ELITE NEWS BULLETIN 3-21-11
“Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”
WE BURST LIKE A SUPER NOVA!!
ELITE PLACES 6TH AT JO’S WITH
1,035.5 POINTS!!!
JUNIOR OLYMPIC STATS:
1 SCHOLASTIC ALL-AMERICAN TIME/QUALIFIER
7 INDIVIDUAL SECTIONAL TIMES/2 NEW
QUALIFIERS
1 SECTIONAL RELAY TIME
1 HIGH POINT WINNER
ONE 2ND PLACE HIGH POINT
FINISHER
10 FIRST PLACE FINISHES
ONE 2nd PLACE RELAY FINISH
2 AUTOMATIC ZONE QUALIERS
At the most exciting
Junior Olympics in 15 years, the Elite Swim Club scored 1,035.5 points (not
including 92 unattached points) to place 6th out of 52 teams this
past weekend at Rutgers University.
While there were dozens
of highlights produced by Elite Swimmers, the ultimate story of the meet was
that mighty Berkeley Aquatic Club did not win for the first time in 20+ years
(short course or long course= 40+ meets). Cougar Aquatic Club won by a mere 182
points out of over 5000 points scored between the two teams.
16 year old Alex Mango
became the 3rd swimmer in Elite history to earn a USA Swimming
Scholastic All-American Time (SAAT) with his 4th place, 52.67 time in the 100 back. The SAAT is a USA Swimming Award for
swimmers earning both a Junior National bonus time plus having 3.5 grade point
average in school (Alex is an excellent student who will undoubted qualify on
the academic side). This award precipitated the Elite Scholar Athlete Awards
and will be presented to Alex by USA Swimming next fall.
Alex also earned Elite a
3th male relay swim at Sectionals later this week with his 7th
place, 22.05 time in the 50 free. His swim, added to Elite’s other 3 best times
in the 50 free, dropped Elite under the qualifying time by just .15 seconds. Alex’s
3rd place, 47.77 time in the 100 free narrowly missed giving Elite a
4th male relay swim, as Elite’s cumulative 4 x 100 free relay time is
now just .02 seconds over the qualifying time.
14 year old Ryan
Sebastian was absolutely phenomenal, as he earned his 1st (as well
as his 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th)
Sectional qualifying times of his young career while winning the prestigious
“high point” award for 13-14 boys, scoring 162 points (out of a possible 180).
To win the award, Ryan won 4 events, placed 2nd twice and 3rd
three times!!!
Ryan set the tone for
himself (and the team) early on Friday as he dropped 2.11 seconds in his first
swim, the 100 back to post his initial Sectional cut at 54.10. Later that
night, Ryan dropped another point .2 to come within .7 of the state record.
Ryan followed with Sectional cuts in the 200 IM (1.59.78), the 200 fly
(1.59.84), the 400 IM (4.13.79-which he won by 6 seconds) & the 200 back
(1.59.38). Swimming 21 times (including
relays), Ryan posted 18 best personal swims!
12 year old Kaitlin
Stearns was also absolutely magnificent, winning 3 events in head spinning
times. Kaitlin rocked to win the 200 free (1.56.96), the 1000 free (10.49.20)
and the 1650 free (18.20.14). To put this in proper perspective, these times
are not only the fastest 12 year old female times in Elite history, all 3 times
are near Sectional level times and the 200 free time
is the fastest female time in Elite history; any swimmer, any age!!!!
Kaitlin also placed 2nd in the 500 free (5.14.64), 3rd in
the 100 free (54.98) and 5th in both the 50 back (29.49) and 200
back (2.15.58). Kaitlin’s efforts placed her 2nd in the 11-12 Girls
High Point race with 150 points. Kaitlin’s 100, 200 & 500 free performances
earned her an automatic roster spot to represent NJ Swimming at Eastern Zones
in Rochester, NY in two weeks.
12 year old Chris Balbo
was a double event winner, ruling the LSC in the distance events for his age
group. Chris‘s 10 second drop in the 1000 was thrilling, as he came from behind
to touch out friend & rival Kevin Doo of Scarlet with an 10:50.21 time.
Earlier, Chris had completely dominated the 1650 free with his 18:23.22 win,
more than 14 seconds faster than the 2nd place finisher. Since
neither the 1000 nor the 1650 free are Zone Events, Chris needed his 2nd
place finish in the 500 free (5.17.06) and his 3rd place finish in
the 200 fly (2.17.30) for his automatic roster spot to represent NJ Swimming at
Eastern Zones in early April.
13 year old Sarah
Slepian, swimming a limited & off-event schedule in preparation of this
weekend’s Sectional meet in Buffalo, earned her 6th Sectional
qualifying time with her winning 100 backstroke performance of 58.35. Despite
her limited schedule, Sarah placed 5th overall in her age group high
point race with 92 points.
