CBAC COACH'S NOTES
Fall 2003

Swimmers Succeed at ASC Meet:
Many CBAC swimmers participated in the first meet of the season at Annapolis Swim Center in mid-October. For some it was the first chance to compete, while the veterans stepped up and had great swims. Coach Chuck was proud of all the swimmers for putting in a great effort. Standouts of the meet were in the 10 & Under Girls group who all took off time in their respective events. Detailed meet results are posted on the CBAC website. Congratulations to all participants!

CBAC Meet Summed Up As Awesome!
Coach Chuck would characterize this meet as one that most coaches could only hope for! CBAC swimmers garnered a total of 23 first places and 233 best times (an 82% best times achieved). Shari Bescanceney shaved a total of 23 seconds off of her 200 backstroke time. The following swimmers each took off 10 seconds or more in one race: Rebecca Blitch, Caitlin Branaman, Mairyn Branaman, Allison Buckley, C.J. Culpepper, Kevin Flood, Shaun Loughran, Emily Morris, Tricia Salta, Jessica Simmons, Colleen & Mike Ursic, and Jackson Webb. Finishing with 7 or more best times were: Caitlyn Branaman, Allison Buckley, Brittany & C.J. Culpepper, Pascal Glavinos, Leah Hartigan, Erica Morris, Keara Schmeiser, Mike Ursic, Victor Traven, and Jackson Webb. Brittany Culpepper earned 6 first places, followed by Eric Skrabacz and Will Richards each getting 5 first places. Eric Pinno and Allison Davis each swam to 3 first places. Coach Chuck and the entire coaching staff were extremely pleased not only with the results, but the spirit and effort displayed in every race.
Thanks to all CBAC volunteers! Successful meets are only possible with your help! Please sign-up to help at all of the CBAC meets. Your efforts are appreciated!

2003 Holiday Meet at Annapolis Swim Center
From Dec. 19-21st ASC will host a "team" meet at the Annapolis Swim Center. CBAC plans to take 50 of our top swimmers. Age groups involved are: 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and Open. Swimmers will compete in a trials and finals format with relays for each age group. If you are invited to compete, please count on being there for the duration of the meet. Coach Chuck will post the names of those invited on the CBAC website after the letters are distributed via swimmers' mailboxes.

Base Access
We are working with Pax River security personnel to alleviate problems with base access. Please be patient as we continue our efforts to maintain a good relationship with the military. We are still under a nationwide alert that requires all military bases to be especially watchful for security breaches. Remember, we are guests using the base facilities.

Exclusive Movie Deal - Social Committee
At the Lexington Park movie theatre CBAC swimmers were treated to an exclusive showing of "The Elf." Team members were provided with free admission and a soft drink. Thanks to Yamille Hewitt for handling the arrangements. CBAC has many activities planned in the coming months. If you are interested in helping or have any ideas or experience in this area, contact Yamille Hewitt at (301) 863-2993.

College-Level Swimming
We will soon host our own "college night" at Nicoletti's Restaurant. All high school students should attend. Financial planning/aid issues and competing in college athletics will be discussed. Check the CBAC website at www.cbacswimming.org for updates.

CBAC at Great Mills Community Pool?
Negotiations are underway with management of the Great Mills Pool that may offer CBAC the opportunity to use the facility. Keep your eyes on the team website. News of practice changes will be posted there first.

CBAC Teammate Pal Program
During the past two weeks Senior and Pre-Senior swimmers have participated in a mentoring program that teaches skills and builds camaraderie. They "coached" new teammate pals in Levels 1-3 for a portion of their practice time. Mentoring offers swimmers in different skill levels a chance to get acquainted, share skills and information about themselves. If your swimmer comes home with a "good luck" token (ex. a rock or ping pong ball), it was given to them by their respective teammate "pal" and should be brought to swim meets for good luck.

The March to Olympic Trials:
Jill Martin, who has a qualifying time for Olympic Trials in the 100 & 200 meter breaststroke events, swam at a long course meet the same weekend that CBAC hosted the meet at Lackey High School. Her times of 1:13 and 2:38 are great swims for this time of year. Other CBAC hopefuls, Eric Skrabacz and Trey Rueffle, competed in the CBAC meet and swam very well. Although tired, both managed to post excellent times for such an early season meet. Eric & Trey are putting a lot of effort into preparing for Olympic trials. Eric, Trey, Jill and Coach Chuck have been given the opportunity to train at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in January. Altitude training is essential in helping the swimmers achieve their Olympic goals.

CBAC Phone Tree & Team Communication
In hopes of keeping information flowing, the team will soon have a phone tree. It will ONLY BE USED IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, but if you should be contacted, please follow through in getting the word out to other CBAC families. Please keep in mind that most CBAC news is posted at www.cbacswimming.org as it continues serving as our first source of information.

Upcoming Meets

More swim meets are coming soon! Coach Chuck will only enter your swimmer(s) if they have signed up via the website. If you do not have access to a computer and it's "deadline time" please call Coach Chuck at (240) 925-4233. Remember: Most days Coach Chuck leaves home at 4:30am and does not return until approximately 9:00pm. Entries are sent via computer from the office at Spring Cove Marina on the night of the deadline. Please remember to sign-up as early as possible for meets!

