Shark Attack - Aug./sep. 08

Vallejo Aquatic Club P.O. Box 5846 Vallejo, CA 94591 (707) 553-swim www.vallejoaquatics.org

August/September 2008

Shark Attack The Official Newsletter of the Vallejo Aquatic Club President Dave’s Parting Thoughts

2007 - 2008 VJO Board Dave Henderson, President Debbie Rodinsky, Vice President Angelynne Yee, Treasurer Brenda Craft, Secretary Diane Powell, Membership Debbi Tucker, Officials Debbie Rodinsky, Interim Meet Director Debbie Cameron, Newsletter

Coaches

Hello to all VJO team members. Thanks for your support and efforts during my term of president this last year; it was a privilege and honor to serve. Please support the incoming board. Congratulations to Debbie Rodinsky as president for 2008-2009. On a more serious note, we still have not had anybody step up to volunteer for meet director, nor for

snack bar. Yes, it appears to be a daunting task, but the concept of job share is one way to to keep the team afloat, since meets are a portion of our annual profit to offset our costs. We will train, and support our staff, as we have all been trained, and mentored by current and past team members. The same people cannot continue to do the tasks that need to be shared by fellow

parents. Also, parka orders need to be placed to receive for the winter months, and we will be selling black swim caps with pink lettering to support breast cancer. Thank you all for your hard work - see you on deck. Dave Henderson Past-president, 07-08 P.S. We will be posting sign up sheets for the upcoming November meet.

Rob Moreside, Head Coach Tuffy Williams, Coach (Tuffy’s Group)

NEXT HOME MEET – NOVEMBER 1 & 2

Aaron Jon Toch, Age Group Coach

Coaches give swimmers well deserved target practice Meeting Swimathon target benefits swimmers in more ways than one! What better way to warm up?

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Thoughts from the Deck We have four (4) swim meets coming up before the end of the year. Two of the meets are closed (Vacaville and Napa); Reno is the only meet currently open. PLEASE keep your eyes open for our meet Nov. 1 & 2. Every one should swim in our meet! Be prepared to sign up early - this will close fast and early.

Coach Tuffy First let me congratulate everyone who received an award at our annual award banquet. For those of you who didn’t attend and were acknowledged for an award, your award was placed in your file. If you don’t know why you received the award see me.

Well we are talking swim meets in December (12th-14th) Santa Rosa Neptunes will host an indoor meet. This will be your last chance to qualify for the Zone III Champ (Jan 16th-18th) at USF indoor pool). There are not many meets, have your parents sign you up as soon as the meet is available…sign up fast. The weather will be turning cold as we approach winter. Please wear

phenomenon (Watch online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_Mq icxSo).

Coach Aaron Jon Before last summer’s Far Westerns, I bought a book called “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch, on a whim. I knew I’d need something to read at the meet and had heard about, but not watched, the YouTube lecture that had become an internet

Dr. Pausch was an accomplished professor in the computer science department at Carnegie Mellon. He had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a particularly lethal form of cancer with a median survival time from diagnosis of between 3-6 months. He had decided to give a “last lecture,” which professors in academia traditionally do as they retire to distill lessons they’ve learned over their careers. His would obviously be more meaningful as his intention was to leave behind a capsule for his young children to watch and appreciate as they grew old enough to comprehend what had happened and who their father was. Both the lecture and book (which is a recap of the lecture with more background) are great—insightful, fun,

shoes and socks, warm clothes and something on your head. During your practices do the best you can. Work on perfecting your strokes. Come every day if you can. You can keep yourself warmer in the pool by not standing around or stopping…KEEP MOVING. Final note I will be asking some swimmers to come to practice early 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM to work on their strokes. It will not be for everyone it will be for swimmers that need to get the basic fundamentals down of a particular stroke that need more instruction and practice. If you have a question about this please ask me either at the pool after practice, email me at [email protected] or give me a call @ 642-3008. Tuffy

challenging, and moving. I’d recommend watching and/or reading one or the other. But, as swim coaches often do, there was one quote that stood out in my mind because of its direct relevance to swimming: “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." As we begin a new season, each of us will be facing our own brick walls, some big, some small. Fatigue, pain, injury, doubt, and others will all be there. How we choose to deal with them will determine the amount of success we attain this year. So next time you’re in practice, in the middle of a hard set, remember why that set is there; then, show how badly you want it! Coach Aaron Jon

SHARK PROFILES

Shark Attack

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August/September 2008

Kelley Henderson

Age: 13 Favorite Strokes: Free Style & Backstroke Favorite Meet Events: 50, 100, 200 & 1,000 Free and 200 Back Role Models: Christine Magnuson Future Goals: To go to Yale & make Far Western Times Hobbies: Swimming (of course), badminton & reading Favorite Song: Tainted Love by Soft Cell Favorite TV Show: Gilmore Girls Favorite Movie: Howl’s Moving Castle Favorite Book: City of Bones If Kelley could change one thing, she would change the fact that some children in third world countries, even our own country, don’t have the educational opportunities that she does. She thinks everyone has the right to education. When Kelley grows up, she wants to be an anesthesiologist.

