March Newsletter

A note from our Head Coach Hi everyone, February was again a very good month for RST. Our team hosted the Jo Max meet earlier this month and it turned out to be a great success. Special thanks to Brian Pry and Ed Gornay, both in charge of the organizing committee. Thanks to all the volunteers, without your help we could not have held this meet. All this work is done for our swimmers and it was great to see RST swimmers perform so well. Our 8 and under boys broke, no less than two club records in the medley and freestyle relays. Congratulations and keep up the good work!

We had many swimmers representing RST at the first edition of Super JO’s. This meet saw the best age group swimmers in Southern California under the same roof for one week-end competing for various podiums. Many of our swimmers earned trips to the podium at that meet. Special congratulations to Sonia Wang who broke two Southern California records in the butterfly. Kyle Gornay became the first swimmer in RST history to break an individual American record when bettering the 200 freestyle record in the 15-16 age category. It always takes the first one to show the way to the others!

Members of our senior squad took part at the Orlando Grand Prix. It was a very good meet for RST and a great occasion to compete against the very best swimmers in the world. We had to race against , Tyler Clary, and , all gold medalists last summer in London. Our best result was in the men's 4 x 100 freestyle relay where our team finished third. That was our only podium of the week-end. Yulduz Kuchkarova and Joey Hale both made it to the A finals in their best events. The next Grand Prix for us will be in Mesa, Arizona were we are hoping to bring a bigger delegation.

Lots of new changes have been implemented this past month. We are very excited with our new structure and are confident it will be tremendously beneficial to the team. Results at swim meets is not the only indication of how well our team is doing, however, it is one important part of the equation. At the last parents meeting, I mentioned that I would start feeding you with numbers and stats. In the next newsletter, I will make sure I include comprehensive stats that we can all use to challenge ourselves at becoming better.

Thank you all, and GO RST!

Martin Grégoire Head Coach Redlands Swim Team 909-557-3596

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President’s Message Team Administrator

Once again we pulled off another fantastic The new admin hours for March are swim meet. Brian Pry and Eddie Gornay Thursdays at RHS from 5-6. For any team coordinated the effort and they deserve members who did not get their registration many rounds of thanks. All of the parents shirt and cap they can come by at that that volunteered contributed to the success time. of the meet; from admin to hospitality, to timing and running, to kitchen prep, sales, Cindy Barris and cooking, to bathroom detail, to set up and take down and everything in between. It Water Polo takes a village to make it happen (plus Brian and Eddie). The Renegades recently competed in the highly competitive Winterfest Tournament in As everyone is aware by now, the Orange County. This is the largest age composition of our age based groups is group tournament outside of Junior Olympics changing. It’s the end of our short course in the Nation. The 16U Boys Orange team and the perfect time to move swimmers from were particularly successful taking 7th place one group to another. As a Board, we fully out of 32 teams. Also competing were the supported the change The shifts going on 16U Black, 14U Boys , 12U Mixed and the are by design but that doesn’t mean as Renegades Masters (competing in their first parents we were fully prepared for the ever tournament). changes in practice times or pools. Is there something we could have done better to As Spring approaches, please be on the prepare you or your swimmer? Let us know. lookout for upcoming events posted on the Share your concerns and share the RST Meets/Events section. Kids gain the successes. Go RST! most experience from PLAYING GAMES! Also, Splashball will begin in April. We will Cory Longfellow have information out shortly.

Upcoming Events Swim Meets: Mar 1 ~ 3, 2013 - BRW meet @ Palm Springs Mar 2, 2013 - SCS All Star Festival Mar 16, 2013 - RW Short Course @ CROCS

Mar 28, 2013 - Winter Warrior Awards

Water Polo Tournaments: Mar 2, 2013 - Costa Mesa Water Polo 14U Mixed & 10U Mixed Mar 3, 2013 - Costa Mesa Water Polo 12U Boys & 12U Girls Mar 9, 2013 - BOA 12U Mixed Water Polo Tournament Mar 10, 2013 - King High School Winter League Mar 10, 2013 - Laguna Beach 14U Boys Water Polo Tournament Mar 16 ~ 17, 2013 - Turbo OC Cup Mar 23 ~ 24, 2013 - POLO: Nogales Spring Water Polo #1 - 18U/16U Boys/Girls Mar 24, 2013 - Laguna Beach 12U Girls Water Polo Tournament

