Looking back, as another year begins

Wow. Its already time for our swimmers to get back into the pool. How fast the time flies.

As swimmers, families and supporters gear up to improve on last years successes, here's just a little flashback:

At the end-of-year party in the spring, the team awarded the following swimmers:

• MVP, Male: Dean
  
• MVP, Female: Jasmine
  
• Team Spirit: Brian R.
  
• Coaches Award: Nick F.
  
• Newcomer, Male: Chris F.
  
• Newcomer, Female: Julia R.
  
• Most Improved, Male: Adonis
  
• Most Improved, Female: Aysha
  
• "B" Team - Lauren H.
  
• Honorable Mention: Joshua G.

Top swim-a-thon:

• Chris F.
  
• Aine Collum
  
• Dee Dee
  
• Brian R.
  
• Cashya
  

Special achievement

• James M.

We said goodbye to our college-bound Tsunami, Jennifer, and we wish her all the luck in the world.

Remember you can see many pictures of the Team, thanks to Donovan, here (email me if you do not know the password) .

OK -- goodbye to last year. Hello to Yonkers Tsunami Swimming 2008-2009! We've already got a mention on Westchester.com, and the season looks bright.

Coach Julie says:

Happy September! We're about to begin the 2008-2009 Tsunami Swim Season. With a great response from new families interested in joining our team (including 8 and unders...!!), we're confident that this will be the best year yet. Andrea has sent out a letter in the mail about returning swimmers. If you have not yet done so, please inform us as soon as possible of your swimmer's standing with the team. (email or call parks at 377-6439)

Coach Julie Competes at Master's Championships

Coach Julie Schoenlank joined 12 other members of the Yonkers Masters team at the Masters National Championships in Austin, Texas last May.

Here is a journal she kept during her trip, about the experience.

(Photo: Julie with Olympian Aaron Peirsol)

Immediately following last year’s performance at Nationals in Seattle, I decided on two things in preparation for Austin, 2008:

1. Train harder and sooner (stop making excuses)

2. Try some new distance events.

I knew that that Texas was known for extraordinary swimmers, and the competition would only be stronger in Austin. That was certainly the case. Over a dozen records were broken at The University of Texas at Austin during the Masters National Championships May 1-4, 2008. The Texas Swim Center (TSC) has one of the fastest pools in the world. The swim center is considered home to over 30 Olympic medalists. Eighteen NCAA Championship teams have come from their swim program. Numerous American and World Records have been set in this pool since it’s opening in 1977.

The 1,000 yd free was the very first event, and I was ready to go with my brand new fastskin, goggles, and Yonkers Masters cap. This was an event that I had never done in competition, and had only begun training about a month prior to the race. The event was seeded by time and I had an outside lane for my heat.

Originally I had entered 13:24, as that was my initial time in early April. Since then I had gone a 13:04, so I knew breaking the 13 minute mark would be possible. As I hit the wall on lap 40, I saw that not only did I break 13 but I recorded a 12:41 for the race! After four years of competing at Nationals, I finally earned an individual medal with a 7th place finish in my age group! It was certainly the year to do it since the medals were really cool with the Longhorn logo on them. Needless to say, I was quite pleased. (heres her results sheet for the 1000 yard freestyle.)

The next day, I continued my success in lane one with a 2:34 in the 200 back. The winner of each heat was to meet Aaron Piersol (2004 double gold medalist 100/200 backstroke) and receive a signed copy of his DVD. Although I did really well for an event I normally do not swim, I did not win my heat, but I decided that I was going to meet the Olympic Champion anyway. It was quite amazing meeting such an incredible athlete. I was so excited and was able to take a photo with him.

A few hours later, I did the 50 free, which is an event that I have struggled with since college. I had not hit a 26 since 2006. I was determined to give it my best and not hold back. I was excited to see a 26.85 next to my name on the scoreboard. This event was one of the reasons that I moved towards the distance events because it’s easy to make up time while you have 20 or 40 laps to do; the 50 is just a dive and a turn that has to be perfect.
Day three was my last day of competition, but was incredibly long.

