ELITE NEWS BULLETIN               7-11-11

 

    “Cultivating Excellence in Academics, Character and Swimming”

J.GORHAM, K. STEARNS, S. SLEPIAN AND G. PICK

BREAK NJ LSC RECORD IN 200 LCM FREE RELAY;

10 & UNDERS GET TUNE-UP PRIOR TO CHAMPS:

            In what was supposed to be a tune-up meet for the 10 & Unders for the championship meets later this month, The Meet of XCellence LCM Meet instead became a history making meet for Elite as Jess Gorham (14), Kaitlin Stearns (13), Sarah Slepian (13) and Gabrielle Pick (13) rocketed into the New Jersey LSC record books with a blistering 1.54.81 time in the 4 x 50 Free Relay for 13-14 Girls!!!

            Upon just missing New Jersey Swimming’s LSC record at Summer Sizzle two weeks ago and with Gorham aging up this week, Elite took the opportunity to modify its entries and add the four 13-14 Girls into the meet to give them one last opportunity for the record and take advantage of their opportunity. They did.

            Jess Gorham lead off the relay with a 28.33 time (extremely fast but slightly off her best of 27.88). Kaitlin Stearns, whose flat start best time is a 29.03, cranked out a 28.49 time to give the girls the lead in the race over Xcel, who had a team consisting of some top notch 15 & Olders-the event was Open. Sarah Slepian, who earlier in the meet had posted a 30.11 in the 50 free, nailed a 29.20 time to put the team within range.

            However, Gabrielle Pick needed to put a 29+ anchor leg to get the girls under the 1.55.55 record (held by Crimson Aquatic Club-the team whose collapse paved the way for Elite to train at MBS!). Earlier in the individual 50 free event, Gabrielle posted a 30.84. Things didn’t look to so good despite the three Zone level swims prior to Gabrielle.

            In what can only be described as miraculous, Gabrielle sliced just over 2 seconds off her earlier swim to post a 28.79 time and bring home the 1st Elite female New Jersey Swimming LSC record (Elite has had numerous male records). To appreciate this accomplishment, one only needs to know that the Crimson record has stood since 1992 (19 years!) and lasted thru the tech suit era of 2008 & 2009!

            Somewhat ironically, these 4 girls were also literally thrown into the 200 Medley Relay at the start of the meet (Coach Krystal got them in with a deck entry) and they nearly broke that record too! The girls, with Gorham swimming back, Slepian breast, Pick fly and Stearns free were just .9 off that lsc record when they posted a 2.09.13.

            Earlier in the day during the am session, Elite’s 10 & Unders were generally sluggish. Highlights included new transfer swimmers Melody Chen (9) and Matthew Beneventano (9) posting high level Silver times in all 3 of their events.

            9 year old Will Stearns dropped 10 seconds in the 400 free (6.30.11) while 10 year old Sydney Slepian dropped 8.8 seconds in her 400 free (6.24.51). 10 year old Michael Rizzo racked up 3 best times (only Elite swimmer to do) so while Emily Fu dropped 10 seconds in her 100 fly (1.46.18).

            Joe Pick won the 200 IM and inched closer to the JO cut, but still missed it by about 1 second.

            No new JO cuts were achieved. Full results are posted on the team website.

            Swimmers who participated (# in parenthesis is number of best Elite LCM best times):  Summer Felsen (3), Emily Fu (2), Jess Gorham (2), Gabrielle Hayek, Erica Iizuka, Monica Iizuka (1), Sandeepan Mukherjee, Gabrielle Pick (1), Joseph Pick (2), Michael Rizzo (3), Sarah Slepian (1), Sydney Slepian (1), Kaitlin Stearns, Will Stearns (2), Katherine Zhang.

