Important Dates

Finally Back to Normal
Once again thank you for your patience with our team having to move from pool to pool this past week. We tried our best to get the information out as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The damage to the pool was minimul. There are still some trees that need to be cut up with a chain. If there are any parents that have a chain saw adn would be willing to help please let me know. Please do not be alarmed about the line down in our parking lot. It is not a live line, and it is for cable service. Please be careful while walking into the Candler facility. We will have it picked up as soon as Time Warner Cable can get here. It is nice to be on a normal practice schedule again. See you all at Candler!

GREAT JOB AT FALL STATES RSA!

RSA Finishes 3^rd at Fall States
The Raleigh Swimming Association placed 3^rd out of 28 teams at the North Carolina Fall States Meet held at Pullen Aquatic Center Dec. 13-15.  There were several high finishes and personal best times swum at Fall States. The 10 & Unders were led by Torrey Bussey.  She had six top eight finishes, which includes 2^nd place finishes in the 50 and 100 breaststroke events. Hannah Gardner swam to personal best times in the 100 back and 50 fly, while Gabi Shishkoff had best times in all seven events she swam in, which includes a 5 second time  drop in the 100 back.  Ten-year-old Grace Robinson achieved her A time in the 100 freestyle, and dropped over a second in her 50 freestyle.  On the 10 & Under boys side both Matt Lower and Deniz Gurel swam to best times in the 100 backstroke.  The highest finisher for the 10 & Under boys was Josh Salley.  He had an 8^th place finish in the 50 butterfly, and a 2 second time drop in the 100 backstroke.  Nine-year-old Caitlin Kelly swam to a best time in the 50 free, while teammate Nicole Esplin also had some good swims. The 11-12 year old age group was led by Beau Dove.  Dove swam to a 5^th place finish in the 100 fly, a 6^th place finish in the 100 free, and an 8^th place finish in the 50 fly.  Eleven-year-old Dillon Rudio swam to a 6^th place finish in the 50 fly, and also achieved a best time in the 50 free by dropping over a second.  Brittany Crisp dropped almost two seconds in her 50 freestyle, while Julie Wells swam to all personal best times.  Michelle Dettloff swam to a personal best time in the 200 IM, while teammate Tam Le took a second off her 100 IM.  Erin Salley swam to a best time in the 100 fly, while eleven-year-old Michael Williams swam to a personal best in the 50 butterfly.

Personal Best Times & RSA Time Standard Awards for Fall States
Congratulations to the following swimmers for swimming to their personal best time or achieving their new time standard:
Personal Best Times: Torrey Bussey (50 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 IM); Hannah Gardner (100 Back, 100 Fly, 50 Fly, 100 Free); Matt Lower (50 Back); Deniz Gurel (50 Back); Caitlin Kelly (50 Free); Grace Robinson (50 Free, 100 Back, 50 Breast, 100 Free, 50 Fly, 100 IM); Gabi Shishkoff (100 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 100 Breast, 50 Back, 100 IM)
Time Standard Awards:
BB: Caitlin Kelly (50 Free)
A: Grace Robinson (100 Free)
AAA: Torrey Bussey (50 Free, 50 Fly)

RSA Christmas FUN
I hope that every one has a safe, healthy, and joyous Christmas this year. I am planning on having a fun day for the kids on Friday, Dec. 20th. Instead of doing some type of Secret Santa, I thought it would be fun to do a team grab bag. If you are planning on attending practice on Friday, this is what you must do. Please bring one gift of about $5.00 or less. Please wrap the gift and bring it to practice. The more that come to practice on this day the better. It must be a fun gift that either a girl or a boy would like. DO NOT BRING A GIFT THAT IS WORTH MORE THAT $5.00. This can be a lot of fun if you come to practice on this Friday. This is during the normal practice times: Minnows, Novas, & Wahoos (5:00-6:00 PM) Dolphins (6:00-7:00 PM) You have one week to get the gift. Merry Christmas RSA.

Video Taping
The RSA Coaching staff would like to start conducting some video taping over the Christmas break. We will do this on different days, because many people may be going out of town. I will be putting up a sign up sheet in the Candler lobby to sign up for a 5 min. block to be video taped. After all the taping has been conducted, then I will meet individually with the swimmers to talk about there swimming. The dates for this will be announced next week. Please look for the sign up sheet next week on the Minnow, Nova, Wahoo, and Dolphin bulletin board. If any parents are interested in helping out during the taping sessions please let me know by email at bgill@swimrsa.org.

Excellent job at Fall States RSA! KEEP UP THE HARD WORK IN PRACTICE. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Coach Brian