TNT Newsletter
The New Team on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay
March / April 2006
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKS
A warm welcome to new teammates, Blayze Hale, age 7, level 1. Zachary Humphries, age 9, level 2. Harper Morrison, age 9, level 2. Ben Turnipseed, age 7, level 2. Get ready to have a lot of fun with new your teammates, learn good sportsmanship and swim really, really fast.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Congratulations to swimmers of TNT who recently celebrate birthdays: Morgan Foster, 8 on 3/2. Dana Hodde, 8 on 3/2. Boyd Turnipseed, 10 on 3/4. Thomas Kinsey, 15 on 3/10. Jefferson Hudson, 17 on 3/14. Patrick Parish, 7 on 3/30. Gabrielle Horst, 10 on 4/1. Tyler Powell, 9 on 4/5. Cameron Grant, 12 on 4/6. Anna Ramsey, 11 on 4/10. Another year older and another year faster!
TNT SCOLAR ATHLETE HONOR ROLL
Congratulations to those swimmers of TNT who achieved honor roll status at their respective schools during the third marking period. Your parents and coaches are super proud of you for your successes in and out of the pool. Keep up the great work!
Special thanks to parents of TNT who submitted the names of their swimmer(s) and for making this listing possible. Please notify Coach Jan if your swimmer was accidentally omitted.
EXTRA SPECIAL
In addition to swimmers being awesome athletes, they also excel in academics, arts, civics, and various other forms of sports and recreation. Special thanks to parents of TNT who supplied the following extra curricular highlights of their swimmers for this listing.
8 & UNDER THUNDER
Congratulations to Connor Funke, Killian Kahalley, Zachary Miller, Patrick Parish, Tyler Powell, Ryan Simpson, Jack Sledge, Andrew Szydel, Nicholas Szydel, and Ben Turnipseed. The boys won the SES Southern District 8 & under Boys Team Swimming Championship by one point over defending champions, CMSA. The meet was held March 11 – 12 at the University of West Florida. Special thanks to parents of TNT who supplied nutritious food for the team during the meet. Thank you to Dr. Bart Mitchell who designed and produced our meet tee shirt.
NASHVILLE NEWS
Thirteen swimmers from TNT competed at the 2006 Southeastern Short Course Championship Meet, March 16 – 19 in Nashville, TN. TNT finished 25th among 53 participating teams from Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. TNT swam well, accounting for 29 new team records, 19 improved time standards, and 44 best times. Medal winners include Will Anderson, 100 back 7th and 50 back 8th. Jordan Doucet, 100 breast 5th and 50 breast 7th. Savannah Ekelund, 50 fly 8th. Kyle Simpson, 100 back 4th. Also representing TNT at the meet was Carly Davis, Daniel Doucet, Cameron Grant, Sahra El – Hamaki, Adele Mantiply, Megan Midkiff, Adrian Novak, J.D. Powell, and Ashley Szydel.
Special thanks to Debbie Anderson, Andrea Doucet, Jennifer Grant, Mary Beth Mantiply and Lynnora Hardin who made the trip special by supplying goodie bags for the swimmers. Thank you also to Elena Szydel who made the trip special by putting together wonderful goodie baskets for the coaches. Finally, thank you to Dr. Bart Mitchell who again designed and produced our awesome SES championship team tee shirts, and to Laurie Simpson who embroidered all our SES team gear.
MEASURABLE SUCCESS
USA Swimming team power point rankings currently place TNT number 1,248 out of approximately 2,500 teams nationally. This represents a big jump up from last year when our new team finished number 1,927. TNT’s short course power point score for 2006 currently stands at 26,786 points compared to 9,198 points last year. The system automatically tabulates each team’s top score for two swimmers per event, a maximum 4 events per swimmer, ages 11 & older. Scores are totaled and may be viewed nationally, by Zone (TNT is in the Southern Zone) or LSC (TNT is in the Southeastern LSC). Learn more about the Toyota Virtual Club Championships online at http://www.swimtnt.com/Virtual_Club_Champs.html
POWER POINTERS
TNT’s Short Course Power Point Top 5 through the Southeastern Championships, March 19, 2006 are: Boys - Tyler Powell 8,314. Andrew Szydel 5,606. Ryan Simpson, 5,493. Will Anderson, 5,276. Kyle Simpson, 5,242. Girls - Adele Mantiply, 6,301. Jordan Doucet, 5,993. Ashley Szydel, 5,547. Carly Davis, 5,358. Haley Miller, 5,151. You can view all TNT swimmer power points online at http://www.swimtnt.com/Power_Points.html
LONG COURSE SWIMMING
The 2005 – 2006 Short Course season is history and TNT now begins the 2006 Long Course season. Long Course (LC) describes the length of the pool, or 50 meter racing course that TNT will be competing in this summer. Short Course (SC) refers to the shorter, 25 yard pools that we have been competing in since September. LC meets are held monthly throughout Southeastern Swimming (SES), including a championship meet at the end of July.
