Newsletter_September

TNT Newsletter

The New Team on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay

September 2007

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKS

A warm welcome to new teammates of TNT: Preston Parish, Camden Prouty, Alisa Sabin, and Abraham Saleeb. You are going to have a lot of fun and learn to swim really, really fast.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Congratulations to TNT Swimmers who celebrate birthdays during the month of September. Haley Miller, 10 on 9/18; Andrew Szydel, 10 on 9/25; Griffin Fisk, 13 on 9/28; Megan Midkiff, 13 on 9/28; Ashley Kinsey, 14 on 9/29. Another year older and another year faster!

COUNTING COACHES

As TNT's number of swimmers has gradually increased, so have the number of coaches working the deck. A warm welcome goes out to Coach Annie Hutson, who worked as an assistant with Rock Creek Swim Team last summer and now is also assisting Coach Mary Hutson with TNT's entry level program in level 1. Coach Mary, who also is the head coach at Rock Creek, begins her third year with TNT and also coaches level 2, 3, and 4.

Coach Ross Moore, who also is the head coach at Lake Forest, begins his second year working with level 2; and Head Coach Jan Mittemeyer, begins his 4th year since founding the program in 2004.

EXTRA SPECIAL

Special thanks to those TNT parents who submitted extra curricular highlights of their swimmers for inclusion in this month’s newsletter.

Ashley Szydel, Ashley Kinsey, Will Anderson, and John Pereira are playing soccer on the Christ the King CYO coed, grade 6 - 8 soccer team. This year they are being coached by TNT mom Mrs. Terri Kinsey.

Andrew and Nico Szydel are playing on the CKCS 2, 3 & 4th grade football team. Both Andrew and Nico are starters on the Defensive Team.

Thomas Kinsey won Top Junior Angler in the Mobile Big Game Fishing Club's Labor Day Tournament for catching an 88.8 lb. tuna. Thomas also runs on the Fairhope High School cross country team and came in 9th overall in the Boys Open Division of the Mobile County Challenge of Champions cross country meet.

J.D. Powell recently placed top 5 in the Foley Cross Country Invitational, co-leading the Spanish Fort MS championship team effort.

Frances Sledge’s artwork won 1st place in her grade for the Daphne Library Art Contest held in the spring; chosen for one of the Christ the King Christmas cards; and was chosen as the cover for her camp’s (Valley View Ranch) newspaper.

Adele Mantiply has joined the CKCS school choir.

Griffin Fisk was chosen to be on the yearbook staff at Daphne Middle School and she also qualified to participate in the 28th annual Seventh Grade Talent Search sponsored by Duke University Talent Identification Program.

Ashley Kinsey was elected Treasurer of the Student Council for Christ the King School.

Anna Ramsey placed third as a "setter" at the Daphne Middle School volleyball team Serv-a-Thon held earlier this month.

Patrick Parish competed August 3-5 in the State Games of America at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He finished 10th place overall, earning a 7th, 8th, (2) 9ths and 15th place in five events. Patrick also began training with the Blast Soccer Club's Developmental Academy in August and was also recently chosen for the Baldwin County Board of Education Gifted Education Program at Fairhope Elementary School.

Preston Parish is a Pre-K student at Fairhope United Methodist Church School. Preston is participating in the Fairhope Youth Soccer League and is a member of the U5 Fury.

Lauren Kinsey visited her sister in California this summer. Highlights of the trip included kayaking on the Russian River with sea lions that surfaced and swam around her; hiking in the Redwood Forest, and visiting several vineyards. Lauren also stayed in the city of San Francisco for a portion of the vacation.

Amanda Rudat was selected for the citizenship club at Rockwell Elementary.

Will Anderson, Ashley Kinsey, Ashley Szydel qualified as members of the Scholars Bowl Team at CKCS.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

Next Saturday, September 22 is TNT's 2nd Annual Family Bowling Tournament, scheduled from 4:00 - 6:00 PM at Strike City Lanes in Bay Minette. Like last year, we will again present awards for age group and over-all high point champions. It's going to be a lot of fun and a great opportunity to get together and get to know each other. Cost is $8.00 per bowler. View photos of last years team bowling tournament at: http://www.swimtnt.com/bowling_night_06.html

GET THE SCOOP

A meeting for parents of new TNT swimmers will be held beginning at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, September 25 at the Bounds Family YMCA. At least one parent of every new TNT swimmer should attend.

The purpose of the meeting is to help parents of new swimmers learn about USA Swimming meets and what you can expect at the GPAC Fall Invitational Meet. This is a good opportunity to meet the head coach and learn about USA Swimming meets in a question and answer forum.

FALL FEAST AND FESTIVITES

TNT’s annual fall picnic will be held Sunday, October 21 from 12:00 – 4:00 PM at Beckwith Camp and Conference Center. Admission to the center is $5.50 per person ages 6 and older; $2.75 for ages 3 – 5 and children under the age 3 are free. Activities include swimming, fishing, hiking, canoeing and kayaking. Families will be asked to bring a dish. You can view pics from last year's team picnic at Blakely State Park at: http://www.swimtnt.com/pics_Fall_picnic_06.html

GREEN IS ALSO A TEAM COLOR

Fundraising is a normal function of most privately funded organizations, and supplements TNT’s comparatively low training fee structure. TNT offers several options for families to meet fundraising requirements and applies a fifty percent credit to family accounts for funds raised beyond the minimum required amount.

Last year’s successful Christmas wreath and online magazine subscription fundraisers will begin in September. Another 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.