I had the 500 at 8am, 200 at 3pm, and then two relays at 8pm. I survived all day on food in bar form: powerbars, cliff bars, nutragrain bars, chewy bars, and drinks ending in “ade”. I felt strong in the 500; for once I was in the middle of the pool other than my usual lane one. I went a 6:01.35, which was my fastest time as a master’s swimmer. I had some energy left over after, so I knew I could have pushed myself harder, but nonetheless, I was pleased with my time.

By the time I did the 200, my body was exhausted from doing 2,000 fast from the previous events. I went a 2:14, which I guess I had to be happy with since I was really tired.

We had two relays as well: 200 mixed medley and women’s 200 free. Twelve hours later, I was ready to see an environment other than the pool and eat “real” food!

Besides Piersol, I saw two other Olympic medalists swim that week: Josh Davis and Whitney Hedgepeth. Josh Davis was a gold medalist in the 200 freestyle and relay events in 2000. We saw him swim a 200 free with what seemed without any effort. It looked as if he took 7 strokes per lap. He broke the master’s record in that event by 2 seconds with a 1:36!! Whitney Hedgepeth was a gold/silver medalist in 1996 in the 100/200 backstroke events. She did a relay right next to us, which was pretty awesome. She is the master’s

coach for the Longhorn Aquatics Team.

(Photo: The Pool in Austin, with Andrea's Time in the 200 Fly)

Overall, this year was pretty exciting for me. I was glad that I found more time than last year to train, which is completely necessary for distance events. I was also glad that I tried some events out of the usual 50 and 100 free. It was exciting traveling to a state so huge on the sport, which is also a state that I had never been to before. Next year will be in Fresno, and you can be sure I’ll be back in the water for those 40 laps, or possibly move on to the 1650….

(From Frank: Here is a video of Andrea in the 100 fly - she is in lane 3.

There are a lot more videos here, but I couldn't find Julie!)

Summer Tsunami Swimmers

August 4-7, 2008 Westchester County Swimming Championships, Playland Park, Rye, NY.

From Julie:
Eleven Tsunami Swimmers competed with their summer clubs at the 2008 County Swim Championships at Playland. Congratulations to the following swimmers: Niamh Butler, Liam Butler, Thomas Heubel, Brian Heubel, Delia Kilduff, Dee Dee Hone (Ardsley Swim Club), Alec Nicaj, Rory Kennon (Lake Isle), Eleanor Daugherty, Marco Gobbato, Leonardo Gobbato (Amackassin). Congratulations on an exciting summer season!

The WCSA site is here and the results are here.

UPDATED (from Susan (Thanks!)):

Three swimmers from Tsunami swam at Westchester Country Club on August 14th in the Westchester Swim Conference Finals.

* MaryKate Melynk, who swam for Ardsley in the 8 and under 100 yrd freestyle relay, placed 14th;

* Angelina Campanile, who swam for Lake Isle, won 4th in Breaststroke and her 8 and under 100 yd freestlye relay team placed 9th;

* Rory Kennon, who swam for Lake Isle placed 14th in the 100 yrd Breaststroke.

Here is a Journal News story about the meet.

(Right: Picture of a familiar face, official Paul McClintock, at the meet. Picture is from The Journal News)

***

From Julie:

Also congrats to everyone who participated in the "Fun Meet" at Amackassin. We had a great time. Events included 50's of free, back, breast, fly, and also an always-exciting t-shirt relay. Prizes were handed out including medals for first place finishers. Congratulations to both teams!

Westchester Triathalon

Its time for the Westchester Triathlon , which  in September, for the kids.

http://www.westchestertriathlon.org/webforms/wp_menuDetail.aspx?pgid=13&pgrp=2

Good luck!

Julie

Julie's pre-season swim meet

If anyone from the team is in town this week, Julie's got a challenge for you...


From Coach Julie:

Happy August! Team members are invited to a fun meet with my summer team at the Amackassin Club.

