Important Dates

RSA Cleans Up at Eastern Qualifier

The Raleigh Swimming Association made a large statement at the Eastern Qualifier hosted by RSA North this weekend . The meet was swum at the Goldsboro Family YMCA, which field over 500 athletes from 10 different teams across the Eastern part of the state.

The RSA 8 & Unders started things off with a blast! The 8 & Under girls were led by Victoria Bell. She swam to 6 top three finishes, including a first place finish in the 50 yard butterfly. Jackie Wyche notched two 8th place finishes in the 50 back and 25 yard fly events. Leading the way for the boys was Patrick D'Alessio, who raced to a second place finish in the 25 yard backstroke. David DeJarnette swam to a third place finish in the 25 yard breast, while teammate Sawyer Dove was 4th in the 100 back. Sean Rudio placed 5th in the 50 breaststroke to round out the great finishes for the RSA 8 & Unders. Many 8 & Unders also swam to personal best times. Sommer Barritt chopped off 11 seconds in her 25 backstroke, while Tori Boddie swam to a 1 and a half second time drop in the 50 breast. Cara Chabreck also had some great swims which includes time drops in the 25 breast and 50 free events. Cassidy Holland, Kiko Lamb, and Taylor Villard also finished the meet with best times in multiple events. Trey Lower did an excellent job in his first ever 50 free competition. Finally, all 8 & Under relays that were swum this weekend were won by RSA teams!

The 9-10's continued to put the pressure on in the pool. Ten-year-old girl Hannah Gardner finished with time drops in 7 out of her 8 events swum during the weekend, including a third place swim in the 50 fly. Grace Robinson swam to an "A" time in the 50 yard freestyle, and finished 2nd with an 11 second drop in the 200 yard free. Teammate Gabi Shishkoff, finished 8th in the 100 IM, and 5th in the 50 breast. She cut off two seconds in the 100 IM, and almost 2 in the 50 breaststroke. Several swimmers also swam to some new time standards. In his first year round meet for RSA, Casey Carter achieved two "B" times. He had one in the 100 IM and another in the 50 breast. Kevin Chabreck chopped off over one and a half seconds in the 50 Breast, while teammate Philip Ahlers swam to a 4th place finish in the same event. Caroline Campbell had personal best times in 3 of the 4 events she swam on Saturday, which included a "B" time in the 50 breast. Mona Le swam to her first "BB" time in the 50 backstroke, while nine-year-old Skipper Mahn swam to a "BB" time in the 50 back. Paige Randall also dropped time in 3 out of the 4 events she swam on Saturday afternoon, which includes a 9 second drop in the 100 free. Matt Lower placed 9th in the 200 Free, while also dropping over 2 seconds in the 50 free. Teammate Matt Robertson, finished with time drops in the 100 IM and 100 backstroke events. Toby Rosen also swam to a "B" time 50 freestyle.

The 11-12 year old age group was led Dillon Rudio and Michael Williams. Both of these swimmers qualified in the 50 back and 50 free for the NC Age Group Championships in Charlotte at the end February. Other 11-12 boys with some great swims include: Brad D'Alessio who dropped 4 seconds in the 100 Free. Deniz Gurel swam to personal bests in 3 different events, while teammate Andy Lamb swam to "BB" times in the 50 free, 50 Fly, and 100 IM. Kirsten Esplin paved the way for the 11-12 girls. She finished 1st in the 100 IM, and dropped time in 4 out of her 7 events for the weekend. Eleven-year-old Katie Olson swam to personal best times in 6 out of 8 events. She achieved "BB" time standards in the 50 Fly and 100 backstroke. Heather Robertson chopped off 5 seconds in the 100 IM, while teammate Lexi Mitchell dropped 4 seconds in her 50 free. Julie Wells swam to a 6th place finish and an "A" time in the 100 freestyle. Gizem Imece had several great swims which includes a 3 second drop in the 100 free. Other great swim were turned in by John Clemmer and Stephanie Daussin.

Congratulations to all RSA swimmers who competed this weekend!

Scratch Deadlines Set for Age Group Champs & B/C States
Several Scratch deadlines have been set. The Age Group Champs Meet Scratch deadline is THIS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13th. PLEASE EMAIL Coach Dan or Coach Brian if you have made the qualifing time and will not be attending. B/C swimmers are eligible for the B/C States meet on March 8 & 9. The Scratch Deadline for that meet is Sunday, February 23rd. PLEASE let Coach Brian know by email at bgill@swimrsa.org if you will not be attending the meet or only going for one of the days. The next meet for BB + swimmers will be Tarheel States on 28-30th. A scratch deadline will be posted shortly.

Video Taping: Reschedule THIS THURSDAY FEB 13th (NO PRACTICE)
Once again I apologize for having to cancel our video taping sessions for this past week. The heater for the bubble is now fixed, and we can go back to our normal schedule. Thank you parents for being patient, and flexible with our schedule. I am going to reschedule the taping sessions for those swimmers who have not been taped to THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13th. THERE WILL BE NO PRACTICE FOR Nova, Wahoo, and Dolphin practice groups on Feb. 13th. If you have signed up for a time please come at that time for the 5 minute block so you can be video taped. A new sign-up sheet will be placed out in the Candler lobby. When you come for your 5 minute time block to be taped please come 5 minutes prior to when you signed up. Parents please come with your swimmer(s) ready to help out at the taping session.

WOW! Great job at the qualifier meet. You all really did some of the things we talked about during practice. We are in the Championship portion of our short course season, so continue to come to practice ready to listen, and work hard.

Coach Brian