SENIORS & SENIOR PREPS: YOUR VIDEO IS ON YOUTUBE;

            Along with the new website that will signal a new technological era in Elite Swimming history, Coach Bill Deatly has begun filming Elite swimmers in their competition. Most recently, Seniors and Senior Preps were filmed digitally at Summer Sizzle and many of those videos have been uploaded to YouTube: EliteswimmingNJ link: http://www.youtube.com/user/EliteSwimmingNJ#p/u.

            Going forward, Elite coaches will devise a plan on what and whom to video. Plans are being made to have the Seniors & Senior Preps underwater stroke technique video uploaded so parents and swimmers can visit the coaches stroke technique sessions.

            Filming all swimmers at all meets is not feasible (especially during short course-winter session, when many of our competitions are held in two pools simultaneously).

COACHING STAFF FOR WINTER 2011-12

            Head Coach Bill Deatly announces the coaching staff for the Winter 2011-12 training cycle:

            Seniors & Senior Preps: Head Training Group Coach: Bill Deatly

                                                    Stroke Technicians: Cindy Ross & Michael Turkot

            Wavebuster Golds: Head Training Group Coach: Ashley Johnston

                                            Stroke Technicians: Patty Martin & Michelle Ducharme

            Wavebuster Blacks: Head Training Group Coach: Krystal Slepian

                                             Stroke Technician: Patty Martin

            Wavebuster Teals: Head Training Group Coach: Michelle DuCharme

                                           Stroke Technician: Emilie Hottat

            Marlin Blacks: Head Training Group Coach: Brandy Deatly

                                     Stroke Technician: Patty Martin

            Marlin Teals: Head Training Group Coach: Michelle DuCharme

                                    Stroke Technician: Jess Kurylak

            Pre-Elite: Stroke Technicians: Brandy Deatly, Emilie Hottat & Jess Kurylak

TRYOUTS TUESDAY, JULY 19; VOLUNTEER TIMERS WELCOME:  

            Tryouts for Elite’s Winter 2011-12 Season will be held Tuesday, July 19 at Morristown-Beard from 4 pm to 6 pm. There will be no pm practices held that day.  

            The Supplemental Tryouts will be held Tuesday, September 6 at Newark Academy at 4:30 pm.  

            Elite swimmers and/or Parents are welcome to volunteer their time to help the coaches out at both tryouts!

 

 “SOFT SELLING” ELITE IS LIFEBLOOD OF CLUB;

BILL AVAILABLE FOR CLINICS AT SUMMER CLUBS

 

            Summer Swim Teams are the lifeblood of year round swim clubs like Elite. Swimmers who enjoy the training and competition of their summer clubs form the vast majority of new swimmers into “winter” or “club” swimming.  

 

            The expected terrific swimming performed by Elite swimmers this coming summer in their dual meet and championship competition will be the main selling point of the club. Elite swimmers will be among the best (if not the best) swimmers in their races. They should be, they have worked hard and have earned that right!!  

 

            Parents of Elite swimmers are requested to “soft-sell” Elite; meaning they should await an approach by an interested swimmers/parents, but then earnestly provide information to such people upon their approach. Elite parents and swimmers are highly encouraged to point perspective swimmers to the team website and to instruct interested parties to email Bill regarding questions about the club.

 

            As in past summers, Head Coach Bill is available to provide a swim clinic at local summer clubs. If your summer club or summer swim coach has an interest in a clinic by Bill, please contact Bill to set up a clinic date!  

RISING SENIORS (IN HIGH SCHOOL), JULY AND AUGUST ARE THE “OFFICIAL COLLEGE ESSAY MONTHS!!!:

            All rising Seniors in high school should take advantage of some down-time and prepare your college essay this summer. July and August are “Official College Essay Months!!!

            1st semester Seniors have a tremendous workload in addition to being under a tremendous amount of stress. 1st semester Seniors have: 1) college visits (swimmers may have college recruiting visits that last Friday thru Sunday) 2) SAT preparation 3) preparing college applications 4) keeping up their grades (colleges will want to see the 1st semester grades) and 4) swimming workload (college coaches expect swimmers to be training at their usual full schedule).

