ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               12-26-05

 

18 SENIORS HEAD TO SUNNY CALIFORNIA:

 

            Fulfilling their annual training rite, 18 Seniors will travel across the US on Monday, December 26 to train 12 times in 6 days outdoors!!! This will be the 6th training trip Elite for Elite Seniors.

 

            Returning to the training site of two years ago, Elite will train at the Crawford Pool that is the University of California at Irvine’s training facility. Elite will train twice a day and do drylands for a total of approximately 5 hours of training a day. The swimmers will complete approximately 13,000 yards of training each day (approximately 8 miles of training each day) for an approximate total of 78,000 yards. During a standard training week, Elite Seniors train about 35,000 yards. The swimmers will train short course yards in the morning and long course meters in the afternoon.

 

            Despite being exhausted from all this practice, the Seniors will find the energy to go out to dinner each night. Two years ago while in Irvine, the Seniors were also able to muster enough energy to have a beach party (complete with swimming in the Pacific Ocean & a bonfire) and to attend Disneyland on New Year’s Eve. Similar events are schedule again this year.

 

The swimmers will leave return Monday, January 2. Swimmers participating in the trip are; Danni Basile, Crissy Condus, Chris Dart, Corey Deatly, Claire DiGiacomo, Mickey Ennis, Juli Furdyna, Alex Gonzalez, Katie Kilcullen, Shayla McDonnell, Austin Meszaros, Will Peters, Matt Poloniak, Brittany Ross, Lindsay Scott, Veronica Smith, Lily Thompson & Nick Trojanowski.

 

SWIM MEETS ON THE HORIZON:

 

            Elite’s meet schedule will gather momentum again in January. Upcoming meets include:

 

            1) Saturday, January 7th and Sunday, January 8th: Winterfest at Rutgers. Only qualifying swimmers will attend. Meet information is posted.

 

            2) Friday, January 13 thru Sunday, January 15: Burgdorff Invitational at Rutgers. Only qualifying swimmers will attend. Meet information is posted

 

            3) Sunday, January 15: Intraclub Meet at Morristown-Beard School. Meet information is posted.

 

            4) Sunday, January 22: Intraclub Meet at Morristown-Beard School. Meet information is posted.

 

OLYMPIAN TARA KIRK COMING (SOON) TO ELITE:

 

            Charismatic breaststroker Tara Kirk, an Olympic Silver Medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games, will visit Elite on Saturday, January 28, 2006. Elite is now taking reservations for the clinic-and smart swimmers have already signed up. There is a special Tara Kirk webpage on Elite’s website: check out her accomplishments!!

 

            Tara will be at Morristown-Beard from 2 pm to 6 pm. Tara will 1) discuss her swimming experiences (including the 2004 Athens Olympics), 2) stretch and warm-up swimmers 3) give stroke instruction and 4) get into the water and swim with Elite swimmers!!!

 

            Tara will be the 6th Olympian who has visited visited Elite for a (4 hour) stroke clinic. Past Olympians to visit Elite are: Dr. Ron Karnaugh, Tom Wilkins, Jenny Thompson, Janet Evans and Neil Walker.

 

            Originally from Washington State, Tara is a graduate of Standford University and an 11 time NCAA Champion!! Also noteworthy is that Tara, and her sister Dana, were the 1st sisters to qualify for the same US Olympic Squad.

 

            Tara is known for her ever present smile and gracious personality. One can check out Tara’s career by going to the USA Swimming website (usaswimming.org) and reading her bio under “swimmers.”

 

THINKING SUMMER? THINK SUMMER SWIM CAMPS!:

 

            Although the hot sun and humid weather seems millions of years away, summer is only 6 months away and top notch swim camps are already taking registrations for the summer of 2006.

 

When planning the upcoming summer, please consider sending your Elite swimmer to one of the numerous swim camps.

 

Each summer, numerous Elite swimmers spend a rewarding week (or two) at a summer swim camp. The benefits of such a camp are: 1) individual attention by reknown swim coaches 2) an increased knowledge of the sport of swimming and 3) personal growth that occurs as a result of “being on one’s own.”

 

The formula that seems to work best is finding an Elite friend to spend the week with at the swim camp.

 

If you are considering sending your swimmer to a swim camp, now is the time to do the research and make decisions (many of these camps are sold out by mid-Spring). On the website, under Swim Camps, there is a list of swim camps. Many of these swim camps close out in late February and early March!!!

 

Thinking about summer? Think Swim Camps!!

 

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 championship season (late February/March), this is the most crucial segment of your training season. 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 phenonem 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 last year 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!!!

         

WEATHER AFFECTING PRACTICE? CHECK WEBSITE & EMAIL:

 

            As yesterday’s snowstorm displayed, 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.

 

SUMMER LONG COURSE MEET SCHEDULE REVISED:

 

            Adjusting to the increased participation in summer “long course” competition, New Jersey Swimming has announced a restructure of the schedule of its championship meets.

 

            To meet the additional interest in summer competition (last summers meets were terribly overcrowded), NJ Swimming will hold a Bronze Level Meet this summer in addition to “moving back” the Junior Olympic competiton.

 

            Junior Olympics will be held Friday, August 4 thru Sunday, August 6, 2006 at Rutgers University.

 

12 & Under Silvers will be held Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16 at Rutgers (same weekend as in the past).

 

13 & Older Silvers will be held Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23 at Rutgers (same weekend as in the past).

 

 Bronze Championships will be held on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30 in Bayonne (at an outside venue!).