ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               12-15-08

 

DAZZLING PERFORMANCES CONCLUDE 1ST HALF OF SEASON;

TEAM SCORES 1055.5 POINTS AT HOLIDAY CLASSIC!!!

STRAND POSTS 1ST JUNIOR NATIONAL CUT TIME (51.16 IN 100 YD BACK!!):

MARTIN & STRAND ADD SECTIONAL CUTS;

BALBO (3), KOLOGY, SEBASTIAN (4) WIN EVENTS;

CHO, DORNEO, FELSEN, J. GORHAM (2), LEVIN, MCGRATH (3), K.MILLER-RADEST (2), C. PICK, SHEPARD (2) &

L. STEARNS (2) ADD 17 NEW JO CUTS:

 

            Michael Strand became the 2nd swimmer in Elite’s history to qualify for USA Swimming’s Junior National Championships this past weekend. Strand’s stellar performance in the 100 yard backstroke, in which he placed 2nd in finals at the prestigious Holiday Classic meet held at Rutgers University, was an amazing 51.16!! Michael has now dropped more than 2 full seconds from his 13-14 state record breaking time of 53.31, which he performed at last year’s Holiday Classic.  

 

            Ironically, USA Swimming’s SCY Junior National Championships were held this past weekend at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Had Strand performed this time in Texas, he would have placed 17th overall (see usaswimming.org). Strand will now plan to attend the Summer LCM Junior National Championships in Federal Way, Washington this coming August.

 

            Strand’s performance was only one of the dozens of the spectacular performances by Elite swimmers this weekend. As a club, Elite scored 1055.5 points (compared to 829 last year), won 8 events and placed 9th overall (out of 41 teams) in one of the most highly competitive meets of the season. In addition to the usual strong NJ contingent (Scarlet, Peddie, Cougars), Elite competed against several very strong out of state teams such as the Westchester Marlins, Team Suffolk & the Delaware Swim Team. Along the way, Elite swimmers also added 17 new Junior Olympic qualifying times, upping their totals to 36 swimmers qualifying in 235 events (Elite started the season with 26 swimmers in 132 events). With this competition, the 1st half of the season is completed. Elite will now not compete until January (with the exception of the 8 & Unders, who compete this weekend at Candy Cane!).

 

            Strand also added a new Sectional qualifying time to his resume in the 50 free (22.29). Assuming the qualifying times remain the same from last year (amazingly, they have not been posted yet), Michael now has 8 Sectional qualifying times as a sophomore in high school!.Michael also placed 6th in the 200 back, in posting a 1.54.58 time in finals Sunday night.

 

            16 year old Ricky Martin also presumably added a Sectional qualifying time, his 3rd, to his resume in churning to a 53.55 time in the 100 butterfly. Ricky’s time placed him 25th (a demonstration of how fast this meet was, a sectional qualifying time placed 25!!!).

 

            12 year old Ryan Sebastian led the very strong Elite 12 & Unders, by winning 4 events and posting personal bests in 8 of the 9 events he competed in. Ryan won the 50 back (28.93), the 200 IM (2.17.82), the 200 back (2.13.27) and the 400 IM (4.50.15).  Ryan also placed 2nd in both the 50 (27.74) and the 100 (1.01.58) fly. Ryan also added a pair of 4th place finishes: 100 IM (1.04.24) and the 100 back (1.02.36).

 

            10 year old Chris Balbo continued his awesome swimming, by winning 3 events and also placing 2nd, 3rd & 4th in 3 other events. Chris literally crushed his opposition in the 500 free, when he dropped 17 seconds, won by a margin of 19 seconds (approximately 1 lap ahead of the 2nd place finisher!) and timed out at 5.54.02! Chris followed up by winning the 100 butterfly in a 1.10.54 time and the 200 free in a 2.17.39 time! Chris’s 1.13.64 time in the 100 back was good enough for 2nd place, his 200 IM time of 2.37.29 was 3rd best and his 1.13.95 swim in the 100 IM was 4th fastest. Chris was 9 for 9 in the personal best category.

 

            In 7 of her 9 events, 12 year old Regan Kology finished no lower than 3rd place!! Kology started the meet out winning the 500 yard free in a scorching 5.23.12 time. Regan followed up with three 2nd place finishes (200 IM: 2.20.74, 100 free: 56.20 and the 400 IM: 4.55.94) and three 3rd place finishes (100 IM: 1.05.65, 50 free: 26.03 & 200 free: 2.02.19). Regan posted 8 personal best times!!!

 

            10 year old Kaitlin Stearns, who was sick last week (including Friday-she did not participate in the meet that day) recovered enough to rocket to a 2nd place finish in the 50 free (28.36). Despite being “off”, Kaitlin managed to also place 4th in both the 50 (33.49) & 100 back (1.12.55) and 5th in both the 100 (1.03.80) and 200 free (2.20.75).

