ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 12-03-07
DART STREAKS TO
THREE PERSONAL BEST AT SC NATIONALS:
As Elite’s sole representative at USA Swimming's ConocoPhillips Short Course National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, Chris Dart performed three career best swims this past weekend. In addition to being impressive on its face, Chris’s performance at this time of the training cycle (when concentration is on endurance, not speed) is particularly notable.
On Friday, Chris turned in a scorching 50.64, a personal
best, in the 100 yard backstroke to place 35th (out of 63). In a time trial
later in the day, Chris dropped a .1 off his best 50 yard free time, clocking
in at 21.69!! Chris followed these swims up by dropping 2 seconds in his 200
yard IM time trial to post a 1.52.58. This time was below the meet qualifying
time.
Also competing at this meet are Michael Phelps, Kaitlin Sandeno, Ryan Lochte
and 10 other former Olympians.
On Sunday, in an adjunct LCM meet, Chris competed in two events: 100 lcm back and 100 lcm free. Proving Bill’s theorem that there is no correlation between scy times and lcm times, Chris was a bit off in lcm races-in the same pool and on the same weekend.
ESC TAKES ON BAC AGAIN, HANGS
TOUGH VERSES TOUGH COMPETITION:
Once again this season the Elite Swim Club hung tough in a dual meet competition against Berkeley Aquatic Club. In competing yesterday in two meets verses BAC, the acknowledged as the top team in New Jersey Swimming year after year, Elite held its own and continue to demonstrate its significant improvement. Elite competed in two dual meets, one at BAC and one at Morristown-Beard.
At MBS, the following Elite swimmers won their events: Abbie Bigham (3), Jeffrey Dong (3), Krishna Duvvuri, Juliet Felsen, Matthew Hong, Zachie Katz (2), Aaron Levin, Kara Miller-Radest, Isabelle Morreale, Michelle Pick, Collin Reilly, Kaitlin Stearns, Michael Tortorella & Maggie Woodruff (3).
At the BAC meet, the following Elite swimmers won their events: Brielle Barba, Alexa Burkard, Madeleine Faust (2), RJ Fresen (3), Jessica Kraus (2), Clark LaRaia (2), Sarah Lowe (2), Cesar Munoz, Gregory Niccolai, Katy Shepard, Alex Sudyn (3), Emily Torre (4) & Olivia Woodruff.
Even more important than these wins were the continued significant improvement that all Elite swimmers are showing. The impressive results are now posted on the website.
At the MBS meet, swimmers who participated were (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Chris Balbo (4), Megan Balbo (3), Lindsay Behar (3), Abbie Bigham (4), Ryan Buckham (4), Jeffrey Dong (3), Avinash Duvvuri (3), Krishna Duvvuri (4), Juliet Felsen (4), Emilie Ferguson (3), Andrea Ferrell (1), Katherine Friday (3), Ariel Gelman (3), Hannah Gleason (3), Emily Goad (2), Andre Guacelli (4), Scott Harris (2), Alyssa Hartigan (3), Matt Hong (3), Patrick Hong (3), Zachie Katz (3), Sarah Kleppe (2), Jared Kovacs (3), Patrick Lai (3), Isabel LaRaia (3), Aaron Levin (3), Brandon Li (3), Jessie Lowe (4), Colin Miller-Radest (4), Kara Miller-Radest (4), Isabella Morreale (3), Julia Muro (3), Caroline Nash (3), Dara O’Gorman (3), Nick Pachiolo (3), Christina Pick (3), Gabrielle Pick (3), Michelle Pick (3), Jonas Singer (2), Kaitlin Stearns (3), Sydney Todd (1), Michael Tortorella (4), Rachel Tortorella (4), Spence Turkington (3), Caroline Watt (3), Maggie Woodruff (4) & Richard Yu (3).
At the
BAC meet, swimmers who participated were (# in parathesis is number of best
Elite SCY best times): Arlynn Baer (1), Brielle Barba (3), Ethan Blum (4),
Nicole Blum (3), Alexa Burkard (1), Meggie Butler (2), Mac Charvala (1),
Elizabeth D’Altrui (4), Madeleine Faust (2), Andy Fresen, Erika Fresen (1), RJ
Fresen (3), Joe Gleason (2), Katie Golway (3), Alexandra Gordon (2), Dominique
Gordon (2), Lydia Gracey (1), Emma Harris (2), Elana Horowitz (1), Clark LaRaia
(1), Sarah Lowe (3), Matt Migliozzi (3), Cesar Munoz (1), Gregory Niccolai (4),
Spencer Pearce (1), Mikala Quinn (2), Katy Shepard (3), Jessica Solodkin (2), Emily
Torre (4), Katie Tselepis (1), Olivia Woodruff (2) & James Yoon (4).
MID SEASON ATTENDANCE STATS ARE STILL AMAZING; ALL TRAINING
GROUPS AVERAGING OVER 70%, WAVE TEAS LEAD WAY WITH 94.5%!!! ATHLETES RECOGNIZED:
Practice attendance is a foundation of improvement. Good attendance (and thus, great work habits and a great aerobic base), is the way to faster swimming. During the 1st half of the season, Elite Swimmers showed their diligent work ethic by attending practice at an astonishing rate of over 80% as team!!! The Wavebuster Teal training group leads the outstanding Elite attendance race by averaging, as a training group, 94.7% attendance!!! The Wave Teals are followed are followed by the Wave Blacks (88.2%), the Wave Golds (85.1%) the Seniors (81.6%), the Wave Teals (81.03%), the Marlin Blacks (79.7%), the Marlin Teals (76.9%) and the Senior Preps (74.7%).
