2012 Board of Directors meetings

Next year’s Board meetings will be held on the traditional third Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM.

For the first two (January 17th and February 21st), we will meet at University Club, located at 4200 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh (Exit 3 from the I-440 Beltline), which is the same venue we will use for our Fall meeting next month.

Our final three meetings (March 20th, April 17th and May 15th) will take place at the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC), located at 275 Convention Drive in Cary (Exit 291 from I-40, then turn left into Cary Towne Center mall at first traffic signal).

Fall 2011 Board of Directors meeting [UPDATED]

Mark your calendars: our fall Board of Directors meeting will be held four weeks from now, on Tuesday, October 11th 18th at 7:00 PM. The venue will be University Club, located at 4200 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh (Exit 3 from the I-440 Beltline). More detailed agenda information will be available immediately before the meeting.

Winners of the 2011 Cecil L. Williamson TSA Educational Grants

In a quadruple-blind random drawing, the TSA Executive Committee (the four officers of the Association) today selected the following 25 grant winners from the 119 names submitted as qualified candidates for the $400 Cecil L. Williamson TSA Educational Grants. Congratulations to these swimmers, and to all the other recent high school graduates who participated on TSA teams this summer.

Tara Baitsholts (Springdale)
Lauren Ball (Summerfield North)
Jenna Beci (Shepherd's Vineyard)
Cara DeVries (Shepherd's Vineyard)
Stephanie DiBenedetto (Stonebridge)
Michael Dickey (Lochmere)
Jack Disney-Huss (Hasentree)
Lauren Frederick (Wendell)
Grace Harvey (Springdale)
Megan Hoerauf (Walden Creek)
Nicole Jackson (Heritage of Wake Forest)
Haley Lingle (Lake Park)
Alex Mills (Summerfield North)
Merritt Nettles (Brier Creek)
Tyler Owens (Oxxford Hunt)
Megan Przybyla (Greystone)
Meghan Radman (Lochmere)
Christine Schulze (Shepherd's Vineyard)
Alec Seigle (JCC)
Carolynn Spadafino (JCC)
Ryan Spalding (Lochmere)
Anne Thelen (Northbrook)
Curtis Thomas (MacGregor Downs)
Kelsey Tuttle (Cary Park)
Maria Wynn (Scotts Mill)

2011 Division Champions

[From Vice President Janine Huss:]

Congratulations to our Divisional Winners for 2011!

TSA Overall Champion: Prestonwood Piranhas

Northern League Division 1 Champions: Seven Oaks Marlins
Northern League Division 2 Champions: University Club Psychomen
Northern League Division 3 Champions: Heritage of Wake Forest Betas
Northern League Division 4 Champions: Stonebridge Stingrays
Northern League Division 5 Champions: Riverwood at Mingo Creek Rays
Northern League Division 6 Champions: Planters Walk Piranhas
Northern League Division 7 Champions: Brier Creek Barracudas
Northern League Division 8 Champions: Meredith Townes Mudpuppies
Northern League Division 9 Champions: Hasentree Hammerheads
Northern League Division 10 Champions: Banbury Woods Dolphins

Southern League Division 1 Champions: Prestonwood Piranhas
Southern League Division 2 Champions: Silverton Sharks
Southern League Division 3 Champions: Cary Park Sea Dragons
Southern League Division 4 Champions: Apex Breakers
Southern League Division 5 Champions: Devereaux Devil Rays
Southern League Division 6 Champions: The Reserve Stingrays
Southern League Division 7 Champions: Eagle Ridge Soaring Eagles
Southern League Division 8 Champions: Garner Dolphins
Southern League Division 9 Champions: Haddon Hall Hammerheads

Divisional winners all trophies can be picked up at Creative Images in Cary starting on Monday.

Educational Grant entry deadline extended until noon Sunday

Since we have seen at least one instance of a Rep's email not making it to Debra on the first try, we have extended the deadline for submitting entries for the Cecil Williamson TSA Educational Grants until noon tomorrow (Sunday, July 24). If your club's name appeared on the list of the 40 teams from whom Debra had not received an entry as of yesterday, please send it to her again by the new deadline. Remember to use the spreadsheet template she sent out with the original announcement. We will conduct the drawing itself later the same afternoon.