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8 & Under 9-12 Group

What a great month we have had. We The RST meet was a GREAT way to had so many swimmers who did a great close the short course season. We job during Winter Warriors. Try to keep really enjoyed braving the near freezing up the attendance! I have seen so much temperatures and watching all of you improvement in all of the swimmers who swim so fast. There were lots of have made Winter Warriors and your highlights, including seeing Salma and success at meets is the real award! We Jacob swim in finals, watching many of had so many great swims at the JO MAX our first-timers competing, and of meet. Thank you to all the parents who course, saying farewell to Coach Jamie. helped make the meet such a success. We will miss those of you who are The main Highlights for the 8/Unders moving on to the Senior Bronze Group, were the boys relays smashing the team but we are proud of the work you've records! Congrats Ethan, Rayne, done. The new 9-12 Group has just Fletcher, Gabriel, and Kareem! We are started and we are very excited about so proud of you. We are already the new opportunities it will provide. Be missing the swimmers that have aged up sure to keep your attendance as to the 9-12 division but I have been frequent as possible. We are stronger getting great reports from Coach with you there! Michelle, Coach Anna and Coach Bob! Keep up the great work. Lastly, congrats Sydney and Elijah who were selected to compete at the SCS Coach Kelly, Coach Amanda, and Festival as well as Travis from the 9-10 Coach Ashley Group and Emily from the Senior Gold Group...very cool!

Congratulations to all the RST swimmers who braved the frigid temperatures and became a….. “Winter Warrior”

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When you tell someone you're going to do something, you do it!. By Jackson Leonard

Our swim club learned a lesson last week that is worth sharing.

John is a great 13 year old boy who has recently found enjoyment in chopping wood and hauling water. It took four months, but he is no longer the stereotypical 12 year old boy and is now a real young person who is loving training (vs swimming) and has taken completely to hard work. Occasionally he says something that reminds me he is barely 13, but for the most part, he's becoming a great guy.

Two Fridays ago, we finished practice with 25's underwater dolphin kick with fins. I made a point to say we were going to make all of them NO BREATH. Immediately before we left, John asked if he could go without fins. I hesitated, unsure if he actually could make it the whole way, never mind no breath. I nodded though, and said, "Only if you make ALL of them, underwater, no breath, on interval."

John accepted these conditions. 13 under waters into the set, John realized how tough the set really was and how uncomfortable he was. He asked, "May I put my fins on to finish?" I said, "No. You told me you would finish them without fins. This is a lesson that applies to everything, not just swimming- if you tell someone you are going to do something, you do it. Period. Do you understand?"

He nodded reluctantly and went on his way, uncomfortable for the rest of practice. I went home disheartened and unsure if he had received the message. (He had...)

Rose is a 12 year old girl in the group, who is conscientious, hard working, and good person. She has normal insecurities and concerns about her swimming, but overcomes them most of the time. A week and a half before our Mile Meet, her parents take her to Georgia on a family trip. She doesn't swim while away. Her first practice back, she goes 90x100@1:25 with the group and averages 1:09's (very good for her). Three days later at the Mile Meet, she is nowhere to be found, even though she signed up and told me she was going to be there only days earlier. I went home disappointed she hadn't swam it; it is likely her best event.

Monday, after the Mile Meet, during warm up with everyone at the wall, I quietly asked Rose why she wasn't at the Mile Meet. "Because I didn't think I was ready to swim it," was her reply.

As a coach, a million irate thoughts raced through my head- as if it was up to her to decide if she was ready to race well! Before I could get a word out, thankfully, John cut in and said- quite forcefully- "You said you were going to be there Rose, you should have been. When you tell someone you're going to do something, you do it!" and quickly dipped underwater.

I was momentarily stupefied and just nodded and said, "He's right."

I have been growing more and more worried about how the group will swim at Champs. But if John's reply is any indication of how the group is growing and learning, I'll be okay with anything. As I remind the AG coaches in our weekly meeting (partially to remind myself)- we need to be infinitely more interested in the swimmers as human beings than as athletes.

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March ~ Star Athletes

8 & Under:

Braylynn Moore and Michael McMillian: Braylynn and Michael have done a great

job at practices. They are becoming great leaders for the Bronze group and are

becoming such great listeners. Keep up the good work guys!

9-12: Jacob Keiki: Jacob had a great meet and finaled in his 100 back.

Kenia Garcia: Kenia has been working hard for months and it showed at the RST meet.

Seniors:

Kyle Gornay: It was great to see Kyle brake a national record earlier this month. It is the first but certainly not the last in RST history. Well done Kyle and keep up the good work!

Yulduz Kuchkarova: We did not talk a lot about her so far this year but Yulduz is training consistently well and we can only expect some good results in a near future!

Waterpolo:

Cal Mende: Cal is the goalie for the 16U Orange team and bookended the defense at Winterfest 2013. He posted an outstanding 5.6 Goals Against Average for the tournament. Great job, Cal!

Help Wanted! Interested in fulfilling your RST volunteer hours at home? The team is looking for someone to take over the team Newsletter. Interested parties contact Andrea Benveniste at [email protected].

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Upcoming Events

RAA Pumpkin Splash October 12-14 Pacific Fall Classic Water Polo Tournament October 6-7 2012 Evan Cousineau Cup Water Polo Tournament Friday, September 9, 5 P.M.

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If you have photos of various team events please email to [email protected] in a .jpg format. We would love to include one from each group.