the Fish

Olympic Trials, June 29th

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:35:07 -0500

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!

Reston Stroke Clinics

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:42:13 -0500

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.

Kate's Send - Off Party

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:07:12 -0500

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.

FISH of the MONTH

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:42:31 -0500

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...

June Meet, "Swim Like a FISH" - FISH Swimmers

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:13:13 -0500

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.

June 5: Practices at Spring Hill cancelled due to power outage

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:27:53 -0500

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.

Reston Stroke Clinics

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:54:11 -0500

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

REGISTRATION

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:02:24 -0500

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

Thank you for your support at last Weekend's Derby

Thu, 22 May 2008 18:55:58 -0500

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.

Many thanks.

Help Coach Grady Save the Environment

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:44:40 -0500

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.

FISH of the Month - May 2008

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:17:14 -0500

Written by Mike Kraeuter

This Featured FISH started her attack on the record boards back during the Reindeer MINI Meet and has been lowering those times all season long. She qualified for the 50 free and 50 fly in the PVS 14 & Under Junior Olympic Championships as a 8 year old Mini FISH. Isabella Rongione loves to swim fast and work hard; it is her dedication and compassion for the sport that has allowed her to achieve incredible results. However, this isn't her most favorite thing about swimming, keep reading so you can find out...

Ohio State Grand Prix

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:14:55 -0500

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.

Matthew Benecki strikes again at the Ohio State Grand Prix

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:15:10 -0500

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...

2008 Spring Champs

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:11:47 -0500

1st Place at Spring Champs

A spectacular effort was put forward at the Spring Championship meet this past weekend at the Fairland Aquatic Center. As a team, we scored 1916 points placing first among 13 teams. 371 best times where achieved at the meet, which comes out to about 75% of the swims being best times.

Our high point winners by age group are: 9-10 boys - Michael Eshleman (3) 9-10 girls - Jessie Monroe (3) 11-12 boys - Conor McBride (1) 11-12 girls - Elizabeth Longosz (1) 13 & Over boys - Ryan Williams (1) 13 & Over girls - Becca Yost (2)

The following swimmers swam 6 or more best times: Erin Callahan, Annie and Martha Carro, Hazel Cimino, Shelley Collins, Alexandra Cramer, Wesley and Zachary Diener, Michael Eshleman, Tom Fenninger, Jason Fu, Hyunwoo and Minji Koo, Elizabeth Longosz, Michelle Lovering, Kaylyn Macaluso, Conor McBride, Megan McCreary, Jessie Monroe, Marilisa Morales, Theresa Neubig, Alex Pennington, Erica Shipley, Jessie Smith, Emma Tierney, Tara Ulepic, Nathan Williams, Becca Yost, and Kyle Zora...CONGRATULATIONS!!

We cheered loudly and swam fast achieving many first place finishes in individual events as well as in 9 relays. We all had a great meet. We even learned a bit about nutrition and how eating junk food can't supply you with the energy you need to compete at your highest level, especially, when you are swimming four or more events during one session. Coach Grady brought in oranges and power bars on the second day which helped us keep our energy up, so we could all keep swimming FAST and having FUN...so remember that at your next meet when packing your food.

Now it is onto the long course season, I hope everyone is looking forward to the LC Derby!!

Important Practice Notice

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:00:41 -0500

Age Group will have practice tomorrow, Saturday, March 22nd at 6:00 to 7:00 PM and 7:00 to 8:00 PM. There was a typo in the schedule that was handed out. These are the correct practice times.