Newsletter_October

TNT Newsletter

The New Team on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay

October 2007

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKS

A warm welcome to new TNT swimmers: Gracie Atkins (level 2), Elizabeth Kolakoski (level 4), Eric Peterson (level 3), and Laurel Pyron (level 2). Congratulations, you are going to have a lot of fun and learn to swim really, really fast.

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER

Happy Birthday to those swimmers from TNT who celebrate birthdays during the month of October: Hunter Arndt, 7 on 10/3; Kyle Simpson, 13 on 10/3; Mykela Lesso, 9 on 10/8; Connor Funke, 8 on 10/8; Patrick Ward, 8 on 10/8; Madeline Ellison, 9 on 10/16; Ashley Szydel, 12 on 10/25; Eva Knapstein, 9 on 10/30. Another year older and another year faster!

TNT SCHOLAR ATHLETE HONOR ROLL

Congratulations to TNT swimmers who achieved 3.0 GPA or better during the first academic marking period. Thank you to parents who submitted names for this listing.

EXTRA SPECIAL

Thank you to those parents who provided extra curricular highlights of TNT swimmer accomplishments outside of the pool. Congratulations to all swimmers mentioned for their achievements outside of the pool.

Adele Mantiply was elected 8th grade Student Council class representative at CKCS. Adele also recently earned a CKCS DWP Award for "Resolving Problems" and also received a Red Ribbon Week Leadership Award. This award recognizes "the excellent example shown in a continual demonstration of commitment to leadership, service, citizenship and a healthy, drug-free lifestyle."

Kaitlin Simison won the Daphne Middle School Sweet Potato Cook Off and won a $25 gift certificate to Wal - Mart. Her recipe was a sweet potato casserole.

Anna Ramsey has qualified to participate in the 28th Annual 7th Grade Talent Search sponsored by the Duke University Talent Identification Program. She also scored Ace's in the Ace Classic Volleyball Tournament hosted by Daphne Middle School and was selected to the 7th grade basketball team.

Savannah Ekelund was selected as a ninth grade piano student of the month by the Baldwin County Music Teachers Association, for the month of September.

Tommy O'Hara plays goalie and forward for the Wave U10 team at Daphne Rec. His team won their second game when Tommy scored the winning goal with less than 2 minutes to play!

Hunter Arndt was one of the children who had the opportunity to paint with Wyland at the US Sports Academy on Sunday, October 8. It was a great experience for him, getting to meet the famous marine life artist and paint with him briefly.

Alex Daly received the Principals pick for the month of October.

Boyd Turnipseed earned his Scout, First Aid and Swimming Badge in Boy Scouts. In addition, Boyd swam the mile at camp this summer to help his troop earn points.

J.D. Powell was a member of the SFMS 1A County cross country championship team. He placed 7th individually, and was part of the SFHS varsity cross country County championship team. J.D. also finished 3rd place in the 2 mile Harvest Fun Run.

Kyle Simpson and J.D. Powell are both currently representing SFHS Toro Swim Team and have both qualified for the high school state meet.

Tyler and J.D. Powell’s 15-and-under Hurricanes soccer team is currently 6-1-1 on the season, out scoring opponents 36 to 20 in 8 games.

Thomas Kinsey came in first place in the Bounds YMCA Harvest 2-mile run, and placed 9th place in the boys division of the Baldwin County Cross Country Meet.

Ashley Kinsey was selected to participate on the S.W.A.T. (Students Working Against Tobacco) team for Christ the King Catholic School.

Hannah Denham won top girl in her 4th grade class Spelling Bee & will go on to the Spelling Bee for the entire school

Eva Knapstein is playing soccer and taking violin. Chase Knapstein is taking dance and made the Rockwell school choir.

Kyle Simpson placed third in the Baldwin County Cattlewomen’s Essay Contest with a humorous celebration of beef. Ryan Simpson participated in the Coastal Cleanup last month, picking up a bunch of stuff, including an air conditioner, out of the bay on the causeway.

Will Anderson came in 2nd place overall in the YMCA Harvest Run and 1st in his age group. He also qualified for the Duke TIP Program.

Gabrielle Horst and Kaitlin Simison play for the undefeated Blast soccer team and are blowing the competition away.

Riley Boles received a perfect attendance award for the first academic marking period.

Preston Parish’s U-5 Fury soccer team is undefeated after five games.

Daniel Doucet is swimming for McGill Toolen has and qualified for State Hight School Meet and Jordan Doucet has qualified for DUKE tip program.

RECORD BREAKERS

Thirty four new TNT records have been set so far during the 2007 - 2008 short course season . Thats a lot of team record pins!

Congratulations to new team record holders.

Daniel Doucet, 13 - 14 boys 100 breast 1:10.43, 200 breast 2:28.50

Savannah Ekelund, 13 - 14 girls 100 breast 1:15.51, 500 free 5:51.79

Lauren Chastang, 8 & under girls 50 back 45.87, 50 fly 46.34, 25 backstroke 19.29

Gracey Kahn, 15 - 16 girls 100 back 1:08.62, 200 back 2:26.46, 100 breast 1:19.49, 200 IM 2:33.56, 200 breast 2:53.29

Thomas Kinsey, 15-16 boys 100 breast 1:17.99, 400 IM 4:59.60

Sarah Meehan, 8 & under girls 200 freestyle 3:15.41, 50 fly 45.52, 50 breast 49.92;

Patrick Parish, 8 & under boys 200 free 3:16.58.

