ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               4-04-11

 

    “Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”

 

 

“ELITE 6” CONCLUDE WINTER 2010-11 SEASON

 WITH GREAT PERFORMANCES AT ZONES

 

 

            Six swimmers selected to represent New Jersey Swimming at the Eastern Zone Age Group All-Star Championships (“Zones”) did Elite proud as they concluded Elite’s Winter 2010-11 Season in the team’s customary style: with tremendous performances. The NJ Swimming squad competed against 9 other LSCs (New Jersey Swimming is an LSC) from Maine thru Virginia.

 

            12 year old Chris Balbo, 12 year old Alicia Iizuka, 14 year old Katie McGrath, 12 year old Christina Pick, 14 year old Gabrielle Pick and 12 year old Kaitlin Stearns were the “Elite 6” selected to represent Elite at Zones.

 

            Stearns led Elite at Zones as she had qualified and finaled in 5 of her 6 events! Kaitlin placed 3rd in the 200 free (1.57.18), 5th in the 500 free (5.14.80), 6th in the 200 back (2.13.02-best time), 7th in the 50 free (25.56), 8th in the 100 free (55.12) and 12th in the 100 back (1.03.07). It should be pointed out that Kaitlin’s best events, the 1000 free and 1650 free were not contested in her age group at this meet and thus, it is likely she would have placed even higher in those events.

 

            Stearns’s training partner Chris Balbo faired nearly as well as he posted best times in all three of his swims: 1) placing 8th in the 500 free (5.16.70) 2) finishing 9th in the 200 fly (2.15.73) and 3) finishing 15th in the 200 back (2.16.68). Even more importantly, Balbo was awarded, from NJ Swimming, the “spirit” award after day 1 for cheering on his teammates during finals.  

           

            14 year old Gabrielle Pick left NJ for Zones swimming 1 event, the 100 breast. Upon arriving, Gabrielle learned she had been added to 2 additional events: the 400 IM and the 1000 free. Not that it was a problem for Gabrielle (even though she has never competed in a 1000 free before). After placing 13th in the 100 breast (1.13.87), Gabrielle placed 16th in the 400 IM (5.02.34) and 17th in the 1000 (12.07.28). For her efforts, her NJ coaches voted Gabrielle an award based upon her great attitude!!

 

            14 year old Katie McGrath, who has push her times down all season long, remained consistent in that department as she posted a best time in both the 100 back (1.03.58) and the 200 back (2.18.13) to place 15th  in each event.

 

            12 year old Christina Pick, concluded another remarkable season with a 20th place finish in the 200 back (2.19.66), a 26th place finish in the 500 free (5.37.74) and a 27th place finish in the 200 free (2.07.05).

 

            12 year old Alicia Iizuka rounded out the Elite performances by placing 18th in the 100 breast (1.12.98) and 20th in the 50 breast (33.72).

 

            Full results of Zones can be found at  http://209.68.1.95/niagara/RealTimeResults/EasternZone/

 

IT’S A BRAND NEW DAY:

SPRING 2011 SEASON BEGINS TODAY:

 

            Today (Monday, April 4) marks the start of Elite’s Spring/Summer 2011 training season. Practices will be held today for Pre-Elite, the Marlin Teals, the Marlin Blacks, the Wavebuster Blacks, the Wavebuster Golds and the Seniors training groups.

 

            Tomorrow (Tuesday, April 5), Elite will conduct their first practice for the Wavebuster Teals and Senior Preps training group.

 

            Pre-Elite and the two Marlin training groups will train thru Friday, June 10. The remaining training groups will train thru Junior Olympics (Wednesday, July 27). Swimmers who qualify to represent Elite at Sectionals, Junior Nationals or Senior Nationals will train thru their meets in early to mid-August as will any Elite swimmer who qualifies for Eastern Zones LCM.

 

4 NEW CAPTAINS NAMED; START THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES TODAY:

                                           

            Swimmers who attain Senior Training level status and are seniors (or about to become seniors) in high school have earned the right to be named captains of the Elite Swim Club. This year Elite has 4 swimmers who have attained this prestigious level: Brent Jones, Michael Li, Alex Mango & Ryan Wyer.

 

            Brent is to be senior at Randolph High School while Michael will be a senior at Delbarton. Alex will be a senior at Pingry while Ryan will be senior at Montville High School.

 

            Captains at Elite lead dryland practice on a daily basis in the Senior Training Group, lead meet warm-up and are expected to lead at meets and various Elite functions. Even more important, the Captains are to be great role models for their teammates.

 

            Congratulations to Brent, Michael, Alex & Ryan!!!

 

TRYOUTS YIELD MORE TALENT!!

18 NEW SWIMMERS (PLUS PRE-ELITE!!)

 

            Tryouts for the Elite Swim Club’s Spring/Summer 2011 Training Session yielded 18 new swimmers to the competitive club and 3 new swimmers to Pre-Elite.

 

            Joining Elite this spring will be:

 

Senior Preps: Anthony Rizzo

 

Wave Blacks: Alyssa Cataldo, Grace Chang, Jake Gutstein, Angharad Healey, Natalie Kawan, Emily Peter & Nikki Rizzo

 

Wave Teals: Michael Rizzo

 

Marlin Blacks: Danielle Mangabat, Justin Mon, Kelly Peter, Max Spurr & Penny Spurr

 

Marlin Teals: Mia Futado, Sadie Ordower, Dylan Sebastian & Alan Wu

 

            Also joining Elite in the Pre-Elite program will be Anna Butler, Grace Conley and Armann Kapoor.

 

STEARNS ANNOUNCES 9th ANNUAL ELITE-A-THON TO BE SATURDAY, MAY 21: BILL TO SWIM FOR JAPAN RELIEF:

 

The 9th Annual Elite-a-thon fundraiser will be held Saturday, May 21st at Morristown-Beard from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

 

Like all past “Elite-a-thons,” this year’s event will be structured so each individual participating will be raising money for the “charity of their choice.” A suggestion list of charities and accompaning information is to be provided by Seniors Lindsay Stearns, the fundraiser head who is coordinating this year’s efforts. Lindsay will provide information directly to swimmers at a Sunday practice in May. Last year’s charity list is posted on the website.

 

In a tradition begun 7 years ago, Bill will swim approximately 2000 yards to raise money for his yearly charity. This year, Bill will raise money to support the American Red Cross’s relief efforts in Japan, following the devastating earthquake and tsumani suffered this past winter.

 

            All Elite swimmers and parents are encouraged to participate thru swimming or donating. Anyone can donate to a swimmer’s cause or to Bill’s cause.  

 

Information will be posted on the website under “Elite-a-thon” later shortly. Please follow the directions (do not go out soliciting for money alone!!!) and keep track of your pledge totals!!! 

 

PARKING AN ISSUE AT NEWARK ACADEMY:

 

            As we head into the Spring 2011 Session, parents are reminded that there is a distinct shortage of parking spaces at Newark Academy, especially on weekdays between 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm. Parents are welcome to “drop off” or “pick-up” their swimmers by the field house entrance during this time period if the driver remains in the car. If a parent is coming into the building, they are requested to park in the “upper” lot and walk thru the school to reach the pool.  Newark Academy is also now requesting the cars do not idle. Obviously, if the lot is not crowded, parking in the lower lot is acceptable.

 

            Please remember to drive slowly thru the parking lots and do not park in the fire lanes, as the Livingston Police will ticket improperly parked cars.

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/

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!!!