TNT Newsletter
The New Team on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay
October 2006
BIG TIME
Five swimmers from TNT were inducted into the 2005 - 2006 Southeastern Hall of Fame. Will Anderson, Adrian Novak, Tyler Powell, Madison Scharles, and Kyle Simpson were awarded commemorative, embroidered towels at induction ceremony held at the Perdido Beach Resort, Saturday, October 7. SES Hall of Fame inductions are held on even numbered years at the SES fall meeting. Congratulations to this year’s TNT inductees, and may their success motivate future swimmers from TNT toward similar success.
AN AWESOME WEEKEND
More than 300 swimmers and family members from the states of Alabama, Tennessee, and the Florida Panhandle were in attendance at the
2006 Southeastern Hall of Fame Weekend, hosted by TNT, October 6 - 8 at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, FL.
As always, TNT parent volunteers did a great job of planning and presenting an outstanding program for all attendees. Special thanks to Debbie Anderson, Andrea Doucet, Terri Kinsey, Mary Beth Mantiply, Elena Szydel, Sherri Quale, and Melanie Simison and for putting on what has been described by many as the best HOF weekend they had ever attended.
The weekend's festivities began Friday evening with welcome receptions for swimmers, coaches, and SES board members. The swimmers were greeted with milk and cookies at the resort's poolside patio. The coaches and officials met at Cotton's Restaurant and were treated to fried chicken, shrimp, crab claws, beef kabobs, and beverages. Special thanks to Chris Ybarra, owner of Cotton's and TNT supporter, for his gracious hospitality.
Saturday started bright and early, with seminars by 2004 Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Mark Gangloff and also by nationally known expert in sports psychology, Dr. Alan Goldberg. That evening, families from throughout Southeastern Swimming gathered beachside for a sunset dinner buffet, to honor those swimmers inducted into the SES Hall of Fame. The evening concluded with a three hour dance for the swimmers.
Finally, a special note of thanks is due to families from TNT who attended the seminars and banquet.
ANOTHER YEAR OLDER AND FASTER
Happy Birthday to those swimmers from TNT who celebrate birthdays during the month of October: Hunter Arndt 6, Phoenix Fisk 16, Connor Funke 7, Kyle Simpson 12, Ashley Szydel 11.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKS
A warm welcome to those swimmers who have recently joined TNT: Carly Arnone 5, Alex Daly 5, Seth Young 7. You are going to have a lot of fun and learn to swim really fast!
EXTRA SPECIAL
Thank you to parents of TNT who provided extra curricular highlights of their swimmers to be included in this listing. We are proud of them for their accomplishments in and out of the pool.
Adele Mantiply and Ashley Kinsey, both seventh graders at CKCS, were selected to participate in the Duke University Talent Identification Program.
Griffin Fisk won a class contest for best written story and so did Jordan Simison for best written letters. Jordan is also a Daphne Middle School Cheerleader.
Will Anderson, Cameron Grant, J.D. Powell, Tyler Powell, and Kyle Simpson are all playing on the U15 Daphne Force soccer team this fall.
(Of course they're wearing red and black for their soccer uniforms.)
Savannah Ekelund was named an eighth grade Piano student of the month for September by the Baldwin County Music Teachers Association.
As a part of their community outreach, Savannah Ekelund and Jordan Doucet, students of Vincentine Williams, entertained residents of Westminster
Village on September 16th, by playing "The March." On September 30th, Savannah and Jordan participated in the Mobile Music Teachers Association "Ensemble Extravaganza" at St Johns Episcopal Church in Mobile. They concluded the program together by performing "The March."
Kaitlin Simison is in Citizenship Club and Choir at Rockwell Elementary and also plays on the Force Soccer Team.
Gabrielle Host played offense for the first time this year on the Force Soccer Team and scored her first goal. She has played defense for the Force for two years.
Emily Grant will be attending the National Young Leaders State Conference in Birmingham this month. She is also a member of the Bayside Academy 8th grade volleyball team, which won second place in the Baldwin County 1A Championship Tournament on October 5th.
Thomas Kinsey made his high school state meet qualifying times in the 500 free, the 200 free and the 200 IM.
