ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               2-07-11

 

    “Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”

 

STUD 13 & 14 YEAR OLDS MIX IT UP WITH BEST IN NORTHEAST:

SLEPIAN WINS HIGH POINT FOR 13 YEAR OLD GIRLS;

SEBASTIAN PLACES 2ND IN HIGH POINT FOR 14 YEAR OLD BOYS;

L. STEARNS PLACES 8TH IN HIGH POINT FOR 14 YEAR OLD GIRLS;

A. SHEPARD EARNS HER 4TH JO CUT,

 

            6 Elite swimmers traveled to Washington, D. C. this past weekend to participate in the 2nd annual Eastern Zone IM Xtreme Games for 14 & Under swimmers. Against some of the top teams from the Northeast, Elite had 3 of the 6 swimmers place in the top 8 of their single age group competition.

 

            Juliet Felsen (14), Ryan Sebastian (14), Andrea Shepard (14), Sarah Slepian (13), Lindsay Stearns (14) and Caroline Watt (14) did Elite proud. These Elite swimmers competed against some of the top powerhouse teams in the Northeast, as well as the nation: Curl-Burke, Rockville-Montgomery, Hersey Aquatic Club, Machine Aquatics, York YMCA, Pinelands Richmond, the Condors, York Swim Club & Westchester Marlins.

 

            At the 13-14 level, the meet was structure so each swimmer was required to compete in the same 6 events: 200 IM, 400 IM, 500 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast and 200 Fly. The IMX power point totals assigned to each performed time were then added up for places.

 

            Sebastian, Slepian and Stearns returned home with handsome plaques, awarded to each swimmer who placed within the top 16 places. Felsen and Watt placed just out of the top 16.  

 

            Slepian, who joined Elite in November, won the high point competition for all 13 year old Girls. Sarah’s point total was significantly higher than the next 13 year old girl despite Sarah only scoring 1 personal best (in the 200 fly, where she dropped 3.3 seconds).

 

            Sebastian, despite being in 3rd place on Sunday morning and waking up on the verge of being sick, moved up in the rankings to 2nd based upon a personal best in the 200 back (2.02.98) and a new match of his best in the 400 IM (4.17.35, just .07 off his best). Ryan also dropped 6.1 seconds in the 200 breast (2.15.90-just .51 off a Sectional qualifying time!). Sebastian also placed 2nd in both the 200 fly (2.02.25-best by 3.9 sec) and the 200 IM (2.02.93).

 

            Stearns carved 5.5 seconds off her 200 breast time (2.37.04) and sliced off 1.02 from her 200 fly time (2.10.85) to place 3rd. Stearns fly time was a Sectional yard qualifying time; Stearns already had the Sectional qualifying time in LCM.

 

            Shepard chipped off 2.56 seconds from her 500 free time to earn her 5th JO cut.

 

            Watt eliminated nearly 5 seconds off her 500 free time (5.20.84). Felsen saved her best for last, as she posted two best times on Sunday morning in the 200 back (2.31.24-3 second drop) and the 400 IM (5.00.88-.15 second improvement).

           

            Full results are posted on the team website.

 

            Swimmers who participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Juliet Felsen (2), Ryan Sebastian (4), Andrea Shepard (1), Sarah Slepian (1), Lindsay Stearns (2) & Caroline Watt (2).

 

SNOW, RAIN & ICE DOES NOT PREVENT ELITE FROM RACING FAST:

P. CARCHIA, FU, KESELMAN, MIGLIOZZI, & B.ROSSI PLACE 1ST;

FU, ROSSI & SUN ADD JO CUTS AT CLIFTON;

 

            Parents and swimmers weathered another winter storm-this one packing snow, rain & ice, this past Saturday in traveling to Clifton Boys & Girls Club to compete in a dual meet. Each swimmer in the Wave Teals, Marlin Blacks and Marlin Teals were afforded an opportunity to compete prior to championship season, which starts later this month.

 

            10 yea old Emily Fu, 11 year old Brandon Rossi & 10 year old Brittany Sun all scored Junior Olympic qualifying times at the meet.

 

            Rossi, who won the event, earned his 2nd JO qualifying time this season with his 1.19.90 time in the 100 yard breast (a 2.3 second drop). Earlier, Brandon had dropped 12 seconds in his 200 free (2.25.76) in placing 3rd.