Effects of the smoky day on meets

Tuesday, June 21 was a day when most of the Triangle fell under a pall of smoke from wildfires in other parts of the state. This caused problems for some meets, and engendered controversy at many more. Here's a summary of how the 39 meets that week tackled the smoke issue:


Meets that started and finished (perhaps truncated due to thunder/lightning) on Tuesday, reporting their results by early Wednesday evening (27):

Banbury Woods 285, Hawthorne 208
Haddon Hall 207, Bentwinds 151
Brookstone 251, Garner 209
Meredith Townes 277, Carlyle & Chatsworth 186
North Raleigh 252, Coachman's Trail 173
Hasentree 287, Crabtree 197
Eagle Ridge 231, Crooked Creek 107
Greystone 261.5, Wood Valley 111.5
Harrington Grove 217.5, Falls River 156.5
Highcroft 192.5, Glenridge 181.5
Hollands Crossing 266.5, Wellington Park 143.5
Lake Park 272, Abbington 242
Manchester 253, TCC Brentwood 193
Northbrook 223, Quail Hollow 151
Planters Walk 242, Durant Trails 213
Scotts Mill 243.5, Dutchman Downs 130.5
Cary Park 285, Silverton 229
Wakefield Plantation 230, Southall 139
Stonebridge 200, Heritage of Wake Forest 173
Carpenter Village 296, TAC 116
The Reserve 211.5, Park Village 162.5
Sunset Ridge 224, Walden Creek 144
Weatherstone 219, Oxxford Hunt 180
Charleston Village 207.5, Weldon Ridge 157.5
Shepherds Vineyard 214, Wellsley 159
Black Horse Run 250, Wendell 140.9
Granite Falls 361, Zebulon & Zebulon Country Club 136


Meets that started on Tuesday but had to finish on Wednesday due to thunder/lightning (4):

Brier Creek 286, Hedingham 226
Cary 275.5, Kildaire Farms 229.5
Prestonwood 259, Seven Oaks 253
University Club 1, Springdale 0 (Springdale forfeited on Wednesday because they had already planned another team event for that day!)


Meets that never started on Tuesday because both TSA Reps had already agreed to postpone to another day due to smoke (5):

Apex 288.5, Devereaux 225.5
Jewish Community Center 259.5, Lakemont 252.5
Regency Park 253, Medfield 250
Summerfield North 265, North Hills 197
Lochmere 290.5, Scottish Hills 223.5


Meets that never started on Tuesday because the pool manager had already closed the pool due to smoke (2):

Riverwood at Mingo Creek 235, Bedford at Falls River 211
Olive Chapel 357, MacGregor Downs 157


Meets that were forfeited because one team was willing to swim on Tuesday but the other was unwilling due to the smoke (1):

Oak Park 1, North Ridge 0

Swim Awards from Crown Trophy of Cary

683D Cary Towne Blvd., Cary NC 27511

Below TJ Maxx, Next to CiCi's Pizza

919-462-9157

crowntrophy@earthlink.net

The sooner you get your orders in for medals and/or trophies the better! Even if you are not sure of the engraving, let's get the awards in house so they are available when you need them. Every year suppliers run out well before the season is coming to an end. And don't forget, if you purchased your swim ribbons from Crown Trophy of Cary, you'll get an additional 10% off our already best in town prices when you order your awards. If you purchased your ribbons somewhere else, come see us anyway, we PROMISE, we will save you money! Thanks for all your business and have a great Summer swim season!

MOR Year-Round Swim Team Applications Being Accepted

The Marlins of Raleigh Swim Team is now accepting athletes for the 2011-2012 swim year. Registration information is posted on our website at http://www.marlinsofraleigh.com/. MOR swims at several locations throughout Wake County including Pullen Aquatic Center, NCSU, Peace College, and St. Mary's School (Central Raleigh/Cary); Ravenscroft School, Millbrook, and Optimist Park (North Raleigh); and Riverwood Athletic Club (Clayton). For additional information, please email 01silversurfer@bellsouth.net or call our office at (919) 851-3000.

S.W.I.M. Invitational Meet Information Available; Meet Hosted July 10 at Lochmere

TSA Swimmers, below is the link for the South Wake Invitational Meet (S.W.I.M. MEET)  to be held at Lochmere Swim and Tennis Club on Sun. July 10.  New this year:

• Swimmers may swim 4 individual events (6&Unders may swim 3)
• $400 scholarship drawing open to all graduating high school swimmers competing in the SWIM and North Raleigh Championships.

For more information, go to (www.marlinsofraleigh.com)

Assistant Coaching Position Olive Chapel Otters

The Olive Chapel Otters swim team, associated with the neighborhoods of Dogwood Ridge and Pearson Farms in Apex, has an opening for a part time swimming coach. The growth of our team in age groups under 10 has led to the opening.

Candidate must be proficient in all 4 strokes and possess a firm understanding of TSA rules. Prior coaching experience is a plus, but not required.