Kyle Simpson, 11 - 12 boys 50 fly 26.11, 50 free 25.22, 200 IM 2:14.21, 200 back 2:12.53, 200 free 1:59.27, 13-14 boys 100 back 59.71, 200 fly 2:14.69, 500 free 5:34.24, 100 fly 58.21, 200 back 2:09.52, 50 free 25.39, 400 IM 4:48.92

8 & under girls 100 free relay 1:18.67 (Eva Knapstein, Annabelle Kahalley, Lauren Chastang, Sarah Meehan)

8 & under girls freestyle relay 1:17.67 (Eva Knapstein, Annabelle Kahalley, Lauren Chastang, Sarah Meehan)

8 & under girls 100 medley relay (Abbey Brunson, Sarah Meehan, Lauren Chastang, Annabelle Kahalley)

13 - 14 girls 200 free relay 1:52.64 (Adele Mantiply, Lauren Kinsey, Savannah Ekelund, Griffin Fisk)

IT’S OFFICIAL

Dave Smith a lead official with Southeastern Swimming will present a clinic for new (8:00 - 10:00 AM) and renewing (8:00 - 9:00 AM) Stroke and Turn Judges this Saturday, October 27 at the Bounds Family YMCA. Dave will also conduct a Starters Clinic from 10:30 AM - 11:30 PM for parents who have at least 1 year of stroke and turn certification.

Becoming a USA Swimming, certified official is important to the success of our program and to the sport of swimming in general, which means that is also important to the success of our swimmers.

TNT will cover the cost of USA Swimming members for any parent who becomes a certified USA Swimming official, as well as the cost of the annual membership renewal for those who work the minimum number of 6 volunteer sessions per year. Volunteering as a USA Swimming meet official also offers tax deductions for expenses or per diem.

You can find a wealth of information about OFFICIATING online on the USA Swimming Web site.

WREATH ORDERS DUE SOON

Holiday Gift wreath orders need to be turned in to Debbie Anderson at the pool on Monday, October 29 from 4:00 - 5:00. All other wreath orders must be e-mailed to her at wande1964@aol.com by Wednesday, October 31st. Money from regular wreath sales is due the week of delivery which is November 27th - December 1st.

TAKE YOUR MARK…BOO!

Super fun practices are planned for level 2 on Tuesday, October 30 and for level 3 on Halloween, Wednesday, October 31. Special activities include pumpkin races, Halloween mask relays, and swimmer goodie bags. You can view photos from previous years at http://www.swimtnt.com/photopagemain.html

SMILE AND SAY, “TNT”

The 2007 – 2008 team photographs will be taken on Thursday, November 15th at the Bounds Family YMCA. Individual photos will be taken beginning at 4:00 PM and the group photo at 5:15 PM. 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.

HERE COME THE HOLIDAYS

TNT’s 4th Annual Christmas Party is scheduled to be held on Sunday, December 9, at Christ the King’s Gymnasium from 5:00 – 8:00 PM. Like last year, we again are planning to hire a DJ for kids who like to dance and will also provide holiday arts and crafts activities for anyone who likes to make Christmas crafts. Swimmers will also receive a coach’s holiday gift. Please set this evening aside for swimmers and family members to join in for a fun holiday get together with TNT.

SES FALL MEETING RE-CAP

Coach Jan attended the Southeastern Swimming Fall Meeting in Gatlinburg, TN the weekend of October 6 & 7. Several key proposals were debated at both the Technical Planning and House of Delegates meetings, resulting in some new LSC technical and legislative changes. The minutes of these meetings can be viewed at online at http://www.seswim.org/contact/news/default.html

Two important items that came out of the meeting: 1) TNT will be hosting the 2008 Southeastern Swimming Fall Meeting and Hall of Fame Weekend. This will be our second time hosting the affair. 2) TNT is also scheduled to host its first swim meet the weekend of April 11 - 13, 2008. This will be a long course meet that we plan to host at the Biloxi Natatorium. Both of these events will be key fundraisers for TNT.

USA SWIMMING’S PARENT TIP OF THE MONTH

One resounding theme coming from kids is that parents increase the fun in swimming by providing unconditional encouragement and support. A physical presence at meets and interest in what the child is doing both go a long way toward enhancing swimming enjoyment. Kids enjoy swimming when they feel their parents support them regardless of the performance outcome. Your main job is to feed, shelter and transport your swimmer while showing love and support

You may be wondering what are some things to say to your child after practice or a meet that show support and interest without pressure? Check out the list of appropriate questions to ask your child on the PARENTS PAGE of USA Swimming’s Web Site.

PAYMENT POLICY

As you may or may not know, Terri Kinsey is a TNT parent volunteer who maintains account balances for our team. She performs this essential task as her way of supporting the program, helping to insure that each family has an accurate monthly assessment of their debits and credits, while also paying team bills, coach’s salaries, taxes, etc.

Families can help Terri in a couple of ways when making payments to TNT. Please do not send payments in cash. Cash does not leave a record of payment, often leads to account balance discrepancies and puts payments at risk if lost or stolen. Families are directed to please make payments to TNT by check or money order, itemizing on the check exactly what the payments are for. Itemizing saves considerable time and confusion when crediting family accounts, and makes life a lot easier for our volunteer bookkeeper.

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. Please visit http://www.swimtnt.com/advertisers_page_06-07.html to learn more about the services our advertisers offer.

Will Anderson

Hunter Arndt

Carly Arnone

Riley Boles

Simon Boles

Megan Bradley

Abbye Brunson

Marlye Brunson

Bailey Byrne

Lauren Chastang

Alex Daly

Hannah Denham