 

            Stearns’s teammate 10 year old Andrea Galea also placed 2nd with her 1.11.46 performance in the 100 back. Galea placed 3rd twice: 50 back (33.20) and 50 free (29.22), 6th in the 100 IM (1.14.16) and 7th in the 100 free (1.04.85).

 

            11 year old Zach Katz significantly improved upon his nationally ranked 50 breast time, in placing 3rd in the 50 breast (32.70). Zach dropped 1.65 seconds to help his chances of remaining in the national rankings.

 

            Zach’s teammate Jeffrey Dong was close behind, in placing 4th in the 50 breast (33.03). Dong also placed 4th in the 200 breast (2.34.92).

 

            14 year old Michael Li finaled in both the boys 13-14 100 and 200 breast events. Li won the consolation heat of the 200 by dropping 3 seconds from his morning swim (2.23.41). Michael placed 12th overall in the 100, in touching with a 1.06.57 time.

 

            12 year old Lindsay Stearns flew in her 3 butterfly events, placing 3rd in the 200 fly (2.23.25), 6th in the 100 fly (1.05.48) and 8th in the 50 fly (29.56). Lindsay is also the 1st swimmer of Coach Leighann’s to swim faster than Leighann in butterfly at a comparable age!! Lindsay’s 100 fly and 400 IM performance (5.05.48) are new JO qualifying times (Lindsay ages up in February).

 

            12 year Alli Dorneo, who also ages up just before Junior Olympics, also posted her first JO time this season in her “age group to be” with her 1.06.07 performance in the 100 back. Alli’s effort placed her 8th. Alli also placed 7th twice in her other back events: 50 back (30.95) and 200 back (2.24.04).

 

            Other notable performances:

 

1)      nestled within her 9 for 9 personal best performance was her 1st sub-minute 100 free swim (59.88) for 12 year old Andrea Shepard. That swim plus both her 50 back (32.97) and her 50 free  (28.06) performance were new JO qualifying times for Andrea (she now has 14!)

2)      12 year old Katie McGrath continues to impress. Katie doubled her JO resume by adding 3 events: 1) 100 back (1.11.39), 200 IM (2.31.83) & 200 back (2.30.39)

3)      12 year old Kara Miller-Radest also added 2 JO qualifying times (she now has 9) with her performances in the 100 (1.01.68) and 200 (2.13.32) free

4)      12 year old Jess Gorham added two IM’s to her JO event schedule, posting JO times in both the 100 (1.10.46) and the 200 (2.35.41). Gorham already has the 400 IM time along with the 3 backstroke events

5)      14 year old Brannon Cho, in his only swim of the meet, dropped 2.6 seconds to register his 2nd JO qualifying time in the 200 IM (2.17.37)

6)      10 year old Christina Pick added her 11th JO swim by dropping over 3 seconds in her 100 free (1.09.08)

7)      In dropping 5 seconds in his 200 free (2.14.77), 11 year old Aaron Levin scored his 6th JO qualifying time

8)      Juliet Felsen, another of Elite dynamite 12 year old girls added her 5th JO qualifying time in her 200 IM (2.34.37)

                   

Swimmers who participated (# in parathesis is number of best Elite SCM best times):  Chris Balbo (9), Emily Buckman (2), Morgan Conley (3), Jimmy Coyne (2), Matt Critchley (1), Jeffrey Dong (3), Alli Dorneo (9), Amy Duren (2), Priya Duvvuri (1), Venkatesh Duvvuri (1), Cassandra Farnow, Juliet Felsen (6), Breana Fitzpatrick, Andrea Galea (4), Emily Gorham (1), Jess Gorham (8), Amanda Grywalski, Scott Harris (4), Alyssa Hartigan (7), Matthew Hong (8), Patrick Hong (3), Andrew Huang (1), Brent Jones, Zach Katz (5), Matt King, Regan Kology (8), Jared Kovacs (7), Aaron Levin (5), Michael Li (4), Ricky Martin (2), Katie McGrath (5), Karl Melchior (1), Brendan Miller-Radest, Kara Miller-Radest (6), Ali Morreale, Caroline Nash, Silas Newcomb (1), Christina Pick (5), Brittany Ross, Taylor Savarese (1), Ryan Sebastian (8), Andrea Shepard (9), Kaitlin Stearns (3), Lindsay Stearns (7), Michael Strand (8), Michael Tortorella (1), Caroline Watt, Adam Weinbrom (1) & Ryan Wyer (2).

 

ON TUESDAY DEC 16, GET THE ADVICE THE NJ JETS GET: CHECK BACK FOR PRESENTATION TIMES (THEY WILL BE AT MBS!!!:

 

          On Tuesday, December 16, Dr. Jim Reardon, the psychologist for the New York Jets, will provide one or 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.

 

Due to the late notice that Elite received regarding Newark Academy being unavailable on Tuesday night (we learned on Friday) due to a faculty and administration holiday party, we are still trying to figure out how we will provide the presentation(s).