 

           Fu’s 2.31 second drop and her 4th place finish in the 100 back (1.19.66) earned her 4th JO qualifying time this year. Emily followed up by winning the 100 yard breast in 1.27.78 (one of her JO events).

 

            Sun touched right behind Fu in the 100 back, also dipping under the JO time with her 1.20.18 time.

 

            8 year old Peter Carchia touched 1st in the 50 free (34.59) and followed up with a 3rd place finish in the 50 breast (52.25).

 

            13 year old Matthew Migliozzi won the 100 breast (1.31.57) and placed 2nd in both the 200 free (2.32.82) and 100 back (1.31.25).

 

            11 year old Rachel Keselman was the winner of the 100 breast (1.23.91-5 second drop).

 

            12 year old Michael Macchia placed 2nd twice: in the 200 free (2.23.44) and the 100 back (1.15.56).

 

            8 year old Jonathan Kao was 2nd in the 50 breast (50.89) and placed 3rd in both the 50 free (38.96) and the 50 back (59.01).

 

            10 year old Claire Xu placed 2nd in the 100 back (1.15.33) and in the 100 breast (1.28.89) and the 3rd in the 100 free (1.09.21).

 

            10 year old Katy Shepard knocked off 2.54 off her 100 free time to place 2nd (1.05.96) and placed 3rd in the 100 back (1.19.32). 

 

            12 year old Abigail Shvorin dropped 4 seconds in the 100 breast to place 2nd and was 3rd in the 200 free (2.32.30).

 

            8 year old Alyssa Levy touched 2nd in the 50 back (43.95) and was 3rd in the 50 free (38.02).

 

            8 year old Will Nash earned a 2nd place finish with his 47.72 time in the 50 back.

 

            9 year old Erica Iizuka stroked to a 3rd place finish in the 100 breast (1.29.59) while 11 year old Audrey Kim was 2nd in the 100 back (1.20.00). 11 year old Fred Nagle got to the wall 3rd in the 100 breast (1.31.70).

 

            Full results on posted on the team website.

 

            Swimmers who participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Tara Balan (2), Megan Balbo (1), Milind Bangalore (1), Sheetal Bangalore (2), Isabella Beltran (1), Natalia Beltran (1), Katie Brosnan (1), Schuyler Bunn (1), Cordelia Burn (2), Eloise Burn (2), Sarah Burn (1), Ben Campbell (3), Jessica Carchia (1), Peter Carchia (3), Richie Carchia, Claire Chiperfield (1), Aaron Damesek (2), Katharina Dowlin, Summer Felsen (3), Emily Fu (3), Patrick Gilfillan (1), Paul Guenther (2), Jasmine Gulati (1), Abby Hartwig (2), Gab Hayek, Jeffrey Ho (2), Erica Iizuka (1), Monica Iizuka (2), Jonathan Kao (1), Rachel Keselman (1), Audrey Kim (1), Jessica Kraus (2), Hardie Kressler (1), Hannah Kushen (2), Grace Levey (1), Alyssa Levy, Benjamin Litvin, Michael Macchia (1), Livia Maguire (1), Teddy Maguire (1), Angelina Mayers (2), Leighton Mayers (2), Paige McBoyle (2), Reid McBoyle (1), Matthew Migliozzi (2), Sandeepan Mukherjee (1), Shonchori Mukherjee, Fred Nagle (1), Will Nash (1), Joe Pick (3), Natalie Pruitt, Brandon Rossi (2), Jason Rossi (1), Katy Shepard (2), Abigail Shvorin (3), Joe Siracusa (3), Samantha Siracusa (2), Sydney Slepian, Kat Slover (3), Delaney Smith (2), Dante Soriano, Will Stearns (2), Brittany Sun (1), Sachi Tanwar, Katie Tselepis (3), Zowie Vukasinovic (1), Doris Xia (2), Claire Xu (1) & Grace Zinn (1).

 

PARENTS ORGANIZATION OFFERS PERSONALIZED CAPS!!

 

            The Elite Swim Club Parents Organization (ESCPO) is holding a PERSONALIZED CAP SALE (last names only).  Caps must be purchased in PAIRS.  They are 2 for $15.  This sale is only until February 16th.   Please be prompt.   There will be no exceptions to that date.  This is the only time of year where swimmers can receive extra personalized caps.  Swimmers who tried out in September are able to order caps with names on it as well.  Please contact Allison Nash at allisonrnash@msn.com if you have any questions.

