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National Development Group

Provincial 1 Group

November 2007

The whirlwind month of November is slowly coming to an end, and now that we have a few moments to ourselves, it's nice to look back and reflect on some of the highlights that stood out during this very busy and exciting month for both the National Development and Provincial 1 groups.

On October 30 our groups celebrated Halloween with the National group at Douglas Snow, where for the second straight year Coach John was able to put all of his inadequacies aside for one night and wear his very classy monster mask, along with Coach Murray treating us to a somewhat extended scary story over at the graveyard.

Harvest/Autumn Invitational

Our first big meet of the season took place on November 2-4 at Etobicoke for the Harvest/Autumn Invitational where our 13 and overs showed some great swimming. Here are some of the highlights…

Caitlin Hodge - provincials in the 800 free (9:54) for 13 year old girls
Casey Gallagher - provincials in the 200 breast (2:51) for 13 year old girls
Roland Drews - provincials in the 200 breast (2:44) for 15 year old boys
Tessa Henley - 4:58 for the 400 free - first time under 5:00, along with two
outstanding swims in the 200 fly and 400 IM
Radu Vezeanu - 1:07 for the 100 fly - first time under 1:10
Will Lim - 0:57 for the 100 fly - first time under 0:58
Matthew Gamelo - 2 second drop for his 100 free (1:03)
Yaakov Oumanski - best time in the 200 free (2:17)
Kelvin Lui - best time in the 200 breast (2:48)
Arthur Macioszek - best time in the 200 IM (2:34)
Ozgu Topuz - best time in the 800 free (10:28)
Tabasom Shirbani - best time in the 800 free (10:25)
Jacki Kicksee - best time in the 200 back (2:39)
Sarah Spitz - best time in the 100 free (1:07)
Evelin Kovacs - best time in the 200 back (2:55)
Kammi Mukherjee - best time in the 200 back (3:05)
Vinny D. - best time in the 100 free (1:09)
Patrick Malihan - best times in the 100 and 200 back along with the 100, 200, 400 and 800 free
Ronald Lam - best times in both the 200 IM and 800 free
Ariella Daniels - best times in both the 200 and 800 free
Alexandra Ruivo - best times in both the 100 and 200 breast

Swim International at Brantford

The following weekend saw our 12 and unders competing at the Swim International at Brantford. Here are some of the standout performances…

Tyler Tong-McDermot - club record for the boys 10 and under 100 breast (1:29) along with first place finishes in the 200 IM, 200 breast and 200 free among the 10 and under boys
Alex Mierzynski - age group national qualifier for 13 year old boys in the 200
back (2:32), along with second place finishes in the 100 and 200 free among the 12 year old boys
Nathaniel Hu - provincial qualifier for 12 year old boys 100 and 200 free,
along with the 100 and 200 fly
Alex Hamilton - provincial qualifier for 12 year old boys for both 200 back and fly
Connie Yang- provincial qualifier for 12 year old girls 100 free, 100 fly and 200 fly
Maggie Runnalls - central region qualifier for 12 year old girls 200 back
Katie Parent - central region qualifier for 12 year old girls 200 breast
Jeffrey Turnock - best times in 200 free, 200 back, 200 breast, 200 IM along with an outstanding relay split of 0:39 for the 50 breast in the boys 11/12 medley relay
Clement Cheng - best times in the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 free
Katie Martin - best time in the 100 back
Melanie Gavan - best times in the 100 and 200 free, along with the 200 back
Lev Oumanski - best times in the 50,100 and 200 free along with 200 IM
2nd place finish for both 11/12 year old boys free and IM relays

Swim Canada timed 5000

On November 15 some members of both groups participated in the Swim Canada timed 5000. We had some very encouraging results. Here they are…

Jacki - 1:12
Patrick - 1:13
Yaakov - 1:08
Kelvin - 1:11
Connie - 1:10
Ozgu - 1:13
Katie - 1:08
Alex Hamilton - 1:14
Tabby - 1:13
Radu - 1:15
Tessa - 1:10
Alex Mierzynski - 1:10
Caitlin - 1:09
Nathaniel - 1:09
Jeffrey - 1:15
Melanie - 1:14
Clement - 1:14
Casey - 1:16

Fun at the Nascar Park

On November 18 both groups had a fun outing to the Nascar Park at Vaughan Mills which provided some great team bonding and also showed that our competitive nature carries over into autoracing (some of us who shall remain nameless are still trying to heal our whiplash wounds).

Bell Grand Prix Youth swim clinic

Alex Mierzynski, Nathaniel Hu, Connie Yang and Alex Hamilton were selected to participate in the Bell Grand Prix youth swim clinic on November 24 at Etobicoke. Fun was had by all where we all learned a lot from some top Ontario Coaches and National Level Swimmers, and had the opportunity to interact with swimmers from all across the province (even Coach John learned that he crosses his arms too much during workout and needs to relax - haha).

As you can see both groups have been very busy over the past month. We now have Youth Cup and Mega City to look forward to in two weeks along with the Oakville distance meet in three weeks.

Many thanks as always to Olga in the office, Steve and Sabrina for all there work with both groups during the week, William for all his help with our webpage and write-ups and both our pool reps Teresa and Kathleen.

Here are the swimmers of the month for both groups. Congratulations!!!!

