ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               12-06-10

 

    “Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”

 

             

PROGRESS CONTINUES WITH AGE GROUPERS!!

R. CARCHIA, A DUREN, E. NG (3), SUN WINS 6 EVENTS;

BUTLER, EMODI, KIM, C. LARAIA, LITVIN, T. MAGUIRE, L. MAYERS, NITTING, G. PICK & SUN PLACE 2ND:

G. PICK EARNS JO TIME IN 200 FLY;

 

For most of the Age Group program, competition in the Gator Grid Iron 2010 meet was the conclusion of the 1st half of the season competition wise (swimmers who qualified for the prestigious Holiday Classic 2010 will compete next weekend). Not even a falling ceiling tile (yes, that’s right) could stop Elite’s future stars, who took advantage of their only December competition by stepping up and rocking the house. Elite won 6 events and placed 2nd in 10 events (out of 60 events), accomplishing this without their Holiday Classic swimmers. 

 

13 year old Gabrielle Pick dropped almost 6 seconds to earn her 1st JO qualifying time this season and a second place finish in the 200 butterfly (2.27.62).

 

10 year old Evan Ng, who ages up this week, took full advantage of his last races as a 10 year old by winning 3 events. Evan rocked the 50 fly (33.32), the 50 breast (42.92) and the 50 back (36.39)-all with best times.

 

10 year old Brittany Sun scored a trifecta by winning the 100 IM (1.21.52), placing 2nd in the 50 back (39.16) and touching 3rd in the 50 breast (43.67).

 

10 year old Richie Carchia touched first in the 100 free (1.16.67) and followed up with a 4th place finish in the 50 back (42.55). 12 year old Amy Duren matched Carchia by winning the 50 back (35.94) and finishing 4th in the 100 back (1.18.24).

 

16 year old Rachel Emodi delivered with a 2nd place finish in the 100 free (57.94) and followed up with a 3rd place finish in the 200 free (2.06.27). 10 year old Teddy Maguire also went 2-3 with his 2nd place finish in the 50 fly (37.91) and his 3rd place finish in the 50 free (35.57).

 

15 year old Michael Nitting posted 3 best times, including a 2nd place finish in the 200 back (2.21.48) and a 4th place finish in the 100 back (1.05.97).

 

12 year old Meggie Butler dropped 10.4 seconds in the 100 fly to place 2nd. 11 year old Audrey Kim grabbed 2nd in the 100 back (1.16.60) after dropping 7 seconds in her 100 fly.

 

15 year old Clark LaRaia stroked to a 2nd place finish in the 200 breast (2.41.46) while 10 year old Ben Litvin also placed 2nd in a breaststroke event, the 100 with his 1.50.51 effort. 9 year old Leighton Mayers chipped .11 off his 50 free time to place 2nd.

 

10 year old Megan Balbo collected two 3rd place finishes: 100 IM (1.23.58) and the 100 free (1.16.50). Jason Steinberg duplicated Balbo’s feat by placing 2nd in both the 100 breast (1.13.43) and the 200 breast (2.47.69).

 

9 year old Reid McBoyle grabbed a 3rd place finish in the 100 breast (1.50.83) and two 4th place finishes (100 back-1.41.47 & 100 free-1.28.86-a 33 second drop!!).

 

9 year old Jason Rossi placed 3rd in the 100 back (1.40.67) and 4th in the 100 breast (1.53.83). 12 year old Brielle Barba also placed 3-4 with her 3rd place finish in the 100 IM (1.19.56) and her 4th place finish in the 100 breast (1.30.33).

 

9 year old Erica Iizuka continues to impress as she placed 3rd in the 100 back (1.25.61). 13 year old Charlotte Morrissey was 3rd in the 200 back (2.28.13). 10 year old Sandeepan Mukherjee knocked 9 seconds off his 50 fly (40.24) to place 3rd.

 

14 year old Darragh O’Gorman sliced .26 off his 200 back time to place 3rd while 11 year old Vivian Xia’s 3 second drop in the 100 breast earned her a 3rd place finish (1.29.60).

