Chesapeake Bay Aquatic Club
February 11, 2002

Coach's Corner: Head Coach, Chuck Jacobs

Thanks to all who helped make the CBAC Odd-Age Group meet a great success!

CBAC Swimmer Makes National Windsurfing Team
In early February, Farrah Hall (21), a St. Mary's College student and CBAC member, traveled to Miami, Florida to participate in the National Select Wind Surfing Camp. Several participants were chosen for the National Wind Surfing Team. Farrah was chosen for the fourth spot. Farrah trains with the Level 4 CBAC group. She makes every effort to be a positive role model for the kids. "She's an absolute joy to have on the team," said Coach Chuck. Her dedication and hard work has paid off. She is an officer/athlete for the St. Mary's College Wind Surfing Team and still manages to keep a high GPA. We at CBAC are proud of Farrah's accomplishments. Please offer your congratulations the next time you see her.

RAC Meet Results - Records Slashed!
CBAC finished in 10th place at the RAC Classic. "All of our swimmers faired well," said Coach Chuck of his troops. "Breaking team records is a great way to show progress." Those who stepped up this weekend: Will Richards, the 11-12 boys high point winner for his group. Brittany Culpepper was 4th in her age group (9&10 girls). Other records:

9-10 Girls:
Brittany Culpepper 100Bk, 100 Br, 100 IM
Davi Clark 50 & 100 Fly

11-12 Girls:
Lisa Gabrelcik 50 Bk

11-12 Boys:
Will Richards 50 Fly, 100 IM

Home Meet Proves Efforts are Successful
The entire team took a leap forward to the next level by breaking eight more team records! That's 16 records in two weeks! Coach Chuck exclaimed, "I'd have been happy with 4 or 5 records broken, but you have amazed me!" In addition, further implementing the Distance Challenge program, 24 swimmers completed their first-time 500-yard freestyle event. To the delight of the coaches, 23 swimmers finished in under nine minutes. "Seeing the expressions of accomplishment on their faces was exciting because my troops didn't just swim the event, they pushed themselves to do their best," said Coach Chuck. Results below only begin to tell the story. Please check the website for all CBAC results.

1st Place Finishers

Eric Skrabacz - 500Fr, 50 Fr, 200 Br, 200 Fr	(4)
John Kitner- 400 IM, 100 Fr, 100 Bk, 200 Fr	(4)
Natalie Morris-200 IM, 50 Fr, 100 Fr, 100 Fly, 200 Fly	(5)
Allison Davis-50 Fr	(1)
Emily Dobson-200 Bk, 100 Br, 200 Br	(3)
Breanne Summers-200 Bk, 100 Bk	(2)
Will Richards-200 Bk, 200 Fly, 100 Fly	(3)
Chris Rauh-100 Br	(1)
TOTAL ——> 23- 1st Place Finishes
160+ Top 8 Finishes

Records Broken:
Melissa Boughton, 8-U 100 Fr, 100 Bk
Cole Kimble, 8-U 100 Fr, 50 Bk, 100 Fly
Will Richards, 11-12 100 Bk, 200 Bk
Eric Skrabacz, 15-16 200 Bk

Top Boy Swimmers: Eric Skrabacz & John Kitner
Top Girl Swimmers: Natalie Morris & Emily Dobson

MAC Meet - First Place Streak Continues
A crew of 20 CBAC swimmers traveled to Frederick, MD to participate in the Mini Meet Championships. Brittany Culpepper led the girls by swimming to multiple first-place finishes. "She swam wonderfully," said Coach Brooke. Cole Kimble continued his streak of leading the boys to first-places finishes. "Natalie Hewitt & Melissa Boughton just turned it on," said Coach Brooke, who was proud to report that the relay participants also turned in outstanding performances. In her first meet as a 6 & Under, Natalie Hewitt finished first, second, third, fourth, and twice in fifth place-quite an accomplishment for a swimmers' first meet.

1st Place Finishers:
Brittany Culpepper
Natalie Hewitt
Melissa Boughton
Cole Kimble

ASC Meet - CBAC Shows Off in Annapolis
In a tough meet, whose participants last year included Olympian/current world record holder Ed Moses, CBAC swimmers finished trials wondering if they could make it back to finals. The answer was "yes." Eric Skrabacz and Beth Dobson earned high scores. First timers also faired well. Some were able to swim in the bonus heats. Ryan Barber got a 500 ZQ cut in finals at night. Said Coach Chuck, "He just went after it and I'm proud of his efforts! Considering that our youthful team faired so well I believe the future looks bright enough that we could place in the Top 8 next year (including relays). This will always be an important meet for us because it is a barometer to measure where we fit into the rest of the LSC. It is the last "big" meet before we get into ZQ's."

Top 8 Finishers
Eric Skrabacz-1650, 400 IM, 100 Fly, 100 Bk

The team finished 11th overall.

REMINDERS

ONCE AGAIN: SWIMMERS MUST NOT LEAVE SWIM BAGS IN THE LOCKER ROOMS WHILE AT ST. MARY'S COLLEGE POOL. PLEASE BRING ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS OUT TO THE POOL DECK.

**PARENTS**

WHEN ATTENDING SWIM MEETS THAT HAVE TRIALS AND FINALS YOUR SWIMMER IS EXPECTED TO RETURN AFTER TRIALS TO COMPETE IN THE FINALS. WHY? THE TEAM SCORES POINTS THAT HELP DETERMINE THE TEAM STANDINGS AT THE MEET. You are not allowed to scratch your swimmer. If you have to leave the meet due to special circumstances please discuss it with the coach. Some meets impose scratch fees (i.e. if your swimmer forgets to let you know they've qualified for finals and you don't come back after trials-failure to "scratch", a fee of $50-$100 may be imposed. Paying the fee will be your responsibility, not the team's. In preparation for meets, coaches instruct swimmers to make sure all homework is done ahead of time. If homework is not completed prior to the meet, there's often a 4-hour break between trials and finals that provides an opportunity to finish homework assignments and rest between swims. Please remember that your swimmers need the opportunity to compete twice. That is how all "big" meets are conducted.