At the end of the Season Awards Dinner, Elite swimmers with 85% attendance (or greater) will be presented with the Attendance Award. This award, plus attendance requirements for swimmers who want to be promoted, have positively motivated Elite Swimmers to come to practice.
Swimmers currently on track to win the award (who have an 85% or higher attendance record) are (* designates perfect attendance!):
Marlin Teals: Andy Fresen, Erika Fresen, Katherine Friday, Jessica Kraus, Brandon Li, Colin Miller-Radest, Michael Tortorella & Katie Tselepis
Marlin Blacks: Megan Balbo, Brielle Barba, Mac Charvala, Elizabeth D’Altrui, Rachel Keselman, Sarah Lowe, Gregory Niccolai
Wavebuster Teals: Arlynn Baer, Chris Balbo*, Lindsay Behar, Nicole Blum*, Drew D’Andrea, Avinash Duvvuri, Andrea Ferrell*, Emily Goad, Andre Guacelli, Julia Guacelli, Alyssa Hartigan*, Patrick Hong*, Elana Horowitz, Sarah Kleppe, Clark LaRaia, Isabel LaRaia*, Katie McGrath, Caroline Nash, Mikala Quinn & Jessica Solodkin
Wavebuster Blacks: Ryan Buckham, Krishna Duvvuri, Matt Hong, Zachie Katz, Aaron Levin, Jessie Lowe, Marisa Manzi, Kara Miller-Radest*, Nick Pachiolo, Christina Pick, Gabrielle Pick, Michelle Pick*, Taylor Savarese, Kaitlin Stearns*, Rachel Tortorella, Caroline Watt, Maggie Woodruff, Richard Yu
Wavebuster Golds: Matt Ahlmeyer, Taylor Campolattaro, Alli Dorneo, Spencer Fisch, Katie Gorman, Eamonn Keenan, Regan Kology, Brendan Miller-Radest, Katie Salsano, Andrea Shepard, Lindsay Stearns*, Erica Takahashi, Sarah Weinbrom, Ryan Wyer*
Senior Preps: Lindsay Anderson, Michael Li, Ali Morreale
Seniors:
Victoria D’Altrui, Chris Dart, Tad Deatly, Venkatesh Duvvuri, Amanda Grywalski,
Dani Martinez, Alex Morrison, Michael Strand*
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 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.
THREE MARLIN TEALS PROMOTED INTO MARLIN BLACKS:
Based upon great attendance
and tremendous improvement during the past 3 months, three swimmers have been
promoted from the Marlin Teals into the Marlin Blacks. These swimmers will be
notified by mail and will begin training in their new group immediately upon
their receipt of the promotion letter. No swimmer from any other training
group is under consideration for promotion until the Spring 2008 session.
Although this is a change from past promotion schedules (other than this instance, swimmers in Elite are not promoted until a new training session begins), with this year’s practice schedule change that has Marlin Teals and Marlin Blacks practicing at identical times each week, it is logical to reward beginner swimmers who are progressing rapidly and coming to practice. Many of the new swimmers (to Elite this Fall) were placed in the Marlin Teals with the expectation that they could be promoted prior to the next session if they developed. It is likely in the future that all swimmers at the Marlin level will initially be placed in the Marlin Teals and then provided the opportunity to be promoted in mid-winter session.
Coach Ashley Johnston and Coach Becky Marcelliano recommended these three promotions since these swimmers have mastered their stroke drills, have great attendance and are ready to be challenged at a higher level.
There are swimmers in the Marlin
Teals who have mastered their stroke drills but who were not be considered for
promotion since their attendance is lower than 70%. The coaches may make
further recommendations to Bill for promotions between now and January 1st
if they feel the swimmer has competed the necessary requirements to train at
the Marlin Black level (ie improved stroke drills, improved attendance). No
swimmer will be promoted after January 1st until the Spring Session
promotions.
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.
TENATIVE HOLIDAY PRACTICE SCHEDULE
POSTED:
The holiday practice schedule is now posted on the website under Practice Schedule. While likely this will be Elite’s practice schedule over the holiday, it is subject to change.
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!!!
PRACTICE SCHEDULE CHANGES (SLIGHTLY) NOVEMBER 15 FOR MARLINS &
WAVE BLACKS….
Swimmers and Parents are reminded that the practice schedule will change come Monday, November 19. The changes will affect the Marlin Teals, the Marlin Blacks and the Wavebuster Black training groups.
Starting Thursday, November 15, 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 added 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.
In addition, on those Saturdays when they are not competing the Wave Blacks practice will now be held from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm and at Morristown-Beard.
….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. Incredibly, a total of 7 high school and middle school teams use either Newark Academy or Morristown-Beard School during this time. What these means to us is that Elite’s practices will be disrupted as these meets will encroach into Elite’s practice times.
On days when there are no meets, Elite’s practices will be held at the same 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.
Thus, please check the practice schedule for practice time changes on a daily basis!!
SWIM MEET “LOST & FOUND” BROUGHT BACK TO NA; PLEASE CHECK
YOUR ITEMS AT HOME:
As anyone at Princeton this weekend knows, the crowded situation at meets creates a ripe situation where items are going to be left, lost or accidentally picked up by other swimmers. Swimmers and parents should know the following:
1) Items easily identified as Elite’s that are left at the meet are brought back to Newark Academy and placed in the lost & found.
2) Items with names on them are much more easily identifiable. If not already done so, write your name on all swim gear and team uniform items so they can get back to you.
3) As
a courtesy to your fellow swimmers, please check the items you bring home to
confirm they are actually yours. You may have accidentally picked up someone
else’s uniform, suit or goggles.
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!!! If you do not see what you need, email Bill at eliteswimclubnj@comcast.net