CBAC Newsletter

September 2004
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Season Wrap-Up

The 2004 spring season ended with a respectable eighth place finish at the LSC Championships and a 27th place finish at Sectionals for the men’s team.

Eric Pinno, Eric Skrabacz, and Brittany Culpepper demonstrated standout performances at the LSC championships and each qualified for the MD All-Star Team. Trey Rueffle made the All-Maryland Team.  And yours truly, also made the All-Maryland team as coach.  Many CBAC swimmers closed the gap to making All-Star and All-Maryland Team honors.  You’ll make it—just keep putting in the effort.

CBAC Makes National News

During the filming of the Athens Olympics, NBC showed a bio on Michael Phelps that included shots from the local Baltimore station.  Who should appear with Michael but CBAC’s own Allison Davis and Lisa Gabrelcik in a fantastic photo op!  Thanks to Allison & Lisa for wearing their CBAC team shirts!

Maryland Swimmers Compete in 2004 Athens Olympics

Michael Phelps & Katie Hoff of NBAC represented our nation by swimming in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.  By now you’ve seen the accolades broadcast on television, in print, and online.  It’s so great to see “our” swimmers perform on the biggest stage of all!  Just think, CBAC swimmers have the chance to compete with some of the best in the world.  Congratulations to Michael & Katie!

CBAC Wins State Open Water Championships…Again!

For the 2nd year in a row, CBAC hosted and won the Maryland Open Water Championships at St. Mary’s College of Maryland waterfront.  Coach Chuck and waterfront supporters witnessed valiant efforts by all participants. Your Maryland State Champions include:

1K: Olivia Ray, Keara Schmieser, Tricia Salta, Nora Burghardt, Paschal Glavinos, Jackson Webb

3K: Emily Burghardt, Chuck Burghardt

5K:  John Kitner, Eric Skrabacz

Participants:  Jamie Branaman, Becky Burghardt, Jessica Roberts, Natalie Hewitt, Leah Hartigan, Melissa Boughton, Jennifer Ray, Rachel Bilo, Lindsey Millen, Annie Burghardt, Caitlyn Branaman, Brittany Culpepper, Lisa Errington, Charlotte Cameron, Caitlyn Kogel, C.J. Culpepper, Alex Smith, Jaqueline Kitner, Lisa Gabrelcik, Allison Davis, Laura Suarez-Hewitt, Kim Burghardt, Kathryn Easterling, Michael Ursic, and Trey Rueffle.  CBAC is proud of its history of state champions in open water.  The list keeps on growing!

Open water swimming is a unique challenge and one could say it provides another avenue for swimmers to be successful.  It’s like long course and short course, apples and oranges.  Open water is simply another fruit in the bowl.

Top 16 Nominees from the 2003-2004 Season

“Top 16s” are swimmers who have achieved a time standard that puts them in a league of their own.  This means that nominees are eligible to be among the Top 16 athletes in their age group in the entire country.  Wow—what an achievement!  Congratulations to the following CBAC swimmers who achieved this standard:  Brittany Culpepper, Eric Pinno, Eric Skrabacz, and Will Richards.  Swimmers who came very close:  Melissa Boughton, Davi Clark and John Kitner.

100 Pieces of Pizza!

Members of the CBAC team got together this summer and had their annual “eating” contest.  Trey Rueffle ate 25 pieces of pizza – wow!  Eric Skrabacz downed 20 slices and former CBAC swimmer Sean Cummings managed to eat 12.  On the female side Kelly Skrabacz & Anna Joy each gobbled 8 slices in a tie for first place.  The last eating contest (tacos) was won by former CBAC swimmer and US Coast Guard Academy student, Andy Serb, who ate 14 tacos and topped it off with a choco-taco for dessert!  The participants survived and everyone is ready for the next contest.  How about shrimp?

USA Swimming Fee Increase

USA Swimming has increased its fees by $1 for the 2005 season and will increase by $1 per year for the next several years.  USA Swimming increased its fees to support their efforts to offer more programs such as “Outreach” (including swimmers with disabilities) and research to provide every opportunity available to registered swimmers.  The total cost for USA Swimming membership for 2004-2005 is now $61.

Sunfest Open Water Swim

Sunfest is an event that takes place in Ocean City, Maryland over the weekend of Sept. 25th.  It is a great time to fit in that last trip to the beach with a festive atmosphere.  Coach Chuck recommends swimming in the 1K or FunK for the younger first-timers.  Remember this is swimming in the ocean—sign up as soon as you can by going to the CBAC website and clicking the link to register. 

Stroke Clinic Soon

New Swimmer Assessments

Team Suits & Outfitting

Florida Training Trip – On!

CBAC will take a training trip to the Orlando area again this year just after Christmas time. This is a fantastic opportunity for swimmers to train, have fun, and stay ahead of the game. Tentative dates: December 26-January 02.  More details coming soon. 

 CBAC Welcomes All to Another Exciting Season

This season will be big & exciting for CBAC with 3 meets to host, the Maryland Open Water Championships (June @ St. Mary’s College) and Super Sectionals (long course, July 21-24) in the summer of 2005.  We will need all the help you can provide to make this an awesome year.  Committees and volunteers will be called upon.  Please answer the call to help when you can.  When everyone pitches in we all win.  Together Everyone Achieves More – Go Team!

CBAC Grads

Eric Skrabacz will swim with the UMBC Retrievers, a division I school and member of the American East Conference.  We wish him the best of luck this year!

Your CBAC Coaching Staff

Chuck Jacobs, Cindy Slattery, Porter Chavone, Denise Buckley, Trey Rueffle, Julio Zarate, Gus Federle, Susan Shannon, Chuck Burghardt, Penny Branaman, and 2 more TBA.  Every effort will be made to staff as many coaches at each site as possible.  Coaches may alternate sites to offer their assistance with each CBAC group. 

This season’s calendar will be distributed at time of registration.  For practices times & locations please check the CBAC website: www.cbacswimming.org

TEAM COMMUNICATION

At CBAC our primary means of communication has entered the 21st century—we use our website to convey most team information & news, along with email to communicate.  We hope that you visit the website frequently because schedule changes and updates are posted there first.  Please feel free to contact Coach Chuck with any issues or concerns you may have (240) 725-0034.