 

9 year old Monica Iizuka was dynamite, as she had a 7 second drop in the 100 IM (1.23.91) and a 2 second drop in the 50 fly-both fast enough for 4th place finishes. 11 year old Abbie Bigham had 3 personal bests, including two 4th place finishes (50 fly-34.39 & 50 back-36.76). 9 year old Joseph Pick also garnered two 4th place finishes: 50 free (35.90) and the 50 fly (40.54).

 

12 year old Nathan Davidovich snagged 4th with his 1.14.76 effort in the 100 back (2 second drop). 15 year old Patrick Lai earned a 4th place finish with his 2.50.36 time in the 200 breast. 11 year old Brandon Li dropped 7 seconds to place 4th in the 100 fly (1.28.45).

 

12 year old Isabelle Malinowski was 4th in the 200 free (2.27.98) while 14 year old Katie McGrath placed 4th in the 200 back (2.28.87). 13 year old Caroline Nash touched 4th in the 200 butterfly (2.31.44). 14 year old Nick Pachiolo sliced 4.4 seconds off his 200 back for a 4th place finish (2.24.64).

 

Full results are posted on the team website.

 

Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Megan Balbo (3), Brielle Barba (3), Lindsay Behar (1), Isabella Beltran (3), Nataliz Beltran (3), Abbie Bigham (3), Aislin Black (3), Emily Buckman (3), Schuyler Bunn, Eloise Burn, Meggie Butler (2), Ben Campbell (3), Richie Carchia (2), John Chiang (2), Koby Cohen (3), Elizabeth D’Altrui (3), Drew D’Andrea (1), Nathan Davidovich (3), Amy Duren (3), Corey Duren (2), Avinash Duvvuri (3), Rachel Emodi (3), Madeleine Faust, Summer Felsen (1), Andrea Ferrell (3), Katherine Friday, Ariel Gelman, Patrick Gilfillan (2), Paul Guenther (3), Jasmine Gulati (3), Abbie Hartwig (3), Meg Hawkins (2), Andrew Huang (1), Sarah Hui (3), Erica Iizuka (3), Karen Iizuka (3), Monica Iizuka (3), Katie Iovel (1), Rachel Keselman, Audrey Kim (3), Jessica Kraus (3), Patrick Lai (1), Clark LaRaia, Isabel LaRaia,  Grace Levey (2), Alyssa Levy (3), Brandon Li (3), Ben Litvin (1), Sarah Lowe, Livia Maguire (3), Teddy Maguire (3), Isabelle Malinowski (3), Cody Matheson (1), Angelina Mayers (3), Leighton Mayers (2), Reid McBoyle (3), Katie McGrath, Karl Melchior (1), Charlotte Morrissey (2), Sandeepan Mukherjee (2), Fred Nagle (1), Caroline Nash (1), Alex N’Diaye, Eugene Ng (2), Evan Ng (3), Michael Nitting (3), Dara O’Gorman (2), Nicholas Pachiolo (2), Betsy Peinado (3), Gabrielle Pick (3), Joseph Pick (2), Natalie Pruitt (3), Mikala Quinn (1), Camille Relota (1), Joseph Romano (2), Brandon Rossi (2), Jason Rossi (3), Abigail Shvorin (3), Samantha Siracusa (2), Kat Slover (3), Delaney Smith (1), Will Stearns (1), Jason Steinberg (1), Brittany Sun (3), Sachi Tanwar (2), Abir Thakur (3), Zowie Vukasinovic (2), Cullen Walsh (2), Doris Xia (2), Vivian Xia (1), Gloria Xu (1), Remenna Xu & Katherine Zhang (1).

 

THRU NOV, ATTENDANCE STATS ARE STILL VERY STRONG; 4 OF 7 TRAINING GROUPS AVERAGING OVER 80% OR HIGHER SENIORS LEAD WAY WITH 86.2%!!! ATHLETES RECOGNIZED:

 

          Practice attendance is the foundation of improvement. Starting the season with good attendance (and thus, great work habits and a great aerobic base) is the way to faster swimming. Thru November, the Elite Swimmers showed their diligent work ethic by attending practice at an astonishing rate of over 80% as team!!! The Senior training group leads the outstanding & close Elite attendance race by averaging, as a training group, 86.21% attendance!!! The Seniors are followed by the Marlin Blacks (85.88%), the Marlin Teals (83.88%), the Senior Preps (80.52%), Wave Blacks (79.90%), the Wave Teals (77.35%), and the Wave Golds (73.29%).