16 year old Michael Li
earned Elite’s 7th Sectional qualifying time when he touched right
on qualifying time with his 11th place, 1.02.19 time in the 100
breast. Li also place 11th in the 200 breast (2.16.57). With Li’s
Sectional qualifying time, Elite swimmers have earned 41 individual Sectional
times plus 13 Sectional Relays-both the highest in Elite history.
14 year old Jess Gorham,
also swimming a limited event schedule in preparation for Sectionals, dropped 3
seconds to place 3rd in the 200 IM (2.12.38). Jess also placed 7th
in the 200 free (1.57.75) and 10th in the 400 IM (4.42.80).
12 year old Christina Pick
was also on fire all weekend, placing no lower than 12th in each of
her 9 events. Christina touched 5th in both the 400 IM (4.54.10) and
the 200 fly (2.26.84), 6th in the 200 back (2.17.60), 7th
in the 500 free (5.33.22) & 8th in the 100 back (1.04.47).
Christina also nailed the 200 free (2.06.43-9th place), the 50 back
(30.53-12 place), the 100 free (58.27-12th) and the 50 fly (28.99-12th).
10 year old Claire Xu
improved in all 9 of her swims, with her best being her 4th place
finish in the 50 back (32.68). Claire was 11th in the 100 back with
her 1.13.56 swim.
10 year old Grace Xu
stroked to a 7th place finish in the 100 breast (1.22.21) and a 10th
place finish in the 50 breast (38.97).
Claire (back) &
Grace (breast) was the front end of the 2nd place finishing, 10
& Under Girls relay team. Erica Iizuka (fly) and Brittany Sun (free)
finished the job for a heart stopping, 2.15.60 second place finish!!
12 year old Amy Duren
body dolphin-ed to a 7th place finish in the
200 butterfly, touching at 2.27.81. Earlier, Amy had lopped off 17 seconds in
her 400 IM swim (5.19.11).
12 year old Alicia Iizuka
grabbed 7th place twice; once in the 50 breast (33.22) and then in
the 100 breast (1.11.99).
12 year old Matthew
Critchley was also 9 for 9 in the best times department. Matt’s top finish was
his 8th place 50 fly swim of 28.39. Matt also was 10th in
the 50 breast (33.92).
12 year old Emily Gorham
undulated to a 8th place finish in the 50 fly (28.55-a 2 second
drop). Emily also placed 10th in the 50 free (26.24).
14 year old Caroline
Watt was terrific in the distance events, placing 10th in the 1000
free (10.55.41) and 11th in the 1650 free (18.19.12).
Full results are posted
on the team website.
Swimmers who
participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite SCY best times): Chris
Balbo (8), Megan Balbo (2), Abbie Bigham (4), Emily
Buckman, Jimmy Coyne (3), Matthew Critchley (8), Nathan Davidovich (1), Avinash Duvvuri (1), Priya
Duvvuri (1), Juliet Felsen (1), Emily Fu (4), Lindsey Giostra (3), Emily Gorham
(8), Jessica Gorham (5), Alicia Iizuka (2), Erica Iizuka (5), Karen Iizuka (2),
Monica Iizuka (2), Isabel LaRaia (1), Brandon Li, Michael Li (4), Teddy Maguire
(2), Isabelle Malinowski (3), Alex Mango (6), Katie McGrath (3), Ali
Morreale, Isabella Morreale, Sandeepan Mukherjee, Caroline Nash, Maggie Nelson, Evan Ng,
Danielle Peterson, Christina Pick (9), Gabrielle Pick (2), Brandon Rossi (2),
Ryan Sebastian (15), Andrea Shepard (2), Sarah Slepian (6), Sydney Slepian (5),
Gian Soriano, Kaitlin Stearns (9), Brittany Sun (9),
Cullen Walsh (1), Caroline Watt (3), Claire Xu (9) & Grace Xu (6).
SPRING SCHEDULES NOW
POSTED:
The Spring Summer Master Schedules
are now posted on the team website under “Practice Schedule.”
The practice schedule from April 4th
thru May 30th is identical to the Winter 2010-11
Season. After May 30, Elite begins using Summit Municipal pool (May 31st
for Seniors and Wave Golds),
Springfield Municipal (June 20th for all Seniors, Senior Preps, Wave
Golds and Wave Blacks) and a possible 3rd
pool (June 20th for Wave Teals).