 

Scenario #1 will be a single presentation from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at Morristown-Beard School. Scenario #2 will be the first presentation will be from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Morristown-Beard and the 2nd presentation will be from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Morristown Beard. Under this scenario, all Wavebuster and Marlin swimmers and parents of swimmers would be invited to attend Session #1 while Session #2 would be geared for Senior & Senior Prep swimmers and parents). There will be an email blast and changes on the website to reflect how this is finalized

 

            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 on Tuesday. All Elite swimmers and parents are invited to attend the appropriate session.

 

STRAND, KATZ CURRENTLY RANKED NATIONALLY;

 

            Two Elite swimmers, 15 year old Michael Strand and 11 year old Zach Katz, are currently listed within the national rankings for their events in early season meet results.

 

Compiled thru USA Swimming’s national database (called “SWIMS”), the results include Hall-o-ween Meet and NYC Open meet results. These results do not include Fall Festival or Distance Derby times achieved. Several other Elite swimmers may be within range of top 10 times nationally based upon their fall performances. Swimmers 10 years old and younger are not ranked nationally.

 

By reason of his phenomenal early season 100 yard backstroke race at the NYC Open in which he posted a 52.51 time, Strand is currently ranked 8th nationally for all 15 year old boys in that event. Based upon his 50 yard breaststroke time of 34.35 at the Hall-o-ween Classic Meet, Katz is ranked 17th in that event for 11 year old boys.

 

Please note that these rankings will continue to be compiled until August, 2009, so these are not final results in any respect. Both swimmers will need to improve upon their times to remain with the top 20 standings. Swimmers who post times within the top 10 of their age for the season receive Top 10 recognition certificates from USA Swimming.

 

Last summer, Elite swimmers Chris Dart and Regan Kology placed within the top 10 of their age groups for long course distance events. Just missing a top 10 ranking, Strand placed 11th in the 100 meter back as a 15 year old.

 

RUTGERS WOMEN’S TEAM TO HOST “COLLEGE CONFERENCE CARNIVAL” ON JAN 16-17; ENTERTAIN FOR ALL, ELITE AGE GROUP RELAYS MAY PARTICIPATE:

 

            Trying to build on the swimming phenomena generated from the 2008 Bejing Olympics, Rutgers University Women’s Team will host a “College Conference Carnival at Rutgers University on Friday, January 16 & Saturday, January 17, 2009. Committed to competing are Rutgers, University of Florida, University of North Carolina and University of Richmond. All of these teams either won or placed 2nd in their respective conferences.

 

            As part of the festivities, Rutgers will coordinate 4 events that will hopefully impact directly on Elite Swimming: in the middle of the meet, Rutgers will schedule relay races for the top 8 teams in New Jersey (including southern NJ which is part of the Mid-Atlantic LSC) in both the 9-10 and 11-12 Age Groups. Based upon Elite’s recent past performances, relay teams from Elite should be invited to participate!!

 

            As currently scheduled, the 11-12 Boys and Girls Relays will participate at approximately 7 pm Friday night and the 9-10’s will participate at approximately 7:45 pm on Saturday night.

 

            Elite will be entering teams and assuming our teams are accepted to participate, will notify those swimmers who have been selected to compete. Deadline for entries is Wednesday, Dec 17 (3 days after Holiday Classic) so we should hear shortly thereafter if our teams have made it.

 

            Rutgers will also be planning other entertain activities at the meet such as Synchro Diving & Big Man Cannonball Contests, Masters World Record 3-Meter Diving Contest and Clown Diving.

 

PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY AT 9-10S, 13 & OLDER CHAMPIONSHIPS:

 

            Parents are reminded that although we ran a spectacular Distance Derby meet two weeks ago at Newark Academy, Elite will be running two more meets this season: 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championships and 13 & Older Silver/Bronze Championships (co-hosted with Morris County Swim Club).

 

            With regards to the 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championships, all parents of swimmers 10 & younger (yes, including 8 & Under parents!) will be expected to work that weekend.

 

            With regards to the 13 & Older Silver/Bronze Championships, all parents of swimmers 13 & Older (with exceptions being parents of swimmers attending Sectionals in Boston, Massachusetts) l be expected to work that weekend.

 

FOLLOW UP ON COLLEGE RECRUITING:

 

            As a follow up to the college recruiting seminar Bill provided Elite swimmers and parents on Friday, November 28, here are some additional helpful websites swimmers may want to check out in their search for the right college:: www.collegeboard.com, www.princetonreview.com, www.berecruited.com & www.ncaaclearinghouse.com.

 

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 have been posted.

 

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!!!

 

PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS:

ATTENDENCE, LEVEL OF TRAINING AND STROKE TECHNIQUE:

CORRECTION: 80% NEEDED FOR WAVE GOLDS TO BE PROMOTED:

 

            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 80% for Wave Golds (changed from last year due to removal of practice make-ups)

c.       over 85% for Senior Preps

     

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!!!