MESA AQUATICS NEWSLETTER – FEBRUARY 2011
Coach’s MEET report
MESA Aquatics has had a busy last couple of months.
We recently competed in three swim meets and
there are still two to go before our Short Course
season is over. First, we attended the Last Ditch for
Winter Junior Olympics in Temecula. This meet saw
numerous best times, including new Blue, Invite, and
JO Times. One swimmer in particular, Brian Trinh,
had a great meet. He dropped in almost all of his
events and picked up several new Summer JO times.
Brian also placed first in the Boys 11-12 50 and 100
Yard Breaststroke.
February 4th-6th, 10 of our MESA swimmers
competed at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach,
CA at the Younger (12-Under) Winter Junior
Olympics. We had several great swims at this meet.
Katelyn Thomas made the Championship Finals,
finishing in the top eight for four of her six events
and qualified for Consolation Finals in the other two.
Katelyn also set new team records in the 100 Yard
Butterfly, 100 Yard Backstroke and 200 Yard
Freestyle. Brittney Miles, who just dropped time in
her 100 Yard Freestyle at the TMEC Last Ditch
Meet, took off almost 3 more seconds, moving her up
over 20 spots to 18th place. James Bilbrey made
Consolation Finals in two of his six events, the 500
Free and 100 Back. Our relays did great as well, with
the 10-Under Girls Relay of Brittney Miles, Katelyn
Thomas, Jordyn Ruppert and Trinity Uhls breaking
the team record in the 200 Yard Medley Relay and
the 11-12 Boys, James Bilbrey, Coleton Brubaker,
Nathan Ketcheside and Brian Trinh breaking the
team record in their 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.
The following weekend, February 11th-13th, we were
back in Long Beach for the Older (13-Up) Winter
Junior Olympic Meet. MESA sent six swimmers to
this meet and once again, we saw many great swims.
Ashley Helbig started the meet off great by
dropping over 30 seconds in her 1000 Yard Freestyle.
She also went out a personal best time by seven
seconds in the first 500 of that race. The 13-14
Girls Relay of Helena Bilbrey, Ashley Helbig, Michelle
Helbig and Brooke Miles broke the team records in
their 200 Yard Freestyle and 200 Medley Relays.
Adrian Gutierrez dropped time in 3 out of his 4
swims, finishing the meet off with over a 6 second
drop in his 200 Yard Butterfly. Doug Quan swam the
last, and possibly the hardest, event of the meet, the
Boys 13-14 1650 Yard Freestyle. Doug attacked the
race from the beginning. He went out a best time in
the 100, 200, 500, and 1000, and dropped 25 seconds
overall. Doug also set the Boys 13-14 team record in
this event.
Entrance to Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier
On February 26th, Southern California Swimming will
host the 2011 SCS All Star Swim Festival Meet at
the East LA College Swim Stadium.
This meet is comprised of swimmers that are
selected based on their performance at the Winter
JO Meets. Those swimmers are then placed into
four different teams that will compete against each
other in a one-day meet. I am proud to announce
that MESA had five swimmers selected for this
meet. They are, Brittney Miles and Katelyn Thomas
10-Under Girls, James Bilbrey and Nathan
Ketcheside 11-12 Boys, and Adrian Gutierrez 13-14
Boys.
This will be an exciting meet with the best swimmers
in Southern California Swimming going head to head.
Please join me in congratulating these swimmers on
their accomplishment.
Coach James
Coach James selected AS
A Coach FOR the
swim festival!!!
Coach James has been selected
to coach the 13-14 Boys and Girls
Red Team at the 2011 SCS All
Star Swim Festival!
This achievement is a
testament to his hard work and commitment to
excellence!
James!!!
~
Congratulations
THE FINISH LINE
APPROACHING…
Coach
IS
MESA Aquatics Arctic
Challenge is quickly coming to a
The
close; February 28th marks the
last day of the challenge
swimmers took up beginning last
November. Swimmers who have
met the challenge will be recognized for their
efforts once the coaches have had a chance to
finalize the data.
U
UPPCCO
OM
MIIN
NG
GE
EV
VE
EN
NT
TS
S
CCAQ March Madness R/W SC Meet
Event Date: March 6, 2011
Location: Centennial High School, Corona,
CA
RAA B/R/W Long Course Season Opener
Event Date: March 18 ~ 20, 2011
Location: Sippy Woodhead Pool, Riverside,
CA
MESA Registration & Payment Deadline:
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
PSP April R/W Short Course Meet
Event Date: April 2, 2011
Location: Palm Springs Swim Center, Palm
Springs, CA
MESA Registration & Payment Deadline:
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Cost: $3.00 per event + $6.00 surcharge
HOT CHOCOLATE STAND
With the ongoing cold weather
we’ve been having, MESA Aquatics
will continue to operate the Hot
Chocolate stand on Friday nights to
offer the swimmers a warm treat
after practice.
Many thanks to the parent
volunteers who have helped run the stand. This
also offers a great way for members to earn
volunteer time…anyone interested in volunteering
can do so by signing up on the weekly volunteer job
listing. Members will receive 1 hour of volunteer
time for their efforts.
HOW MUCH ARE MY MEET
FEES?
Meet fees differ depending on
the type of meet being held;
however, there is an easy way to
check the cost of any meet.
Go to the MESA homepage and
click on the name of the meet, for example:
Jan 15, 2011 - MESA NEW YEAR'S SPLASH R/W SC MEET
This will bring up the “Event” page which provides
all the necessary information pertaining to the
meet to include: the meet registration deadline,
meet fee costs, pool location, and link to the Meet
Information Sheet in PDF format.
All this
information is just a click away…
DID YOU KNOW???
Question: What is the purpose
of Lane Lines?
Answer: Although lane lines are
used to divide swimmers into
different lanes, their main
purpose is to disperse the wave energy created by
a swimmer’s wake. This allows swimmers to swim
their fastest with a minimum of turbulence.