 

END OF SEASON NOW IN SIGHT:

CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON/MEETS, TRYOUTS & SPRING SESSION EYED:

EVERYONE TRAINS TIL FRIDAY, MARCH 11:

 

            In keeping with its long term developmental goals for its swimmers, Elite will provide training for all swimmers thru Friday, March 11. Regardless of when a swimmer’s last championship meet occurs, all swimmers will be welcome to continue to train thru March 11. 

 

            All 8 & Unders, all 9 & 10’s and all 13 thru 19 swimmers will continue training AFTER their Mini Championship meet or AFTER their Silver/Bronze Meets. 13-19s will train thru their Silver-Bronze Meet, to be held March 12-13.  Junior Olympic, Sectional and Zone swimmers will continue to train thru the conclusion of their last championship meet.

 

All swimmers (with the probable exception of Sectional & Zone swimmers), will begin their Spring Season together on Monday, April 4.

 

            This schedule allows for non-JO level swimmers (and parents) 3 weeks off between seasons (much needed mental and physical rest) and Junior Olympic swimmers at least 2 full weeks off between sessions.

 

            Please note that the training within each training group will be altered during this time frame, with the post championship swimmers grouped together in practice to work on conditioning while the pre-championship swimmers will focus on stroke details, racing and resting for their upcoming championship meet.      

 

            With regards to Championship Season, all Elite 8 & Under swimmers will attend the Mini-Championships on Saturday, March 6. All Elite 9-10’s will attend the 9-10 Silver/Bronze South Championships (Elite hosts this meet at Newark Academy) Saturday February 26 & Sunday, February 27. All 11-12’s will attend the 11-12 Silver/Bronze South Championships to be held on Saturday, March 5 & Sunday, March 6 at Raritan Valley Community College.  All Elite 13 & Olders will attend the 13-19 Silver/Bronze Championships (Elite hosts this meet at Rutgers) on Saturday, March 12 & Sunday, March 13.

 

Tryouts for Elite’s Spring/Summer 2011 Session will be held Tuesday, March 22 at 4:30 pm at Newark Academy. Information regarding this tryout will be posted on the team website this week.

COLLEGE BOUND AND SWIMMING? NJ SWIMMING SCHOLARSHIP MONEY AVAILABLE:  

            New Jersey Swimmers who are attending college next year and plan to swim can apply to receive a $1,250 one-time scholarship from New Jersey Swimming.  

            Information regarding this scholarship opportunity is attached and the application will be posted on the NJ Swimming website shortly.

PREPARATION BEGINS FOR 9-10 SILVER/BRONZE CHAMPS;

13-19 SILVERS/BRONZE COORIDINATION EMAIL OUT THIS WEEK;

Meet Coordination for the 9-10 Silver Bronze Championships is gearing up for this championship meet which Elite will host February 26th & 27th at Newark Academy.  All parents of swimmers 10 years of age and younger (yes, including 8 year olds, 7 year olds and 6 year olds) are expected to work this meet as part of their parental obligation to Elite. 

Carolyn Balbo thanks all parents of 10 & Unders who responded to her questionnaire requesting preferences as to which volunteer job each parent prefers. A draft list of job assignments will be circulated shortly.

Carolyn will also be emailing out her questionnaire requesting preferences for the volunteer jobs for the 13 & Older Silver Bronze Championships this week. Please respond to her email as soon as you are able. Please note that all parents of swimmers 13 & over are expected to work this meet.

            If a parent/family forsees a problem fulfilling their parental obligation, they need to contact Bill AND Carolyn asap. In the past, parents/families have fulfilled their parental obligation by having a relative (grandparents or siblings) work, or even hiring a worker for their spot. Thus, there is really no reason a parental obligation can not be fulfilled by an Elite club member. 

            Failure to fulfill a parental obligation will jeopardize a swimmer’s roster spot on Elite. As part of having a swimmer on Elite, parent have agreed to step up and help when it is Elite’s turn to provide splash opportunities for the greater swimming community. 