            Thus, organizing and writing one’s college essay during the “down” months of July and August is extremely productive and wise.

NEW TEAM WEBSITE START DATE PUSHED TO AUGUST:

            While work continues on the construction of the new Elite website, the start date has been pushed to August, 2011. The decision was made last week to help ease the transition of the team members to the website.

            With Championship Season upon us, Head Coach Bill Deatly felt that the transition to a new website, which Team Unify describes as a “cultural change,” would probably cause confusion for some if not most team members during a particularly sensitive time of the season. Since information is crucial during this phase of the season, Bill did not want team members having difficulty searching for information such as start times, meet events, etc.

            By putting the starting date of the website into August, most team members will have 30 days in August which to familiarize themselves with the website prior to the start of the Winter 2011-12 Training Session. Plus, team members will have additional time to familiarize themselves with the meet information portion of the website, since meets do not start until late October.

             As part of Head Coach Bill Deatly’s continual upgrading of the program, Elite has contracted with webserver TeamUnify http://www.teamunify.com/__corp__/ to host Elite’s new upgraded website.

WINTER 2011-12 INFORMATION MAILED OUT; DEPOSITS DUE JULY 15TH  (THIS FRIDAY!!!) 84 SWIMMERS REGISTERED AS OF TODAY; SUMMER SEASON/PROMOTION SCHEDULE EXPLAINED:

 

            With Elite now in its Summer Schedule, below is an explanation of how training at Elite will work. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Bill. A list of swimmers who have sent in their deposits for the Winter 2011-12 Training Session is now listed on the team website under Tryouts: http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Tryouts%202/Home%20Page.htm. 39 swimmers are currently committed to Elite for next season.

 

            For the Marlin Blacks, Wavebuster Teals, Wavebuster Blacks, Wavebuster Golds, Senior Preps and Seniors, practice will continue thru late July/early August.

 

            Below is a detailed explanation of how each training group will transition. Please note that every existing Elite swimmer will be invited to train with Elite for the Winter 2011-12 Training Session. Each swimmer has already received a letter inviting them to train with Elite for the Winter 2011-12 Training Season. To accept this invitation, a swimmer needs to mail their $300 deposit check ($300 per swimmer if a multiple swimmer family) to Bill prior to Friday, July 15. If a swimmer does not mail in their deposit but would like to train with Elite, they will need to tryout for Elite at one of the two Elite tryouts (1st one on Tuesday, July 19th). There is no guarantee a swimmer will regain their roster spot during tryouts-it is NOT automatic. Elite will take the best swimmers at tryouts, regardless of longevity on Elite. To secure a roster spot, one needs to mail in their deposit prior to Friday, July 15.

 

            Marlin Teals: During the summer, there is no training for Marlin Teals (they should participate for their local swim clubs and shine!!!). Letters regarding which training group a swimmer will be placed in for Winter 2011-12 have been sent (including promotions-there will be a few into Marlin Blacks). All Marling Teals will need to send in their $300 deposit to reserve their roster spot by Friday, July 15.  

 

            Marlin Blacks:  This summer, Elite is offering limited summer training for Marlin Blacks (check the schedule). Each practice is optional and will a swimmer’s parents will be billed $10 per practice they attend. Marlin Blacks should also participate for their local swim clubs and shine!! Letters regarding which training group a swimmer will be placed in for Winter 2011-12 have been sent in mid-June (including promotions-there may be a few into Wavebuster Teals). All Marlin Blacks will need to send in their $300 deposit to reserve their roster spot by Friday, July 15.  