Mary Welton Favorite Strokes: Free Style & Butterfly Favorite Meet Events: 200 Free and 100 IM Role Models: Her Parents Future Goal: To go to college & make the Olympics Hobbies: Swimming & soccer Favorite Song: Beat It by Michael Jackson Favorite Movie: Finding Nemo Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird If Mary could change one thing, it would be: to have world peace

.

When Mary grows up, she wants to be a marine biologist.

Age: 12

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Shark Attack

August/September 2008

Cassidy McGuire

Age: 7.5 Cassidy swims in the summer with the Benicia Sting Rays. She wants to improve her swimming by swimming year round with Vallejo. She likes coming to practice and laughs at her coach’s jokes. Cassidy loves breaststroke and is working on her freestyle and butterfly. Backstroke is her least favorite stroke, but she will do it when encouraged by her coach. She will be swimming in several fall meets. Her coach says to hold her breath* (Free/Fly) and swim FAST. By Coach Tuffy *Don’t worry, Cassidy, Coach Tuffy tells EVERYONE that breathing is overrated!

Dino Putong

Age: 9

This is Dino’s second year of swimming with VJO and he thinks it’s fun. He almost enjoys swimming in the winter. The team is looking forward to Dino helping the 9-10 year boys relay. He is working on his dive and butterfly. His favorite stroke is anything but butterfly. By Coach Tuffy

Vivien Ly

Age: 10 Vivien Ly has just started swimming with VJO. She is very anxious about swimming in a meet (or is it her grandmother than is anxious?). She will attempt her first meet at our pool on November 1st. She has fun swimming and enjoys Tuffy’s humor, most of the time. She likes breaststroke and freestyle. She is learning backstroke and butterfly. She tries hard and works at learning all the strokes. By Coach Tuffy

SHARK PROFILE

Shark Attack

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August/September 2008

Payton Onesti

Age: 10

Payton swam with Tuffy last year in the fall. She loved it so much that she and her sister came back this fall! Loves breaststroke! However, she only tolerates the other 3 strokes. She swam well last summer for the Sting Rays in Benicia (Summer Recreation League). Her only question is “Is Tuffy really older than dirt?” She is going to not only swim the 100 Breast & Free, she is going to attempt a 100 Back, RIGHT PAYTON?? By Coach Tuffy

Welcome (Back) to the Deck New Swimmers Matt Mallari Emily Jewik Alexa Jacobson Emily Casper Vivien Ly Natalie Lisenko Ashley Sotelo Tori Singley Julian Payne Lourdes Sandoval Tim Collins

Jaired Barefield David Larson Kelsey Jacobson Molly Casper Cassidy McGuire Jennessa Pansoy Isabell Angel Jeromy Chang Linda Payne Paulina Sandoval

Returning Swimmers Chazmin Cruz Jessica Larson Camron Jacobson Katie Krider Alyssa Lisenko Amanda Radtke Kalin Nagle Ramiro Mendoza Amalia Keilholtz Logan DeSilva

Kayla Scott Kelsi Norman McKenna Gregory Payton Onesti Bianca Onesti Jacob Bautista Andrew Butler John Butler

Announcement: Back, by popular demand, HOT COCOA NIGHTS Right after Thursday practices, beginning in November Parents, we’ll need your help to keep this running so please pitch in!

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Volunteer Central Parents, as we prepare for our next swim meet, we need volunteers for some key positions so that we can make sure our meet runs like a well-oiled machine. In the spirit of fairness, we would like to spread the workload out as much as possible and are asking parents to volunteer to do something, if at all possible. A sign-up sheet will be available on deck so please, please, please sign up to help out. Like being on deck? We need at least 5 parents to volunteer to be marshals – will train. Like getting a lot of exercise? We need at least 2 runners at all times to transport paperwork between the timers and the computer room and post heat & lane assignments. Like counting money? The snack bar could use a cashier. Like the excitement of the race – maybe head timer would be the job for you. Feel at home in the kitchen – maybe you can help out with hospitality or the snack bar. And, of course, hospitality does need some help feeding the masses…the volunteers for this job just might be the best-loved volunteers out there.

SCRIP – NO COST FUNDRAISING TO AID THE TEAM We have a new batch of scrip cards available for VJO families (and friends). Just use these cards when you check out at local grocery stores and a portion of your purchase gets donated to the team. If you need a new card, or need to change your donation beneficiaries, please let us know. You can email [email protected] and request card(s), or see Diane or Debbie Cameron on deck. If you need help getting this set up or have questions, please see Debbie Cameron on deck or schedule a meeting either by phone at (707)644-5654 or email at [email protected]. Some additional information is noted below: Raleys: go to http://raleys.com and click on “Wellness” then “Quality of Life Card” – at this point you can register your card – don’t forget to register Vallejo Aquatic Club as one of your beneficiaries. Luckys: S.H.A.R.E.S. card (Supporting Humanities, Arts, Recreation, Education & Sports) – no need to register this card; simply use the one provided by the team. Food 4 Less: Fill out the form attached to the card and drop it off at the customer service counter at the store. This card needs to be preloaded and then it can be used like a gift card. Safeway: Get your card directly from a local Safeway grocery store and then go to www.escrip.com to register it. Click on “1-sign up” and don’t forget to include Vallejo Aquatics Club (Group ID # 139414752) as one of your beneficiaries. If you need to renew, just click on “YES RENEW”.