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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.

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.
 

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

Another successful meet hosted by the FISH.  We couldn't have done it without you!  Thank you so much for putting in all those long hours.  We will promise, the next meet hosted by us will be much shorter.

On Saturday, May 31 Coach Grady will be participating in the Potomac River Swim for the Environment, a non-profit, all-volunteer event to benefit the water we drink and swim in.  This is a 7.5-mile swim crossing of the mouth of the Potomac River where the Chesapeake Bay and  Virginia's Northern Neck divides from Saint Mary's County, MD.

Swimmers are required to raise a minimum of $250 in pledges prior to the event to go into a pool to equally benefit the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, the Southern Maryland Sierra Club, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the Potomac River Association.

Please sign up to support Coach Grady on the pledge sheet posted on the bulletin board at Spring Hill RECenter, or visit the online pledge sheet to find out more about this swim and how YOU can help save the environment.

written by Alec Contag

STATE Grand Prix "BEAST!!!" Was probably the one word that was most frequently uttered by all those in attendance of the Ohio State Grand Prix, in the marvelous McCorkle aquatics pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. The word, as our fabulous Team Manager soon learned, is a term in use exclusively by the Awesome Fish as a form of encouragement, quality, approval, and even endearment: a word quite fitting to describe the adventure that was Ohio State.

After getting his first Olympic Trials cut on Saturday evening in the 400 m  Free with a time of 3:59.71, Matthew struck again only 17 hours later in the 1500 m Free.  His time of 15:50.21 left no room for doubt, as opposed to his 400 m Free time on Saturday night.

When we left the pool on Saturday evening, after looking at his time on the scoreboard, we all believed Matthew had swum a 4:00.15 in the 400 m Free, missing his Trials cut by sixteen hundredths of a second.  It was only an hour later, after Coach Ray received a text message from his wife Joanne congratulating Matthew for swimming so well that we realized he might have swum faster.  Kate used her new toy, her red Blackberry, to research the official results and then announced to the entire restaurant that Matthew had made his first Trials cut.  Hardly anyone in the restaurant knew what was going on when the congratulating and clapping started, but the enthusiasm and joy was shared by all.

Congratulations Matthew and Coach Ray! Onward to Omaha! Read on for best times...