National Development - Female:


Caitlin Hodge

-perfect attendance over the past month
-new provincial qualifier in the girls 13 year old 800 free

Off Deck with Caitlin Hodge:

1) If you could choose a living celebrity for the movie of your life, who would you want to portray you?
Paris Hilton - then I would go to see the movie just to laugh at her!!!

2) If you could be a contestant on any game show, which would you like to be on?
Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

3) If you could choose one musical group to play for you at your next birthday party, which group would you choose?
Billy Talent

4) If you had to choose only one specific food to eat for the rest of your life, without any negative effects, what would you choose?
Bread

5) If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
A shark

6) If you could be any sports figure alive, who would you want to be?
Maurice Richard

7) If you could possess one supernatural ability, what would it be?
Having a motor on my feet

Rapid Fire…

8) Ipod versus Cell phone….Ipod
9) Tim Hortons versus Starbucks…Starbucks
10) Early Morning Practice versus Homework….Early morning practice
11) Cats versus Dogs….i don't know they are both fluffy

12) If you could plan one perfect day describe 3 things would you would do?
Swim, eat and sleep

13) If you could be granted one miracle-what would it be?
Be faster in the pool

14) In 30 years I will be… on a beach enjoying my vacation

15) The most relaxing time for me is… 5 minutes before I have to get up

National Development - Male:


Alex Hamilton

-perfect attendance over the past month
-new provincial qualifier for 12 year old boys in the 200 back and 200 fly

Off Deck with Alex "Frosty" Hamilton:

1) If you could choose a living celebrity for the movie of your life, who would you want to portray you?
Eddie Murphy

2) If you could be a contestant on any game show, which would you like to be on?
Jeopardy

3) If you could choose one musical group to play for you at your next birthday party, which group would you choose?
Linkin Park

4) If you had to choose only one specific food to eat for the rest of your life, without any negative effects, what would you choose?
Mac n' cheese

5) If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
A penguin

6) If you could possess one supernatural ability, what would it be?
To be able to go through walls

7) If you were stranded on a desert island and could have with you only one object you currently own, what would you take?
My cellphone

Rapid Fire…

8) Ipod versus Cell phone…Ipod
9) Tim Hortons versus Starbucks…Tim Hortons
10) Early Morning Practice versus Homework…Homework
11) Stephen Harper versus Murray Drudge…Murray Drudge
12) Cats versus Dogs… Dogs

13) What 3 words would your closest friend use to describe you?
Friendly, athletic and a good leader

14) If you could plan one perfect day describe 3 things would you would do? Go skydiving, travel to Mexico and go scuba diving

15) The most relaxing time for me is…. On Sundays

Provincial 1 - Female:


Maggie Runnalls

-perfect attendance over the month of November
-new Central Region qualifier in the 200 back at Brantford
-is still hoping that Coach John falls in the water while pushing the bulkhead on Tuesday and Thursday night workouts

Off Deck with Maggie "Polar Bear" Runnalls:

1) If you could choose a living celebrity for the movie of your life, who would you want to portray you?
Vanessa Hudgens

2) If you could be a contestant on any game show, which would you like to be on?
Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

3) If you could choose one musical group to play for you at your next birthday party, which group would you choose?
Sum 41

4) If you had to choose only one specific food to eat for the rest of your life, without any negative effects, what would you choose?
Pasta

5) If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
A dog (specifically a Chihuahua)

6) If you could possess one supernatural ability, what would it be?
To be extremely elastic

7) If you were stranded on a desert island and could have with you only one object you currently own, what would you take?
My cellphone

Rapid Fire…

8) Ipod versus Cell phone…cellphone
9) Tim Hortons versus Starbucks….starbucks
10) Early Morning Practice versus Homework…early morning workout
11) Stephen Harper versus Murray Drudge…Murray Drudge
12) Cats versus Dogs… Dogs

13) What 3 words would your closest friend use to describe you?
Weird, funny and sporty

14) If you could plan one perfect day describe 3 things would you would do? Win the lottery, become a celebrity and buy lots of shoes

15)The most relaxing time for me is…. At home reading

Provincial 1 - Male:

Jeffrey Turnock

-100% best times at Brantford
-always committed to detail at workouts and meets
-constant intensity in practice
-was instrumental in helping Coach John remember his lines in the making of "SIB-agent J"

Off Deck with Jeffrey Turnock:

1) If you could be a contestant on any game show, which would you like to be on?
Uh-Oh

2) If you could choose one musical group to play for you at your next birthday party, which group would you choose?
Greenday

3) If you had to choose only one specific food to eat for the rest of your life, without any negative effects, what would you choose?
Pasta

4) If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
A monkey

5) If you could be any sports figure alive, who would you want to be?
Michael Phelps

6) If you could possess one supernatural ability, what would it be?
Hypnosis

Rapid Fire…

7) Ipod versus Cell phone…Ipod
8) Tim Hortons versus Starbucks…Tim Hortons
9) Early Morning Practice versus Homework…Homework
10) Stephen Harper versus Murray Drudge….Murray Drudge
11) Cats versus Dogs… Cats

12) What 3 words would your closest friend use to describe you?
Fast, smart, kind

13) If you could be granted one miracle-what would it be?
Eternal youth

14) In 30 years I will be:
An engineer (I think)

15) The most relaxing time for me is… sleeping

Talk to you soon,

John