COACHING
ASSIGNMENTS ANNOUNCED FOR SPRING 2011:
Head Coach Bill Deatly has announced
the coaching lineup for the upcoming Spring 2011
session:
Seniors, Senior Preps & Senior
Preps-2: Head Coach: Bill Deatly
Stroke Technicians: Cindy Ross and
Michael Turkot
Wavebuster
Golds: Head Coach: Ashley Johnston
Stroke Technician: Patty Martin
Wavebuster
Blacks: Head Coach: Krystal Slepian
Stroke Technician: Patty Martin
Wavebuster
Teals: Head Coach: Michelle DuCharme
Stroke Technician: Emilie Hottat
Marlin Blacks: Head Coach: Patty
Martin
Stroke Technician: Emilie Hottat
Marlin Teals: Head Coach: Michelle
DuCharme
Stroke Technicians: Jess Kurylak, Brandy
Deatly
Pre-Elite: Head Coach: Bill Deatly
Stroke Technician: Patty Martin, Jess
Kurylak, Brandy Deatly & Emilie Hottat
NEW COACH JOINS ELITE; SAY HELLO TO EMILIE HOTTAT!
Last month, local swim coach Emilie
Hottat joined Elite’s coaching staff in preparation for responsibilities this
coming spring.
On Elite’s pool deck for the past 3
weeks, Emilie is a pseudo local girl (she is actually Australian but has been
residing in Chatham NJ for most of her life). Emilie is currently the Madison
High School Girls Head Coach and was until recently, a coach with Morris County
Swim Club. Emilie has also coached in Great Falls, Montana
(under Olympic gold medalist David Berkoff) where she
went to college and has also coached and taught swimming at the Summit Y and at
Fish & Game.
Emilie’s spring responsibilities
will be stroke technician at the Wave Teal level, stroke Technician at the
Marlin Black level and coach of the Pre-Elite program being started this
spring.
Welcome Emilie!!
AGAIN, ELITE WELL REPRESENTED ON ZONE COACHING
STAFF:
Once again, New Jersey Swimming’s
Eastern Zone Age Group Championship Coaching staff will be populatged
with members of Elite’s coaching staff. This spring, both Patty Martin and
Emilie Hottat will be coaches during “Zones” for NJ Swimming.
This is the 2nd time
Coach Patty Martin will a Zone Coach while this will
be Coach Emilie’s 1st stint. In the past, Elite has populated the
Zone Coaches Staff with current coaches Ashley Johnston & Michelle
DuCharme.
WITH SEASON END IN SIGHT,
TIME TO PLAN TO PARTY!!!
AWARDS DINNER
RESERVATION FORM NOW POSTED UNDER AWARDS DINNER:
PLEASE RSVP ASAP (BY MARCH 30)
Preparations are underway for the biggest party of the season: Elite’s 16th annual Winter Swim Team Banquet!!! This year’s party will be held Sunday, April 10th from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm.
This
year, Elite will again be at the Hanover Marriott, located at 1401 Route 10
East, Whippany, New Jersey. This facility can accommodate up to 700 people!!!
The last 9 Elite banquets have had an excess of 300 people each!!! The
reservation form is now posted on the website: http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Awards%20Dinner/homepage.html
To reserve your dinner reservations, please print out a reservation form from the website (under Awards Dinner), fill it out and mail the form with the appropriate check amount to Bill Deatly, 32 Prospect Street, Summit, New Jersey 07901. Cost per person is $55. All 12 & Under Swimmers must have at least 1 adult accompanying them.
Reservations need to be received by March 30th!!!
Parents, Bill will do his best to honor your seating arrangement requests. Swimmers will be seated by Bill by training group.
Reservation forms must be in by Wednesday, March 30, 2011.
REMINDER: SCHOLAR/ATHLETE AWARDS WILL BE
HIGHLIGHT OF AWARDS BANQUET:
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
SPRING SESSION STARTS APRIL 4:
PRACTICE
SCHEDULE SAME AS WINTER UNTIL MEMORIAL DAY:
SUMMER SCHEDULE STILL A WORK IN
PROGRESS:
All swimmers will begin the Spring
2011 Training Season on Monday, April 4 (or Tuesday, April 5). The Spring practice schedule will be identical to the Winter
2010-11 practice schedule until Memorial Day.
After Memorial Day, the Seniors,
Senior Preps and Wavebuster Golds
will train at Summit Municipal pool from Tuesday, May 31st thru
Friday, June 17 Monday thru Friday and at Morristown-Beard on Saturdays.
Marlin Blacks and Marlin Teals will train with their
normal practice schedule until Friday, June 10. There is no summer training for
Marlin Blacks or Marlin Teals this summer.
The practice schedule for June 11 thru July 30 is still
being worked on.
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. The application has posted on the NJ Swimming website.
The application is now posted on the NJ Swimming website: http://www.njswim.org/
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).
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
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!!!