2), Juliet Felsen (1), Andrea Ferrell (4), Erika Fresen (2), Katherine Friday (4), Andrea Galea (3), Clio Galea (1), Ariel Gelman (2), Tabatha Georget (4), Lindsay Giostra (2), Emily Goad (4), Emily Gorham (5), Jess Gorham (2), Lydia Gracey (1), Kevin Greener (2), Andre Guacelli (2), Duncan Hall, Scott Harris (4), Alyssa Hartigan (3), Matthew Hong (3), Patrick Hong (3), Rachel Hong (4), Elana Horowitz (3), Andrew Huang (4), Jennifer Huo (4), Lynna Huo (2), Alicia Iizuka (3), Karen Iizuka (4), Ria Iizuka (2), Katie Iovel (5), Brent Jones (1), Rachel Keselman (3), Matt King, Regan Kology (1), Jared Kovacs (4), Jessica Kraus (4), Emmie Lai (1), Patrick Lai (2), Clark LaRaia (2), Isabel LaRaia (4), Aaron Levin, Brandon Li (4), Jessie Lowe (3), Sarah Lowe (4), Gregory Macchia (3), Michael Macchia (4), Alex Mango (1), Marisa Manzi (1), Cody Matheson (4), Katie McGrath (2), Karl Melchior (4), Ryan Miller (3), Brendan Miller-Radest (1), Kara Miller-Radest (2), Andrew Morrison (3), Charlotte Morrissey (4), Dan Muro (1), Julia Muro (2), Caroline Nash (2), Alexandra N’Diaye, Maggie Nelson (1), Eugene Ng (2), Evan Ng (4), Michael Nitting (3), Dara O’Gorman (3), Danielle Peterson (3), Christina Pick (4), Gabrielle Pick (4), Michelle Pick (3), Mikala Quinn (1), Katie Ragan, Camille Relota (3), Taylor Savarese (1), Ryan Sebastian (2), Andrea Shepard (1), Katy Shepard (4), Abigail Shvorin (4), Jonas Singer, Gian Soriano (4), Kaitlin Stearns (4), Lindsay Stearns (2), Michael Strand (1), Brittany Sun (4), Erica Takahashi , Lexi Tedesco, Abir Thakur (4), Michael Tortorella (3), Rachael Tortorella (2), Amy Tsay (5), Caroline Watt (2), Adam Weinbrom (1), Sarah Weinbrom (3), Ryan Wyer (1), Vivian Xia (4), Claire Xu (4), Gloria Xu (3), Grace Xu (3), Remenna Xu (2), Richard Yu (3) & Carolyn Zhu (2).

 

TOP 10 ALL TIME SWIMS UPDATED ON WEBSITE

 

            The Top 10 Elite All Time Swims has been updated on the website thru Distance Derby. Check it out!

 

TEAM ADDS NEW COACH: BRITTANY BECK

 

            Motivated to continually upgrade its coaching staff, Elite has hired Brittany Beck as an Assistant Swim Coach and an Administrative Assistant to Bill (to help with his off-deck paper workload).

 

            Brittney is a Aeronautical Engineer by training, a graduate of Daniel Webster College, Nashua, New Hampshire and most recently an employee of Standard Aero in Springfield, Ill. 

 

            Brittney grew up in Middlebury, Vermont, has comptitively swum and coached summer league teams, taught swimming and coached Special Olympians. Brittney is a self-proclaimed sports nut and while in Illinois, worked both the 2009 Women's Collegiate Final Four and the 2009 Major League Basball All-Star Game, both being held in St. Louis.

 

“COLLEGE DAY”; BILL TO DISCUSS THE COLLEGE HUNTING/SWIMMING RECRUITMENT PROCESS ON FRIDAY, NOV 27:

 

            All swimmers (particularly juniors and sophomores) and all parents are welcome to a seminar Bill will conduct on Friday, Nov 27 at Morristown-Beard School from 10:30 am to 11:30 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.

 

….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!!

 

ADDITIONAL 12 & UNDER ENTRIES FOR WINTERFEST; PRINCETON ENTRIES ALSO MODIFIED FOR 12 & UNDERS:

 

            Elite was able to modify its 12 & Under entries for Winterfest, adding those swimmers and swims achieved at Fall Festival. The 13 & Olders portion of the meet was closed prior to competition at Fall Festival; thus no modifications of entries for 13 & Older were made for Winterfest.

 

            As a result of the modification of the Winterfest entries, the Princeton Invitationals entries were also modified to take into consideration the Winterfest modifications. An attempt was made to provide as many different events per swimmer between the two meets held in January.

 

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 Cera Ve Invitational Meet to be held January 15 thru January 17, 2010.

 

            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. This winter, NBC Sports will be telecasting the USA/European Dual in the Pool contact in December, 2009.

 

            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.

 

            Last year, Elite swimmer Sam Duren (now a Senior Prep) took advantage of this opportunity.

 

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

 

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 virtually every night.

 

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

 

CLOTHING ITEMS CAN BE PURCHASED THRU ESCPO:

 

            The Elite Swim Club Parents Organization is offering “Elite-wear” to anyone interested in buying clothing with the Elite logo or name on it. This items are great birthday and holiday gifts.

 

            The link to the items available is: http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Parents Org/ELITE 2009 Clothing.pdf

 

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!!!