Florida Trip Update
Twenty-six (26) members of CBAC are headed to Florida on a training trip from Dec. 26-Jan. 4th. Long course, short course and dry land training is scheduled. CBAC swimmers will train alongside Olympians, college students, high schoolers, and other club teams. The trip provides participants a chance to get that edge on the competition slated for Spring 2004. "It will simply be a lot of work," said Coach Chuck. "I believe they are ready for this challenge."
If you have questions or need more information about the trip contact Coach Chuck. For those who have already signed-up a meeting will be held soon to confirm all the details (date & time TBA). All swimmers planning to go MUST have at least one parent attend the meeting.

BABY PHOTOS SOUGHT
We are looking for baby photos of CBAC swimmers to post on the website. A contest to guess the identity is planned. The first person to correctly identify each swimmer will win. Prizes will be awarded. Please give a picture to your coach soon!

Congratulations to Coach Paula and Louie Lehman. They are now the proud parents of a baby girl! Three more and we've got a relay team, Coach Paula…

CBAC Parents' Newsletter

CBAC's First Home Meet is Outstanding!
The comments were unanimous; CBAC's Fall Warm-up Meet at the Lackey High School Pool was a great success! All the swimmers, parents, and coaches I spoke to, from every team, expressed their approval of the facility and the meet. Thanks to all the CBAC families who helped to make the event run so smoothly. We had a terrific team of volunteers as well as an awesome squad of CBAC swimmers! Way to go! Let's also give a special thanks to Sam, Rob, and Eileen in Charles County for all their help during the meet.

New CBAC Officials on Deck
Five CBAC parents attended the Officials Clinic at Spring Cove marina last month. Headed by Randy Morris, Penny Branaman (apprentice) and Nora Burghardt were on deck at the Fall Warm-up Meet, putting their new skills to work. Congrats to Nora who is now a registered Maryland Official for CBAC! In addition, Marty Kitner, Denise Salta, and Sam Kogel attended the clinic. Watch for them on desk at the next meet. Thanks to all the participants for getting involved, and if anyone else is interested in officiating, please give Trevor Richards or Randy Morris a call for more information. Trevor (301) 737-4407 or Randy (301) 872-4266.

Concessions Meeting Scheduled Dec. 1st
Concessions at the Fall Warm-up Meet went very well. Thanks very much to everyone who worked - serving hot dogs and nachos, restocking those coolers, etc. A special thanks to everyone who brought pasta salad! This was the first time we did not run out - and the selections were delicious! Please mark your calendars for the upcoming meeting on Monday, December 1st to discuss concessions for Home Meets #2 & #3. Tess Buckley and I would love to get more people involved in the buying as well as in supervising sessions during the meets. The more people involved, the less work for each person. Please bring your ideas, too - we're always open to suggestions for improvement.

Team Uniforms
The CBAC team apparel has arrived and will be available this week. Please stop by the lounge at Spring Cove Marina to pick up your items. If you did not place an order last month but would still like to do so, please go to www.metroswimshop.com/cbacmd to make your selections. You can access the team portal directly from our CBAC website if you prefer. Also, please note that Metro Swimshop will be adding Aquablades to the available selection, so check it out! You can contact CBAC's Apparel Coordinator, Denise Salta, if you have any questions.

Team Parties!
Wasn't the Team Picnic in October terrific? The food was delicious, the movie was enjoyable, and the company was excellent! Thank you to Yamile Hewitt for making it happen. I'm sure that your swimmers enjoyed Cookie Night on deck last month, too. Yamile has even more planned for the kids, including a team movie and Christmas party! Please contact her if you would like to help. Watch the CBAC website for upcoming party dates.

Team Training Trip to Florida
Coach Chuck reports that we have a large group of swimmers heading to Florida for the training trip after Christmas. The schedule will be full, but no doubt there will be a good time had by all (not to mention some serious training opportunities)! The fundraising yard sales, spearheaded by Yamile and Alan Hewitt helped defray some of the cost. Many thanks to the Hewitts and everyone who donated items and worked the two sales.

Ways and Means - Team Fundraising
Coach Chuck and Bob Buckley are actively working to generate team sponsors from local businesses and corporations. This fundraising will be earmarked for team travel, training, and special team events, as well as for the new CBAC Olympic Fund. If your business or place of employment might be interested in becoming a CBAC sponsor, please contact Bob or Coach Chuck for all the details.

WWW.CBACSWIMMING.ORG
Please remember to check the team website often for all the latest news and information. Linda Davis, our web master, does a fantastic job of keeping us all up to date. Watch for the special practice schedule for Thanksgiving Break, which will be posted soon. Also, don't forget to sign up your swimmers for upcoming swim meets. You can see the meet eligibility requirements, dates, and travel information on the Meet Schedule. In addition, there is a link directly to the meet notice, which has all the details. It's really easy and convenient, so go ahead and sign up! If you have questions about meet entries (escrow) due, please feel free to email me, Liz Richards, at richard@tqci.net Payments can be dropped off in the "Meet Entries" folder in the Spring Cove Marina Lounge, or mailed to me at 46040 Adams Court, Lexington Park, MD 20653.

Editor - Liz Richards