ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               12-01-08

 

ON TUESDAY DEC 16, GET THE ADVICE THE NJ JETS GET:

 

          On Tuesday, December 16, Dr. Jim Reardon, the psychologist for the New York Jets, will provide two presentations to Elite swimmers (and parents) regarding the 3 C’s needed to perform at one’s athletic peak. The three C’s are Confidence, Concentration and Composure. The first presentation will be from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Newark Academy and the 2nd presentation will be from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Morristown Beard. All swimmers and parents of swimmers are invited to attend (Session #1 is for ALL Wavebusters and Marlin swimmers and parents, Session #2 is for Senior & Senior Prep swimmers and parents).

 

            Dr. Jim Reardon, who has also served as the sports psychologist for USA Track & Field, is a parent of 4 swimmers. Although living in Worthington Ohio year round, Dr. Reardon spends most of his fall working with the NJ Jets. Now that the Jet’s home base is in Florham Park, Dr. Jim is local for 4 months a year. Being a swimming parent, Dr. Reardon realized he needed a swim team for his children to train with when his family comes to visit (like this past week). Ian (14) & Colin (11) have trained with the Wavebuster Golds while Emily and Erin have trained with the Marlin Teals during their NJ visits. 

 

            Dr. Reardon’s presentation will include how to include confidence, concentration and composure skills into an athlete’s personality to insure the best possible performance.

 

            There will be no “water” practices that night at either pool. All Elite swimmers and parents are invited to attend the appropriate session.

 

8 & UNDERS WILL COMPETE AT CANDY CANE-SUNDAY, DEC 21:

 

            Elite has been offered an opportunity to have our 8 & Unders compete at the Candy Cane Invitational to be held at Somerset Hills YMCA on Sunday, Dec 21. All Elite 8 & Unders should plan to attend. Meet entries and meet information will be posted this week.

 

HOLIDAY CLASSIC AND WINTERFEST ENTRIES UPDATED; BAC DUAL MEET TO BE POSTED EARLY THIS WEEK:

 

            Elite has revised its entries to both Holiday Classic (Dec) and Winterfest (Jan) meets based upon our swimmers performances at Distance Derby. Each swimmer should check the meet entries for each of these meets.

 

            The entries for the BAC dual meet to be held this weekend at Morristown-Beard will be posted early this week. For swimmers not in the meet, there will be practice at Morristown-Beard after the meet –please see schedule.

 

WITH DECEMBER COMES WEATHER,

CHECK WEBSITE/EMAIL FOR PRACTICE CANCELLATIONS:

 

Weather will have an affect on practice schedules and meet starting times. When in doubt, check the Elite website and your email for information regarding time changes due to weather.

 

Be advised that both Newark Academy and Morristown Beard tend to close down at the forecast of bad weather. In addition, safety is extremely important. Thus, weather is likely to interrupt practice and even if it does not, parents should make decisions based upon their comfort level regarding travel to and from practice.

 

SICK? COULD BE YOUR LACK OF “AT HOME” SWIMMING DETAILS!!!

 

Are you sick? Got the flu, strep or a bad head cold?  Your sickness is probably caused by your own lack of swimming details!!!

 

Since we are heading towards our heaviest training (December & January), swimmers are “broken down” or tired based upon the heavy swimming workload. To stay healthy, each swimmer needs to practice their “at home” swimming details: drinking lots of fluids, eating properly and often, getting enough sleep and dressing properly for winter.

 

There are literally dozens of swimmers that ignore these vital “at home” swimming details, and most of these swimmers end up missing significant training and/or actually missing their meets because they do not live their “at home” swimming details. These swimmers literally shorten their training seasons due to their sickness!!!

 

One new swimmer phenomena that is just plain crazy is the “sandal/no sock look” in zero degree weather. Swimmers who dress like this are literally begging to get sick. One Elite swimmer actually got frostbite 3 years ago due to not dressing properly on the way home from swimming on a particularly cold night. Ever tried swimming with frostbite? Be a winner: do your swimming details at home and at school, in addition to at the pool!!!

 

TENTATIVE HOLIDAY PRACTICE SCHEDULE NOW POSTED:

 

            The tentative Holiday Practice is now posted on the website. These schedules are always subject to change, but it is very likely this will be the schedule from Dec 22 thru Jan 4.

 

….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!!

 

PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS:

ATTENDENCE, LEVEL OF TRAINING AND STROKE TECHNIQUE:

 

            As we hit the mid-point of our training season, swimmers and parents are reminded that swimmers EARN their promotions by accomplishing 3 criteria thru the season. Coaches will make their recommendations for promotions to Bill starting in mid January and the promotion letters will be mailed in early February. No swimmer will be considered for promotion unless they comply with the following 3 criteria (and swimmers are reminded that they control this process, not the coaches);

 

1)      great attendance as defined as follows:

a.       over 70% for Marlin Teals, Marlin Blacks, Wave Teals & Wave Blacks.

b.      over 85% for Wave Golds and Senior Preps

     There will be no exceptions.

 

2)      Training within the top lanes in one’s training group. Each training group has 2 to 6 different levels of training within the training group. A swimmer must be training within the top 2 training levels to be considered.

 

3)  Great stroke technique. While swimmers are training in the top level of their training group, they need to hold their stroke technique. Each swimmer

                   is aware of those things they need to work on.

 

            Each swimmer is encouraged to talk to their coach regarding their current status and things they need to do during the 2nd half of the season to earn a promotion.

 

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!!!