Who: Tsunami Swim team vs. Amackassin Club

When: Friday, Aug 8th 4:30 warm up, 5pm start.**

Where: Amackassin Club. 557 Palisade Ave, Yonkers, NY (Near Gorton HS)
(click here for a map)

Meet format: 8/u are 25's, ages 9-17 are all 50's.
Order of events: Free, Back, Breast, Fly, 200 Free relay, possible t-shirt relay-time permitting. Meet will last approx 1 1/2 hrs.

RSVP: Please let me know via email if you CAN attend and include your current age and 3 individual events you would like to swim.

Hope to see you Friday!

Julie

Olympic Trials on TV

From Coach Julie:

Hope everything is going well in the off-season.
Below is the television schedule for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials,which start this weekend in Omaha. Set aside some time to check it out-swimming is not televised as often as it should be!

Enjoy!

-JS

(Times and dates removed, since they have past - FP)

(From Frank: If you can't wait, or if you missed it, check out some of NBC's Olympic swimming video features here. )

Summer Camp

Interested in a summer swim camp at West Point?

Julie asks to share this info from another Tsunami parent:

"The camp has received good reviews and is very well run and safe. The cost for an overnight 1 week session is $520. "

Check out more info here...

Tsunami take 6th place at Championships

From Coach Julie:

Hi everyone.

Congratulations to the Tsunami Swim Team on their 6th place finish in Sunday's WFSL Championships. This is the highest finish we have ever earned in our short history as a competitive team.

We also have "league champions" in the boys 12/u 200 Medley Relay: Pierce Butler, Joshua Gonzalez, Adonis Fortunato, and Thomas Heubel. Congratulations on earning 1st place and also setting a new team record.

Check out the video of that great race:



Also, enjoy video of the 12-girls medley relay:



Everyone showed tremendous effort and we are extremely proud of the results.

Full meet results will be available later (I'll post them here when I get them - Frank), as well as new records.

Upcoming Events:
-Regular practice the rest of this week.
-Please visit the blog and print out a form for our fun meet, which is this Saturday, March 15th at 10am.

Sign up for any five events and hand in to me by Thursday (email them if you can't make practice); Relays can be entered Saturday morning. Parents, Coaches, Masters, Tsunami are all invited to participate. We will also need 7 timers to help.

Team Dinner: Saturday, April 5th, 4:30pm Coyne Park. Sign ups are at the pool. More info on blog.

We would like to continue the tradition of having the swimmers submit their "favorite moment" of the season which we publish in our end-of-season booklet. Please include name, age, number of years on the team, and your favorite moment. This can be emailed to me with your name and "quote" in the subject line.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful and memorable season!

Time Trials wrap up; Final on Sunday

From Coach Julie:

What a week of fast swimming! Congratulations to all of our swimmers- There were 18 new team records after the conclusion yesterday, which included the boys-12-age-group breaking EVERY record (7) and tying one of them.

(Click here for full results.)

Saturday is the final practice before finals....top 16 (and 17, 18th places) from 10-12pm.
You must be in attendance.

On Sunday, swimmers should arrive by 9:30am at Felix Festa...doors open at 9:45am for warm ups. A letter with important information will be distributed on Saturday at practice.

Don't forget: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS IS THIS WEEKEND!!

Top 16 (and alternates):

8's: Gloria, Julia, Angelina, Mary Kate

10's: Liam B, Brian, Matthew, Kyle, Alec, Niamh, Lauren, Ylenia, Hana, Cailin,

12's: Pierce, Jonathan, Adonis, Marco, Joshua, Thomas, Yakub, Brian Robotham, Roxanne, Brianna, Francesca, Karlett, Imani, Aysha, Michelle

14's: Leandro, Chris, Rory, Dean, James, Abrahim, Michael Marte, Evan, Jasmine, Eleanor, Deandra, Sarah, PJ

18's:Ruben, Michal Lengowicz, Jennifer, Natalia, Alexia,

Regular practice for all team members will be next week, and our fun meet is Saturday, 3/15. Start getting in your forms!

Good luck to all of our swimmers this weekend!