TAKE YOUR MARK…BOO!
Super fun practices are planned for level 3 on Monday, October 30 and for level 2 on Halloween, Tuesday, October 31. Special activities include pumpkin races, Halloween mask relays, and swimmer goodie bags. You can view photos from last year’s event at http://www.swimtnt.com/photopagemain.html
SMILE AND SAY, “TNT”
The 2006 – 2007 team photographs will be taken on Monday, November 6, at the Bounds Family YMCA. Individual photos will be taken beginning at 3:45 PM and the group photo at 4:30. This is an annual, once a year event so please mark this date on your calendar and plan to attend. The team photo is also displayed on every plaque presented to advertisers and supporters of TNT.
THE NOVEMBER GET TOGETHER
TNT’s fall picnic is scheduled for November 11 from 1:00 - 5:00 PM at Blakely State Park. All swimmers and family members are welcome to attend. TNT will provide fried chicken and drinks and we will ask that everyone bring a side dish, salad or dessert. The park features trails and roads suitable for hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding. So, bring your hiking shoes, bikes, and horses if you like. We will also be trying to organize either a kickball or softball game, so if you have equipment, please bring it. Families who plan to sit down should bring chairs, etc.
UPCOMING MEETS
The meets listed below are open to all swimmers from TNT except the meet in Nashville, which has qualifying times. Please note the opt out deadlines. Meet invitations will be distributed once they have been received from the host teams.
November 17 - 19, 2006 - CMSA Fall Invitational
Location: Mobile, AL
Opt Out Deadline: November1
December 1 - 3, 2006 - NAC Music City Invitational
Location: Nashville, TN
Opt Out Deadline: November 13
December 1 - 3, 2006 - PNY Holiday Invitational
Location: Pensacola, FL
Opt Out Deadline: November 17
January 12 - 14, 2007- GPAC Winter Invitational
Location: Pensacola, FL
Opt Out Deadline: January 2
WHAT IT IS
Parents and swimmers have probably noticed the power point listings posted at the YMCA and on the TNT Web site, but what the heck are power points?
USA Swimming collects every time swum in a sanctioned USA Swimming meet and incorporates them into SWIMS, the national swimming database system. Every performance in the database is then assigned a point value based on an algorithm that is adjusted slightly for each age level. Ideally, a 500 point swim at one age level is equal in quality to a 500 point swim at another age level. This allows a comparison of the quality of performances between age groups, as well as strokes, distances and events.
TNT utilizes this system as a motivational tool by listing each swimmer’s total number of power points at the conclusion of every meet. More importantly, we also list the number of points each swimmer improves at every meet, as well as their power point improvement throughout the course of the season. We post these results at the pool and online so that our swimmers can take pride in being recognized for their efforts by their teammates and parents.
You can view the power point values of every TNT swimmer by visiting the team web site at: http://www.swimtnt.com/Power_Points.html.
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
GREEN IS ALSO A TEAM COLOR
Fundraising is a normal function at most privately funded organizations, and supplements TNT’s comparatively low training fee structure. TNT offers year round and seasonal opportunities for families to meet their fundraising requirements, and applies fifty percent over that amount as a credit to family accounts.
One 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, and on the team’s SES Spring and summer championship tee shirts.
THE GOOD GUYS
TNT thanks those supporters who advertise their business on our web site. Proceeds from advertising sales help us with operational expenses and allows TNT to provide low cost, competitive swimming instruction to children of all ability levels. TNT. Please visit our advertisers online at: http://www.swimtnt.com/advertisers_page.html to learn more about the services that they have to offer.
A-Safe Online Backup Service
Bounds Family YMCA
Cricket Realty and Management
Cotton’s Restaurant
Chris Myers AutoMall
KONE, Inc. Elevators and Escalators
Mary Beth Mantiply, Attorney at Law
Primary Transportation Services, Inc
Sledge’s Custom Building, Inc.
Springdale Travel Agency
Thomas Hospital Infirmary Health System
Threaded Fasteners, Inc.
Waterville USA, Inc.
FEEDBACK
Please direct any questions, comments, or suggestions about the newsletter to Jan Mittemeyer, swimtnt123@aol.com, or 251-599-1019.
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