Please remember that all information and results can be found at cbacswimming.org
The website is updated frequently (Thanks, Linda D.)

CBAC News to Note:

Winter Session - Welcome to all the new swimmers who joined CBAC for the Winter Session. The session began on Monday, January 14th and will end on May 31, 2002. Payments for the session were due by January 18th, so if you have not already done so, please drop your check in Patti Lindblad's folder as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please call or email Coach Chuck or Patti.

Winter Wake-up Meet a Big Success! - Thanks so much to all of you who volunteered at our January Home Meet - the Computer Table workers, Concessions workers, Timers, Officials, Runners and Ribbons workers - you made it another great event! It was wonderful to have so many people involved in making our meet successful. A special thanks to the Set-up and Clean-up Crews, to J.R. Brown for all his efforts in organizing the buying and inventory maintenance for Concessions and to all of the families donating bagels, pasta salad, veggies and chili.

Our next, and last, home meet this season will be the Jr. All Star Meet on March 1st through March 3rd. Volunteer Sign-up sheets will be posted mid-month! Please see Meet Director Mardy Millen, Head Timer Marty Kitner, Assistant Meet Directors Jenny Culpepper and Tracey Summers, Concessions Organizers Joan Bauk, Liz Richards and Patti Lindblad if you have any questions about participating.

Community Service - Remember….any swimmer aged 12 or over who will not be participating in the Jr. All Star Meet will be expected to volunteer on deck or in concessions. The CBAC Board Members can sign your Community Service Folder to confirm your participation. Please help out your team while serving the community at the same time!

Officiating - Please contact Randy Morris or Trevor Richards if you are interested in becoming a Maryland Swimming Official. It is very important that CBAC have a number of Officials among team parents to enable us to continue to host our Home Meet Fundraisers. We can't (and shouldn't) always depend on volunteers from other teams to help officiate at our meets. Prior knowledge of the technical rules of swimming is not necessary as everything is covered during the class and reinforced while you apprentice. Please call or email Randy, Trevor, or Carol Serb if you have questions about officiating and what it entails. Your kids will thank you!

Board Meeting - The Next Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 12th at 6:00 p.m. at the Pool. We will be finalizing plans for the Home Meet as well as discussing current topics.

Don't forget to check out the Team Bulletin Board and Website (cbacswimming.org) for all the latest news!

CALENDAR

February 16-17, 2002 - All Star Qualifying Meet, GBSA, time standards-faster than "B" times and slower than All Star Qualifying Times, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, Open Age Groups.

February 23-24, 2002 - "B" & Under and Mini Meet, CAA, Age Groups - 7&U, 8&U, and 9, no time standards for 7&U (25's), no time standards for 8&U (50's & 100's), slower than "BB" time standards for 9's.

March 1-3, 2002 - CBAC Jr. All Star Meet, Home Meet, Age Groups - 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 & Over. Time Standards slower than All Star Qualifying Times.

March 8-11, 2002 - MD ALL STAR (ZONE SELECTION) MEET. Time Standards have been set and are posted on CBAC's Team Bulletin Board and are also available on the Maryland Swimming Web Site.

PARENT'S NEWS:
By Liz Richards
Is My Swimmer Ready for Competition?

As a parent of a young athlete, we face many decisions in trying to do what is best for our child's development as both an athlete and a person. One question that arises is when should our kids begin competing in organized swim meets? Reading on the subject suggests, as with most things, there is no easy answer.

Children develop a need for social comparison beginning around 5 to 6 years of age. However, it is only at about 11-12 year of age that children possess the social cognitive abilities to understand and experience the "adult" competitive process. That is, prior to this age, young athletes cannot easily distinguish between effort and ability to explain successes and failures. For example, it may be difficult for a young swimmer to find satisfaction in self-improvement when this does not result in earning the "reward" (a ribbon for a top finish).

For young swimmers, it is important to structure competitions to take into account their level of development. Relay participation, in practice or swim meet settings, is a great opportunity for kids to experience the fun in competitive swimming. Single age events, mini meets (for young swimmers only), heat winner awards and achievement awards (completing your first distance event, for example) all go a long way in helping younger athletes benefit from competitive situations without all the emphasis being placed on performance and outcome. (Source: "Sport Science Summit Report", USA Swimming, 1998.)

CBAC Team Objectives are outlined in the Team Handbook and can be helpful to parents evaluating their swimmer's development. Specifically, our coaching staff works to instill in our swimmers the love of sport, to build self-esteem, to learn the value of hard work, and the importance of good sportsmanship. The Team Handbook explains the different levels from Pre-team to Level 6, as they are based on age and ability. Level 2 swimmers (ages 5 to 12) are encouraged but not required to participate in competitions. For Level 3 swimmers (ages 9 - 12), competition is highly recommended because it enables them to "see the results" of their training and stroke development. Level 4 swimmers (ages 12 to 15) are expected to compete approximately once per month, or as recommended by their coach.

Maryland Swimming and USA Swimming offer competitive swim meets at many different levels - mini meets, single age-group meets, "B" and under meets, and "A" and above meets. These formats allow young athletes to compete in an environment consistent with their skill level and provide opportunities for success for each swimmer. If you have any questions about your swimmer's development or whether or not he or she is ready to compete, please speak to the coach.