GO TSUNAMI!

Time Trials: Wednesday 14s-18s (video!)

From Coach Julie:

Great effort tonight. You all did fantastic. Top 16 should come to practice tomorrow (Thurs) at 7pm and also Saturday at 10am.

Here are the full results.

And here's a video of the Boys Medley Relay (Dean, Rory, Ruben & P.J.) racing in what may prove to be team record time of 2:00:72.




GO Tsunami!

Time Trials: Monday - 10-under

From Coach Julie:

The Tsunami Swim Team had another great day at trials. The 10 and under showed some of the fastest times of the season in their events!

Top 16 move on to finals on 3/9. Reminder: There will be a short Practice following tomorrow's trials at approx 8pm for 30 minutes (for top 16 and alternates). Please be ready to get right in the pool after the conclusion of the meet.

One more reminder: No one is allowed on deck except competing swimmers and parents who are volunteering with ID tags.

See all the 12's tomorrow at 5:30pm sharp.

Boys Medley (5th) 2:41.73
Girls Medley (4th) 2:54.00

Free:
Kyle (12th) 34.91
Brian (14) 35.02
Nick (28) 45.00
Lauren (22) 36.54
Hana (24) 37.21
Ylenia (28) 38.76

Back:
Matthew (10) 43.05
Alec (13) 44.54
Leonardo (20) 49.89
Cailin (7) 39.74
Lauren (21) 48.30
Lara (55.62)

IM (timed final)
Niamh (6) 1:25.03
Cailin (12) 1:27.88
Melissa (23) 1:47.66
Kyle (8) 1:26.37
Liam (15) 1:34.10
Kendall (22) 1:57.87

Breast
Ylenia (14) 49.09
Hana (16) 50.33
Brian (2) 40.69
Liam (8) 47.63

Fly
Alec (15) 49.19
Matthew (17) 50.14
Lara (24) 51.18
Melissa (26) 54.99

Free Relays (places TBA)
Boys: 2:36.99
Girls: 2:27.23

Time Trials: Sunday Results; ready for Monday!

From Coach Julie:

Today (Sunday) the 8/u's did a fantastic job during the first day of trials. We were a small but competitive group! Congrats to all our swimmers!

Monday, begins trials at Mark Twain with a warm up each day at 5:30pm.
Please arrive BEFORE the start. If you are not on time and the coach is not notified, YOU WILL BE SCRATCHED FROM THE MEET.

Monday: 10 and unders
Tues: 12 and unders
Wed: 14/18's. (we will need 2 timers)

We will also need a runner for each night. Tsunami older kids welcome.

After the conclusion of the meet on Monday and Tuesday (approx 8pm), I would like to have a (very) brief warm up (time permitting) for the 12-18 age groups. Come early and cheer on your teammates. It's going to be a fun and exciting week at Mark Twain! Go Tsunami!

Results from Sunday:
Freestyle:
Mary Kate (26th) 20.82
Joseph (24) 20.00

Back:
Angelina (13) 23.5
Mary Kate (21) 25.31
Joseph (23) 27.45
Gloria (29) 32.45

IM (timed final)
Julia (6th) 1:38.25

Breast:
Angelina (5th) 24.00
Julia (7th) 24.62
Girls Medley R: 7th 1:37.03
Girls Free R: 8th 1:30.25

Time Trials; The Wave; Coach's Advice

From Frank:

Its usually around this time, the end of the season, when you look back and are amazed that we started the season together in September, nearly 7 months ago. Heres to hoping that those long weeks of of hard work and dedication pay off in great performances and exciting efforts over the next week during time trials and championships.

No matter what, we should all be proud of the Tsunami athletes. The best of luck to each and every one of you.

From Julie:

I'm looking forward to this year's Championships. We have all been working hard in practice and I want put all our efforts to the best use. Everyone should conserve their energy and get enough rest over the weekend and keep your stress levels to a minimum. "Carbo-loading" is a must the night before your race. Pasta is one of the best ways to get sufficient carbs.