Duties will include but will not be limited to:

• assist with practice and be expected to manage a group of 20-25 swimmers during each practice group


• instruct swimmers in proper stroke technique


• offer constructive feedback and provide encouragement to swimmers


• work primarily with 10 and under age groups, but will work with other age groups as required


• follow practice plan provided by Head Coach

If you are interested please forward your resume to Deb Conroy by 6/8/2011. We will schedule and conduct interviews immediately following the application deadline.

Start date will be 6/13. Hours will be 4:30 to 6:30 pm M,W, Thu.; and swim meets on 6/14, 6/21, 6/28, 7/5, 7/12, 7/19 and Cary City on 7/16.

Another Stroke & Turn Clinic

Lochmere will host a Stroke and Turn clinic on Tuesday, May 31 at 7:00 PM. Note that the location is the Lochmere Highlands Clubhouse.

S&T Judge certifications from USA Swimming, NCAA, NCHSAA or YMCA are still accepted by TSA; send name, team, certification body, certification number and certification expiration date to strokeandturn.tsanc.org@gmail.com

And if you can't make a clinic check out the new alternative method of certifying TSA Stroke & Turn Judges: www.StrokeAndTurn.com


Contact Tony McCullough if you have questions.

May Board of Directors meeting

Remember, our final in-person Board meeting of 2011 is coming up this Tuesday (May 17) at 7:00. We will be meeting at the NC State University Club, site of our January meeting. The meeting agenda is available here, and the minutes of the April meeting can be found here. As always, only a limited number of print-outs of these documents will be available at the meeting, so please bring your own copy with you if you need to refer to it during the meeting.

The Board meeting proper should be short, which will allow us to distribute meet management materials and then adjourn directly into our annual Meet Management Clinic. Everyone is welcome to stay for this clinic, but it will be most useful for new TSA reps and for new clubs (including exhibition teams). If you are unable to attend the clinic but have questions, be sure to read the meet organization document on the TSA website and to familiarize yourself with some of the other resources on the site.

If you find it difficult to attend Tuesday’s meeting, I strongly urge you to find some other team parent to send in your place. As mentioned above, the meeting itself will last only a few minutes, and arranging for someone attend will save you the inconvenience of having to track down your team’s bag of meet materials later. Also, there are a handful of clubs that have not yet fulfilled the requirement to attend at least three Board meetings a year, so they should make doubly sure they send someone to attend: Bedford at Falls River, Black Horse Run, Oak Park and Wellington Park.

In the meantime, please make sure that your coaches and parent volunteers know about the various clinics described on the TSA Blog. Each team must send at least one coach to a Coach’s clinic. The Starter’s clinic is optional, but highly recommended for new starters. Attendance at one of the Stroke & Turn Judge’s clinics is mandatory for every judge unless they already have a separate accreditation from USA Swimming, NCAA, NCHSAA or YMCA; officials with such credentials will need to send details of their certification to strokeandturn.tsanc.org@gmail.com in order to claim the clinic exemption. Judges can also get trained and certified online at www.StrokeAndTurn.com, though this option will cost the participant $12.95.

Most teams have already started registering members, so please be sure all your swimmers are in compliance with the TSA rules, specifically the eligibility requirements described in Article 304. Be especially careful to check the eligibility of any coaches or lifeguards that may wish to compete on the team, as they must still meet all club membership requirements in order to join the club’s swim team. In particular, if your club is a homeowner’s association in which pool membership is restricted solely to residents of a particular neighborhood, non-resident staff members may NOT compete for your swim team as they are, by definition, not eligible for club membership.

TSA Clinics update

Lochmere will host a clinic for Coaches on Tuesday, May 24 at 7:00 PM. Note that the location is the Lochmere Highlands Clubhouse. Each club is asked to send one of their coaches to one coaches clinic. Please make your coaches aware.

A Stroke & Turn Clinic will be held at Coachman’s Trail on Wednesday, June 1, at 7:00 PM.

Summary of Clinics scheduled

Coaches
Wednesday, May 18, 7:00 PM at Northbrook
Tuesday, May 24, 7:00 PM at Lochmere (Highlands Clubhouse)

Starter
Thursday, May 19, 7:00 PM at Hasentree
Saturday, May 28, 9:00 AM at Silverton (pool)

Stroke & Turn
Tuesday, May 3, 7:00 PM at Prestonwood (pool)
Tuesday, May 10, 7:00 PM at Hasentree
Wednesday, June 1, 7:00 PM at Coachman’s Trail
(See TSA Blog announcements from March 21 & April 8 for additional information).

S&T Judge certifications from USA Swimming, NCAA, NCHSAA or YMCA are still accepted by TSA; send name, team, certification body, certification number and certification expiration date to strokeandturn.tsanc.org@gmail.com

Contact Tony McCullough if you have questions.