 REMINDER: SCHOLAR/ATHLETE AWARDS WILL BE HIGHLIGHT OF AWARDS BANQUET:

          With the conclusion of the 2nd marking periods, swimmers are reminded that the ultimate award an Elite swimmer can earn at the season ending Awards Banquet (Sunday, April 10, 2011) will once again be the Elite Scholar-Athlete Awards. Great grades, in addition to great swim times, are required for a swimmer to earn one of these awards.

 

            These awards will be broken down into three levels:

 

1)                          All-American Scholar Athlete Award: Swimmer must have a 3.5 grade average and at least 1 Scholastic All-American Qualifying time (Jr. National bonus cut). This award is actually a USA Swimming Award and will be presented by USA Swimming. Elite will also provide a certificate to those swimmers who have qualified for this award

 

2)                          The Elite Scholar-Athlete Gold Award: A swimmer must have all A’s and no more than 1 B (or the equivalent of all A’s and 1 B) plus at least 1 individual Junior Olympic Qualify Time

 

3)                          The Elite Scholar-Athlete Teal Award: Swimmer must have all A’s and B’s (of the equivalent) plus at least 1 individual Silver Qualifying Time

 

In addition to each swimmer receiving an impressive certificate from Elite acknowledging this achievement, from this season forward Elite will post the names of its scholar athletes on its website-forever acknowledging its most special scholar-athletes. 

 

Parents of grammar school students should remember that Bill will review the grading legend (assuming A’s and B’s are not given) to ascertain if the swimmer has fulfilled the academic requirements to receive the award.

 

Bill is now accepting the scholastic information. If your swimmer made a JO or Silver qualifying time last summer or this winter and then aged up, an applicant must fill out the application form on the team website that will point Bill to the swim in question. All scholastic information needs to be to Bill by Tuesday, March 22 (if a marking period is about to end-please contact Bill).

 

ELITE TO ADD 2 NEW TRAINING GROUPS THIS SPRING:

A SMALL TRAINING GROUP BETWEEN SENIOR PREPS & WAVE GOLDS &

A PRE-COMPETITION TRAINING GROUP;   

 

            Elite will expand during the Spring 2011 Session by adding two training groups to the club. Each group are created to enhance the overall performance of the club. The creation of these groups will have no affect on the training schedule of the existing 7 training groups. The Spring 2011 Session training schedule will be identical to the Winter 2010-11 training schedule.

 

            Starting with the Spring 2011 Session, Elite will promote a very select group of older swimmers (mainly if not totally Seniors-to-be in High School) into a new training group called the Senior Preps-2. This training group will train from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Morristown-Beard School along with the Seniors and Senior Preps. This group will consist of 3-10 swimmers and will train in one lane at a MBS from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

 

          Also starting in the Spring 2011 Session, Elite will create a Pre-Elite Program. This Pre-Elite program will actually be two programs in one:

 

1)      Program #1: For swimmers at the Wavebuster Teal, Marlin Black or Marlin Teal level whom would be turned away at tryouts due to lack of space within these Elite training groups. By offering these swimmers training in the Spring 2011 (and in the Fall 2011 from Sept thru Nov 15), Elite will be developing swimmers to enter Elite when room becomes available. Each year, Elite experiences attrition during the season; this training group would “feed” the Wavebuster Teals, Marlin Blacks and Marlin Teal levels during the season when space becomes available. Swimmers in this group will also be given priority entrance into Elite at the next tryout if space does not become available during the season.

 

2)      Program #2: For swimmers who are not yet at the Marlin Teal level. This program will give these swimmers “water time” to develop their swimming within the structure of Elite’s training system. These swimmers will also have priority entrance into Elite upon achieving the Marlin Teal level (when space opens up or at the next tryout).

 

            At the moment, the plan is for the Pre-Elite program will train 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 1 hour (4:00 pm to 5:00 pm).

 

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 may be caused by your own lack of swimming details!!!

 

Since we are in our heaviest training, 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!!!

 

Be a winner: do your swimming details at home and at school, in addition to at the pool!!!

 

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.

 

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: SENIOR STATES; GO ELITE!!!; MEET INFORMATION POSTED; PLEASE RESPOND TO TIMER COORDINATORS EMAILS:

 

            Elite’s next competition will be the Senior States for qualifying swimmers 15 & Older this Friday, Feb 11, Saturday, February 12 & Sunday, February 13. Information regarding this meet 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!!!