 

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 for the past 6 years.

 

            81 swimmers, nearly half the team, are currently on track to win the attendance award (who have an 85% or higher attendance record) are (* designates perfect attendance!):

 

            Marlin Teals:  Miland Bangalore, Sheetel Bangalore, Cordelia Burn*, Nikhil Deokar, Jonathan Kao, Hardie Kressler, Ryan Lam, Angelina Mayers, Shonchori Mukherjee, Will Nash, Dante Soriano & Grace Zinn  

 

            Marlin Blacks: Natalia Beltran, Schulyer Bunn, Richie Carchia, Abby Hartwig*, Gabrielle Hayek, Alex Jacobs, Alyssa Levy, Teddy Maguire, Delaney Smith*, Sachi Tanwar, Zowie Vukasinovic & Doris Xia*

 

Wavebuster Teals: Megan Balbo*, Aislin Black, Eloise Burn, Emily Fu, Erica Iizuka, Monica Iizuka, Katie Iovel, Audrey Kim, Jessica Kraus, Michael Macchia, Sandeepan Mukherjee, Fred Nagle, Brandon Rossi, Katy Shepard, Gian Soriano*, Will Stearns & Brittany Sun

 

Wavebuster Blacks: Brielle Barba, Meggie Butler, Andrea Ferrell, Emily Gorham, Alicia Iizuka, Karen Iizuka, Brandon Li*, Cody Matheson, Eugene Ng, Evan Ng, Danielle Peterson, Joseph Romano, Jason Steinberg, Vivian Xia & Grace Xu*.

 

Wavebuster Golds:  Chris Balbo, Emily Buckman, Morgan Conley, Elizabeth D’Altrui, Rachel Emodi, Ariel Gelman, Katie McGrath, Karl Melchior, Charlotte Morrissey, Caroline Nash, Darragh O’Gorman, Kaitlin Stearns & Cullen Walsh*.

 

Senior Preps:  Jenni Allocco, Lindsey Giostra, Jess Gorham*, Gregory Macchia & Caroline Watt

 

            Seniors:  Matthew Ahlmeyer, Maggie Nelson, Ryan Sebastian*, Andrea Shepard, Lindsay Stearns* & Michael Strand

 

WINTERFEST ENTRIES UPDATED; PRINCETON ENTRIES TO BE POSTED SHORTLY:

 

            Based upon yesterday’s performances, Elite was able to modify its entries for Winterfest 2010, adding those swimmers and swims achieved at Gator Grid Iron.

 

            Meet information for Princeton Invitational (Elite co-hosts this meet at Princeton University) should be sanctioned shortly. As a result, Elite will post those entries this week. An attempt will be made to provide as many different events per swimmer between the two meets (Winterfest-qualifying meet & Princeton-Open Meet) held in January.

 

TOP 10 ALL TIME SWIMS UPDATED ON TEAM WEBSITE:

 

            Elite proudly displays its Top 10 All Time Best Times on its team website. The list for Short Course Yards (SCY) has been updated on the website thru Distance Derby. Check it out!!

 

….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 upon Elite’s practice times.

 

            On days when there are no meets, Elite’s practices will be held at the usual 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!!

 

TENTATIVE HOLIDAY SCHEDULE NOW POSTED:

 

            Elite’s tentative Holiday Practice Schedule is now posted on the website under “Practice Schedule.” While it is likely this will be the practice schedule, both NA and MBS have been known to ask us to re-schedule. Thus, please check the website prior to coming to a practice.        

 

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.     

 

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: JR NATIONALS & HOLIDAY CLASSIC; GO ELITE!!!; MEET INFORMATION POSTED; PLEASE RESPOND TO TIMER COORDINATORS EMAILS:

 

            Elite’s next competition will be Holiday Classic (qualifiers only) and USA Swimming’s Junior Nationals (Michael Strand will represent Elite!). Information regarding these meets 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!!!