On the day of your races, make sure you eat a balanced breakfast and lunch, as well as a light meal right after school (see December issue of "The Wave"). Eat a few healthy snacks during the day so that your energy level does not fall. Also, be sure that you are well hydrated before your races (see January issue of "The Wave").

Don't forget to bring warm clothes to wear between races, as well as "swimmer food", drinks, and your best cheering voices! GO TSUNAMI!

Heres the latest issue of the Wave!

Time Trials Results; Parents meeting this week

From Coach Julie:

Thank you to everyone who helped out last night at the distance meet at Rye (and Coaches Gunter and Eugene), and also at today's time trials.

Unfortunately I have been out sick, but was there in spirit! I'm excited to see everyones' times-you all did very well!

(Check out the full time trials results here.)

See everyone this week- there will be a phone chain as a reminder for Wednesday's MANDATORY Parents Meeting at 6:30pm.

(Click here to see the agenda.)

From Mike:

As a follow-up to Coach Julie's message, there will be a MANDATORY Tsunami parents meeting this Wednesday, February 6 in the Mark Twain School Auditorium.

Topics will include a recap of the season to date, upcoming events (time trials, championships, etc), the year-end party, team finances, and various other topics. Your feedback on areas for improvement and any general comments / new ideas will also be an integral part of the discussion.

Attendance to this important meeting has been disappointing in the past so please make every effort to attend.

YOUR PARTICIPATION IS CRITICAL TO THE CONTINUED SUCCESS OF THE TEAM.

FAST 285, Tsunami 246 (Jan 26)

From Coach Julie:

We had another fun and exciting meet on Saturday against FAST. Thank you to all parent volunteers.

(Check out the full results here.)

We had a fantastic regular season and I'm looking forward to the WFSL Championships in March.

Congratulations to the following record breakers:

* Julia Rohan (8/u) breaking her own record-100IM (1:38.30)

* Jasmine Bennett (14/u) breaking her own records-100 Free (1:00.17)-100 Back (1:10.33)

* Natalia Sikora (18/u) breaking her own record-100 Free (1:06.07)

*Boys 10/u 200 Medley Relay (2:46.47)Liam Butler, Brian Heubel, Matthew Mangan, Kyle Moran

Great Work! See everyone in practice!

Tsunami 302, GBGC 204 (Jan 18) UPDATED

Great meet (and great pictures, thanks to Donovan):

UPDATED: Check out the results here: Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7


From Coach Julie:

We had yet another exciting meet this past Friday against GBGC. YREC came out with a 302-204 win, and also broke 8 records! Everyone is showing great improvement-keep up the great work! Thank you to all parent volunteers.





New Records:

Niamh Butler
10/u 50 Backstroke (breaking her old record) 39.97

Michelle Sikora
12/u 50 Breaststroke (breaking her old record) 39.19

Jasmine Bennett
14/u 50 Backstroke (breaking her old record) 33.37

Joshua Gonzalez
12/u 50 Breaststroke 41.91

Ruben Carambia
18/u 50 Fly (breaking his old record) 28.83
Thomas Heubel
12/u 100 IM (tying his old record from last yr's championships) 1:17.41

Boys 12/u 200 Free Relay 2:04.51 (old was 2:09.51)
Marco Gobbato, Adonis Fortunato, Jonathan Cato, Thomas Heubel

Boys 18/u 200 Medley Relay 2:01.46
(old record was 2:04.06)
Dean Kuldraree, Ruben Carambia, Michael Lengowicz, PJ Hiraldo



Keep it up!! =) See you this week!
JULIE


Meet time change:
Next meet is this Saturday, 1/26, at Mark Twain. Please note the meet has been moved up to 10:30am warm ups and 11am start.
Please notify Julie ASAP if you cannot attend.

Practice:
Starting Tuesday, 1/22:
B team: Mon 6-7pm, Wed 7-8pm, Sat 10-11am
A team: Mon, Tues, Thurs 7-8pm, Wed 8-9pm Sat 10-noon.