 

Wavebuster Teals:  The Wavebuster Teals have the option to train with Elite this summer at Millburn Pool (see summer schedule). And in fact, they have paid for this option within their Spring 2011 bill. Swimmers who want to train but have conflicts (vacation, car pools, etc) are strongly encouraged to come to practice whenever they can. All Wave Teal swimmers will be entered into summer Championship Meets (see Meet Schedule on website). Letters regarding Winter 2011-12 Session have been send in mid-June. Swimmers whom at that time have earned a promotion into Wavebuster Blacks have already received a letter of promotion. A promoted swimmer will remain a Wavebuster Teal until the Winter 2011-12 Season. All promotions will be conditional upon continued performance and attendance thru late July. Regardless of placement, swimmers will need to send in their $300 deposit to reserve their roster spot by Friday, July 15.   

 

Wavebuster Blacks; Wavebuster Golds, Senior Preps & Seniors:  Swimmers in these training groups are expected to train with Elite during the summer, as participation in these training groups is year round. Swimmers in these training groups will be entered into summer Championship Meets (see Meet Schedule on website). Letters regarding the Winter 2011-12 session have been send in mid-June. A promoted swimmer will remain within their current training group until the Winter 2011-12 Season. All promotions will be conditional upon continued performance and attendance thru late July. Regardless of placement, swimmers will need to send in their $300 deposit to reserve their roster spot by Friday, July 15.   

 

COMING NEXT FALL: ELITE PARENT MEET SHIRTS

PLEASE RETURN YOUR FORM WITH FALL DEPOSIT:

 

            As part of your ESCPO Parent Association dues this year, all families will be provided with TWO Parent T-shirts to be worn at Elite hosted and Co-hosted meets.  Please complete the T-shirt size form included in your swimmer’s promotion letter and return the form to Bill and Brandy along with your swimmer registration information by July 15, 2011.  Please contact Carolyn Balbo (cbalbo@comcast.net) with questions.  Additional forms are available on the team website.  http://www.eliteswimclub.org/Parents%20Org/Parent%20T-shirt%20Flyer%20-%20For%20Posting.pdf.

 

SAY CHEESE AND DOWNLOAD PLEASE!

MEMORY BOOK PICTURES NEEDED!

 

            It is never too early to think about next years memory book!  Thank you Pam Coyne for doing a great job with the memory book this year!  Laura Matheson (Cody's mom!) has agreed to put together the book and slide show for next years banquet.   Parents and swimmers can provide pictures to Laura by email kmatheson531@earthlink.net, by thumb drive or by compact disk.  Laura can usually be found in the bleachers during Wave Gold practices.  Send your pictures to Laura as you take them and she will be sure that some of your favorite photos are included in this years memory book!  Remember, summer is a great time to get candid shots of your favorite swimmers at practice or at our many fun filled events.   

 

ELITE’S NEXT MEET HOSTING CHALLENGE: OFF-SITE HOSTING;

CONSTRUCTION AT NA NEXT FALL/WINTER WILL CHANGE PLANS FOR DISTANCE DERBY & 9-10’S:

 

            Elite’s newest meet hosting challenge: hosting a meet off site from Newark Academy!

 

            Last week, Newark Academy informed Elite that there will be, starting in July, major construction on the building which will significantly reduce the size of the “upper” parking lot during construction. NA has confirmed that Elite’s practice schedule will not be affected by the construction.

 

            Elite has already begun exploring alternative sites to run both Distance Derby (in November) and the 2012 9-10 Silver/Bronze Championship Meet (in February).            

           

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: LAST CHANCE (FRIDAY NIGHT) AND 12 & UNDER SILVER BRONZE GO ELITE!!!; MEET INFORMATION POSTED; PLEASE RESPOND TO TIMER COORDINATORS EMAILS:

 

            Elite’s next competition will be Friday Night Splash on Friday, July 8th at Bayonne for 11 & Olders in the Wavebuster Training Groups and the X-Cellence Meet for 9-10 at Princeton University on Sunday, July 10. Elite will have multiple timing assignments. Please have your swimmer get in the habit of checking the team website 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!!!