SUMMER LEAGUE SWIMMING
The local summer swim league, the GMSDL or Greater Mobile Swimming and Diving League, is composed of several swim clubs located throughout Baldwin County. These clubs offer seasonal competitive swimming programs including practices, dual meets, and championship meets beginning in May and ending in July. Seasonal teams are fun and exciting opportunities for age group swimmers of all abilities to experience the sport of competitive swimming. Families not yet affiliated with a GMSDL team who would like to know more about local summer league programs are encouraged to ask Coach Jan Mittemeyer about it.
YOU CAN DO IT ALL
TNT is a USA Swimming, Inc. affiliated team and does not offer a seasonal swimming program through the GMSDL. Most swimmers from TNT also participate in GMSDL programs from May through July. Any swimmer may participate in one program or the other, or both programs at the same time. GMSDL teams and USA Swimming teams are exclusive of each other and there is no conflict of interest by representing both teams simultaneously. If you have questions about participating in both programs, please see Coach Jan.
2006 TNT SUMMER PRACTICE SCHEDULE
This training schedule was prepared in order to meet the developing needs of our swimmers, as well as the availability of facility resources. TNT’s training groups are dynamic and are designed according to the swimmer’s age, ability, and interest level. While this method of scheduling might not always be the most convenient, it is always the most productive. The tentative Summer Schedule Begins Tuesday, May 30, 2006.
Group Days Time Location Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 1 & 2
2006 LONG COURSE MEET SCHEDULE
TNT’s 2006 long course meet schedule is listed below and represents as many indoor, local opportunities to participate as possible. Please see Jan Mittemeyer if you have questions.
April 28 – 30 May 12 – 14 June 9 – 11 June 23 – 25 July 7 – 9 July 27 – 30 A REWARDING EXPERIENCE
Thank you to Terry Kinsey, Debbie Anderson, and Andrea Doucet for making our 2nd Annual Short Course Awards Dinner a successful and enjoyable event. More than 130 swimmers and family members attended the program, held March 14 at Christ the King School’s gymnasium. TNT swimmers and parent volunteers were recognized as TNT closed the books on the 2005 – 2006 short course swimming season. All currently registered swimmers of TNT received team membership trophies, while those who qualified for the Southeastern Short Course Championship Meet also received commemorative towels.
The main course of Spaghetti and Meatballs and Chicken Pasta Alfredo, as well as team membership trophies were purchased through TNT fundraising efforts. The commemorative SES meet towels were presented as congratulatory gifts from TNT Head Coach, Jan Mittemeyer.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
USA Swimming provides tools designed to familiarize and educate parents about the great sport of competitive swimming. Parents of TNT are encouraged to please take advantage of these valuable resources in order to help your swimmer be the best he or she can be by visiting the Parent page of the USA Swimming web site at: www.usa-swimming.org
Topics Include:
Swimming 101: The Basics
•Everything You Wanted to Know About Swim Meets But Were Afraid to Ask.
Everything You Wanted to Know About Swim Meets But Were Afraid to Ask.•Glossary of Swimming Terms
Glossary of Swimming Terms•Basic Rules of the Sport
Basic Rules of the SportRole of the Parent
•Parent and Athlete
Parent and Athlete•Parent and Coach
Parent and Coach•Parent and Club
Parent and Club•Growth and Development
Growth and Development•Your Child’s Training
Your Child’s Training•Health Issues
Health IssuesNutrition Articles and Resources
THE GOOD GUYS
Special thanks to those local businesses that support our program by advertising through TNT. Please visit our web site advertisers at http://www.swimtnt.com/advertisers_page.html
WELCOME TO THE TEAM
Fundraising is a normal function at most privately funded organizations, and supplements TNT’s comparatively low training fee structure. An effective and relatively painless way of fundraising available to our membership is advertising local businesses through TNT’s multi-level advertising program. This program includes ad space on the team website, the team advertising banner displayed in the pool area at the Bounds Family YMCA, and on the team’s SES Spring and summer championship tee shirts.
TNT wishes to thank the following businesses and to welcome them to our family of advertisers: Horst & Company GMAC Real Estate, and Ben Radcliff, Contractor.
Please direct questions, comments, or suggestions about the content of the TNT Newsletter to Jan Mittemeyer by email at swimtnt123@aol.com or by phone 599-1019.