Please contact Debbie Anderson for answers to fundraising questions by phone, 990-2640, or email at wande1964@aol.com

UPCOMING 2007 MEETS

The meets listed below are open to all swimmers from TNT except the meet in Nashville which has qualifying time standards. Please note opt out deadlines. Meet notices will be distributed once they have been received by TNT from the host teams. You can find TNT’s meet schedule online at http://www.swimtnt.com/Meet_Schedule_SC_07-08.html

WELCOME TO USA SWIMMING, INC.

As the National Governing Body for the sport, USA Swimming is responsible for the conduct and administration of swimming in the United States. In this capacity, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements the policies and procedures, conducts the national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition.

The national headquarters are located at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Programs and services are provided to the membership through the national headquarters. Among the many services are publications, educational programs, fundraising activities, sports medicine programs, resources and general information about swimming-related activities. The headquarters staff is available to assist you in answering questions or providing general information about USA Swimming.

For USA Swimming mission and vision statements, as well as contact information visit the followig link: http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=21&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

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: http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=6&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US

Topics Include:

Swimming 101: The Basics

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Everything You Wanted to Know About Swim Meets But Were Afraid to Ask.

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Glossary of Swimming Terms

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Basic Rules of the Sport

Role of the Parent

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Parent and Athlete

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Parent and Coach

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Parent and Club

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Growth and Development

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Your Child’s Training

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Health Issues

Nutrition Articles and Resource

LOCAL SWIMMING COMMITTEES

Within the United States, there are fifty-nine (59) Local Swimming Committees (LSCs). Each LSC is responsible for administering USA Swimming activities in a defined geographical area and has its own set of bylaws under which it operates. A House of Delegates with representation of athletes, coaches, members of the Board of Directors and clubs is responsible for managing the business affairs of the LSC. A map of, the LSCs, as well as links to each LSC can be found online on USA Swimming’s web site at: http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=43&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

SOUTHEASTERN SWIMMING, INC.

The Southeastern Swimming (SES) LSC, of which TNT is a club member, administers competitive swimming within the geographic boundaries of Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and Tennessee. TNT’s delegate to the LSC is Jan Mittemeyer, who also serves on two SES committees; Long Range Planning and Hall of Fame.

Due to the vast geographic size of SES, the LSC is divided into four districts, allowing swimmers to attend meets close to home. TNT resides in the SES South District, extending south from Montgomery and east to Panama City, FL and Dothan, AL.

Visit the SES web site for more information about the LSC at: http://www.seswim.org/

THE REALLY BIG PICTURE

USA Swimming collects times swum in all sanctioned meets and includes them in a national times data base. The SWIMS data base is a valuable tool for swimmers, coaches, and parents, as it contains times for every USA registered swimmer, as well as individual rankings as at the LSC, Zone, and National levels. Any swimmer’s times can be found by visiting the USA Swimming web site at: http://www.usaswimming.org/usasweb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=82&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

NATIONAL AGE GROUP TOP 16 TIMES

USA Swimming’s National Age Group Top 16 is an awards program that credits the nation’s fastest age group swimmers. To qualify for this listing, swimmers must first achieve a National Reportable Time (NRT), also known as a “consideration time” which is submitted to USA Swimming’s National Time Tabulator. Consideration times approximate the 25th place time submitted from the previous year. Once the final listing has been tabulated, the top 16 times in each age group event are then listed by USA Swimming and published in Swimming World Magazine.

The age groups used for ranking individual events are 10 & under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18. The age groups for relay events are 10-U, 11-12, 13-14, and 15-18. The time period for each year’s awards is from September 1st of each year, through August 31st of the following. Lists are compiled and checked in the fall and the final list prepared and announced prior to the end of the year.

The program awards consist of certificates which are awarded to the fastest 16 swimmers of each sex in each recognized event in each age group. The awards are made for both short course yard and long course meter events. In addition, the fastest swimmer in each event receives a pin. Awards are also made to relay teams in the same way.

NAG Top 16 can viewed at:: http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=205&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

AGE GROUP TIME STANDARDS

Motivational age group time standards are established by USA Swimming in order to measure age group swimming performance on a national scale. The scale is percentage based according to the NAG Top 16 Times for every swimming event, in the following age groups according to gender: 10 & under, 11 – 12, 13 - 14, 15 – 16, and 17 - 18. Times that fall within 5% of the 10th place time in the nation are AAAA times; times within 10% are AAA, 15% AA, 20% A, 25% BB, and 30% B.

Time standards are mainly used as a motivational tool for swimmers to gauge their improvement based on a national scale. TNT recognizes the improved time standards of our swimmers by listing them in all post meet competition reviews and by awarding specialty, black and gold “Improved Time Standard” ribbons. TNT swimmer time standards can be viewed on the Best Times page located on TNT’s web site at: http://www.swimtnt.com/BEST_TIMES_MAIN.html

Time standards are also utilized by host teams to limit the size of certain meets. For example, because our Local Swimming Committee (LSC) encompasses such a vast geographical area (Alabama, Tennessee, and the Florida Panhandle), the annual Southeastern Championship Meets are generally restricted to A – AA times as qualifying standards in order to regulate the length of meet sessions. Conversely, time standards are also employed at other meets like the South District meet in order to limit entries exclusively to non – Southeastern Championship qualifiers. You can view USA Swimming’s current age group time standards online by visiting: http://www.seswim.org/meets/timestandars.htm

MORE ABOUT TOOLS

Swimming World Magazine has a wealth of information about the sport of competitive swimming and is an entertaining and valuable tool for parents and swimmers. Visit the website for more information: http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/

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.

FEEDBACK

Please direct any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding information contained in this newsletter to TNT Head Coach, Jan Mittemeyer: 251-599-1019 or email swimtnt123@aol.com

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