Heritage Wake Forest Team Carly O'Day Relay Carnival

Carly O'Day is a senior in high school and an original member of the Heritage Betas swim team. Earlier this year she was diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

The Heritage Betas would like to invite other teams to participate in this fun event to benefit the family. It will be held on Tuesday, June 7th at 6 PM at the Heritage Wake Forest swim club. Cost is $10/swimmer and events include relays in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and medley. Parents and coaches are invited to swim as well.

If you are interested please contact Heritage Betas TSA Rep Mike Long by May 1, 2011.

April Board of Directors meeting

This is your standard reminder that the April Board of Directors meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 7:00 at the Triangle Aquatic Center (TAC) in Cary. As always, I highly encourage everyone to print their own copy of the meeting agenda to bring with them, since only limited quantities of handouts will be available at the meeting. You should also review the meeting minutes from last month.

TSA Clinics update

The Clinics Committee has scheduled additional clinics:

Prestonwood will host a Stroke and Turn Clinic on Tuesday May 3 at 7:00 PM at their pool. Attending a Stroke and Turn Clinic is required each year for anyone in your club who will be serving as a stroke and turn judge unless they have USA Swimming, YMCA, NCHSAA or NCAA certification. Please note that additional Stroke and Turn Clinics are being planned for North and South League clubs.

Hasentree will host a Starter Clinic on May 19 (Thursday). This clinic begins at 7:00 PM and usually lasts less than an hour. Starter Clinics are not mandatory. Check the TSA Blog and your email for links with directions and additional clinic announcements.

Previously announced clinics:

Stroke and Turn Clinic at Hasentree, May 10 (7:00 PM)
Coaches Clinic at Northbrook clubhouse, May 18 (7:00 PM)
Starter Clinic at Silverton pool, May 28 (9:00 AM).

Dues

TSA Reps, just a reminder that your TSA dues are due April 30th. As of tonight (April 6th), I have 35 teams whose check I have not received. You can bring a check to the April 12th meeting or mail to me at the address listed at the bottom of your invoice. Please make check payable to Tarheel Swimming Association or TSA. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at clbrunk729@aol.com.

MOR Speedo Olympic Clinic

The Marlins Of Raleigh will hold a Speedo Olympic Clinic with 2000 US Olympic Silver Medalist Kristy Kowal on Saturday, April 9th from 9-11 am at the NC State Willis Casey Natatorium. The cost is just $20 to hear from one of the top breaststrokers in American history talk about how she swims fast. Kristy was an 8-time NCAA Champion in individual events and relays and helped lead her U. of Georgia team to 3 NCAA Women's team titles! For registration and info, go to http://www.marlinsofraleigh.com/ or email morsilver@bellsouth.net

TSA Clinics

The Clinics Committee has scheduled several clinics.

Hasentree will host a Stroke and Turn Clinic on Tuesday, May 10. This clinic starts at 7:00 PM and usually lasts just over an hour.

Attending a Stroke and Turn Clinic is required each year for anyone in your club who will be serving as a stroke and turn judge unless they have USA Swimming, YMCA, NCHSAA or NCAA certification. Additional stroke and turn clinics are planned to be held at North and South League clubs.

Northbrook is hosting a Coaches Clinic on Wednesday, May 18 in their clubhouse. The time is 7:00 PM. TSA rules state that each team must have at least one of its coaches attend a Coaches’ Clinic. Instructors are experienced year round coaches that provide excellent information as well as additional resources for your coaches.

Silverton in Cary will host a Starter Clinic on Saturday May 28 at their pool. The time is 9:00 AM. Remember that good starters run fast and efficient meets. This clinic can be very helpful. Starter Clinics are not mandatory.

Watch the TSA blog for additional clinic announcements.

April Board of Directors meeting has been rescheduled to April 12th

Not everyone was able to attend last night’s Board of Directors meeting, so I wanted to pass along an important schedule update: the Board voted to move the April meeting from the 19th to the 12th (exactly one week earlier). This change lets us avoid the Wake County Schools spring break week. The meeting will be held at the usual time (7:00) and at the originally-scheduled venue (TAC). There are two big items on the agenda for that meeting thus far: discussion and potential vote on the Leagues & Scheduling Committee’s proposed dual meet schedule; and a presentation from the Championship & Invitational Meets Committee on the feasibility of reinstituting official TSA championship meets.

The proposed dual meet schedule will be circulated to the entire Board via the mailing list when it becomes available, which is expected to be approximately one week from now. In accordance with the wishes expressed by the membership last night, we will wait until the April Board meeting to discuss and vote on the proposal.