June 2008 Archives

Today is the first day a FISH swimmer will participate in the trials.  Matthew Benecki will take the field and swim the 400 Free event this morning. He will be swimming in Heat 2,  lane 2.  If you would like to "observe" the race go to www.omegatiming.com.  His seed time is 3:59.71.  Let's see how he does and what his coach and dad, Ray Benecki, has to say after the race.

Coach and son are very happy after Matthew's first event at the Olympic Trials.

Shortly after the race we spoke on the phone and Ray Benecki said, "Matthew did very well at his first event here and we are looking forward to another good race on Saturday in the 1500 m free."  Matthew was a little nervous before his race, but very excited.  He said, " once I hit the water I felt good, I was going fast, but fatigue was kicking in slowly.  It is really fun to be here even though everything is much more intense than any other meet I have ever been to."  Matthew's girlfriend, Sjirsten, and her mother drove all the way from Fairfax to see him compete in the race which must have made him feel even more special.  Congratulations, Matthew on your first race at the Olympic Trials.  We'll keep watching!

There will be stroke clinics held at Hunters Woods in Rston, VA on Tuesday 6/24, 7/1, 7/8, and 7/15.  We still have room in some of the clinics and if you are interested in joining one of them, please feel free to call or e-mail our Assistant Senior Head Coach, Norm Wright at 937.477.4401 or simply send him an e-mail.

Please note, the address for Hunters Woods Pool on the orginal sign-up sheet is incorrect.  The pool is located on 2501 Reston Pkwy, Reston, VA 20191; 703.860.9763.

What a festive evening!  We were able to send off Kate in style and even the weather was cooperative.  Many people came and enjoyed wonderful, international food in the spirit of the Olympics. 

A big "Thank you" goes to Vickie Longosz, Linda Tate and Kim Via as they were the Masters' of Ceremony.

Featured FISH: Erica Shipley

By Mike Kraeuter

 

As Henry Ford once said, "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."  This month's featured FISH overcame many obstacles to earn this spot.  Obstacles such as getting to practice on a regular basis, motivation, etc...By developing a simple goal, of improving, helped her overcome the obstacles she faced.  Even her fellow "Terrific-mates" recognized this by awarding her the "Hardest Working FISH" paper plate award.  Coming from your peers, that means a lot!  During this she not only became a better swimmer, but also a great teammate.  How you ask, well let's see what Erica has to say...

 

To ALL FISH Parents --

As some of you know, our June meet "Swim Like A FISH" is less than a week away.  We host four meets per year.  I'm writing to you today to let you know that we are lacking the support from our families to host this meet.  At the moment we have enough food donations to carry us through the first session of the meet.  We don't have any food for hospitality.
None of these meets can be put on without your support.  We want you to be part of the meets we are hosting, we want you to be part of your child's swimming experience.You can donate food, you can volunteer or if this is not possible, you can choose to pay $20 per swimmer.  Please help us out, even if your child doesn't swim this meet, he or she is part of the team and the team needs your support. All food items need to be dropped off at Spring Hill RECenter on Friday between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM. We are expecting about 600 swimmers and 60 officials/coaches.
 

Due to the continuing power outage, we won't be able to run our practice tonight at Spring Hill. However, Wakefield is in full operation and there will be practice tomorrow morning.

We will be offering stroke clinics in the Reston area starting on Tuesday, June 17th.  Simply click on this link to find out more.

Dear FISH Summer Swimmers --

It is time to send in your registration forms and check for the winter season and the check for the summer program by no later than Monday, June 9th.  If you fail to do so, you can no longer participate in the summer program.  Our winter program is filling up quickly and we can no longer extent the courtesy to reserve a spot on the team for the winter program for you beyond this time.  Please see your coaches for any additional information.

Thank  you,
Monika Paris
Team Manager