Events/Meets:
Saturday 2/1: Tentative distance meet (away) for 10/u TBA (invitational from coach)
Saturday 2/2: Time Trials for all team members, 10am-noon. We will need parent volunteers to help time etc.
Saturday 2/16: Team Photo (morning) TBA


Go Tsunami!

New Rochelle 317, Tsunami 212 (Jan 12)

Check out the full meet results here: pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.


From Coach Julie:

The team was very competitive...against New Rochelle - There were six new records broken, as well as many personal bests. Final Score: NR: 317 Tsu: 212. Many thanks to all the families who helped out yesterday-things went very well! There was also great communication this meet as far as absences etc...it helped me out a great deal! Thanks!


Congratulations to the New Record Holders:

* Dean Kuldraree
14/u, smashing his own records twice in:
100 Back, 1:06.63 (old record 1:12.38)
100 IM, 2:30.31 (old 2:35.29)
* Julia Rohan,
8/u 25 Breast 23.77

* Michelle Sikora,
12/u 50 Breast 39.32

* Girls 12 200 Medley Relay, 2:15.33 (old was 2:21.44!)
Roxanne Carambia, Aysha Rivas, Karlett Morel, Michelle Sikora
* Boys 18 200 Free Relay, 1:44.62
Dean Kuldraree, Ruben Carambia, PJ Hiraldo, Michal Lengowicz.


(PS - Pictures are from the Rye meet, but I think they are still great.
Thanks again to Donovan.)

The Wave: January 2008

Courtesy of Coach Julie:

(click on each page for a full sized version)

Updated Schedule for Jan. 14 week

(Results of the New Rochelle meet coming soon...)

From Coach Julie:
Practices:
This is the last week for this schedule:
B team: M, W, Thurs 6-7pm
A team: M, W, Thurs 7-8pm, Tues 6-8pm.
Regular Practice time starting 1/22
If the Yonkers Schools are closed due to weather, we will not hold practice.

Next meet:
This Friday, January 18th HOME vs. GBGC. Warm up at 6pm. Once again, we need everyone as last year we came out ahead by only 3 points! Notify Coach ASAP of absences etc. (Older kids will be doing 50's).

Distance Meet 1/19 (new):
No regular Practice this Saturday, 1/19.
Instead, a few of the older kids have been notified by the coaches of a distance meet at Mar Twain. Those participating will receive a letter this week with their events. Warm ups are 8am and we will conclude by 11am. We will need parents of those participating to help out with the meet.

Possible Change:
1/26 vs. FAST might be moved up to a later start time. TBA
2/2 Time Trials (everyone) 10-noon.
2/16 Team Photo TBA

Rye is over; Next: New Rochelle

Tsunami Vs. Rye:
Check out the individual meet results here: Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

(I've been away, so here is a quick update.
And check out the great flying tsunami pictures -- Thanks again Donovan.)

From Coach Julie:

Great meet on Friday against Rye!

There were a lot of personal bests, and several new records. Thank you to all parent volunteers.

Everyone had a great time on Saturday at our Relay Carnival!

New Records:
Julia Rohan 8/u-25 Fly 21.16, 100 IM 1:38.35 (breaking her own record)
Aysha Rivas 12/u 50 Breast 39.62
Jennifer Cato 18/u100 IM 1:21.25 (breaking her own record)
10/u Medley Relay (2:48.53) (-5 seconds!)Liam Butler, Brian Heubel, Matthew Mangan, Kyle Moran
12/u Medley Relay (2:25.24)Thomas Heubel, Joshua Gonzalez, Jonathan Cato, Adonis Fortunato18/u Medley Relay
(2:04.06)Dean Kuldraree, Michal Lengowicz, Ruben Carambia, PJ Hiraldo

MEET SATURDAY 1/12 (HOME) VS. NEW ROCHELLE. Please arrive by 8:20am for our 8:30am warm ups. This is another important meet where we will need everyone-last meet was difficult because we were missing 20 swimmers. Everyone is a very important part of this team; Please try your best to attend. Please notify me ASAP of any conflicts.
Congratulations to everyone.

GO TSUNAMI!