Paseo Aquatics - News & Notes - Week of January 14, 2013

RIO MESA SWIM MEET:

Congrats to all those who competed in last weekend's Rio Mesa JO Qualifier. We had every group level represented-- and came away with winners in several events, including a couple Central California Junior Olympic Qualifiers. Some of the meet highlights:

Teia Salvino - Swimming in here first ever sanctioned meet swam a 22.09 in the 25 Yard Backstroke and earned a highly competitive Blue time. She also swam the 25 Yard Free and made it clear we have a budding star in our midst.

Helena Salvino - Also competed in her first sanctioned meet and won her Heat in the 50 Freestyle.

Kacey Kilby - Dropped 4 seconds in her 25 Yard Breaststroke and another second in her 50 Back.

Colby Morgenstern - Carved 10 seconds in the 50 Freestyle and swam a personal best 42.51 in the 25 Yard Fly.

Chris Verdugo - In his first ever sanctioned meet, took on the challenge of the 500 Freestyle and swam a very strong 7:03.38. He also tackled the 200 and 50 Freestyles, the 100 IM and the 100 Backstroke.

James Cusumano - Represented the Advanced group in stellar fashion with an 8 second drop in the 100 Backstroke, swimming a personal best 1:30.65. He was also thrown into the 500 Freestyle at the last minute and churned out a very respectable 7:22.05. Add in the 200 Free, 50 Free (where he swam another personal best 33.37), the 100 IM and 50 Breast-- and you have an idea as to what his weekend was like.

Laine Matkin - Competed in her first meet as a member of Paseo Aquatics and made us proud with her 100 Backstroke, 50 Free and 50 Breast races. Laine is one of our newest swimmers, who has shown tremendous effort in practice, and from whom we expect big things.

Steffen Land - Continues to amaze with his Butterfly prowess, ripping off a 1:15.54 in the 100 Fly and earning a JO qualifying time for that event. He also swam the 200 IM and 200 Freestyle for the first time and finished with some very strong times.

Andrew Larochelle - Under the weather and alone in the 13-14 Division for the first time, Andrew bravely took on a very strong field in the 500, 100 and 50 Free; the 100 Back, 100 Breast and 200 IM. Andrew definitely earns our "Soldier of the Week" award.

Julia Wolf - Julia swept first place honors in the 500, 200 and 50 Freestyles, swimming a personal best 25.80 in the 50 Free and 5:34.44 in the 500 Free. She also shattered her personal record in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:02.75.    

To all the competing swimmers-- great job! And another fantastic effort by Coaches Mikaela Cowan, Heather Roney and Chris Dahowski for their hard work all weekend.

TEAM MEETING:

The team meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 16 at 4:45PM, either poolside or in the Paseo clubhouse. We will be discussing the next upcoming Swim Clinic (scheduled for Saturday, January 26th), registering those qualifying swimmers for the Central California Junior Olympics, and the Paseo Aquatics Awards Banquet to be held Friday, March 1st.

SOUTHERN CAL JR. OLYMPICS:

Julia Wolf will be representing the Paseo Club at the Southern California Junior Olympics, held this weekend (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) at Golden West College in Huntington Beach. Julia will be competing in the 200, 100 and 50 Freestyle, as well as the 200, 100 and 50 Backstroke races. She will be a favorite to reach the Medal Round in several of the events-- and will have the unique opportunity to swim against the #1 and #4 ranked 12-Under swimmers in the U.S., both of whom train out of Orange County. Wish Julia good luck-- and if any Paseo swim members feel like taking a day to watch the event in Huntington Beach, Julia would certainly welcome the support :)

AWARDS BANQUET:

The Paseo Aquatics Short Course Awards Banquet is scheduled for Friday, March 1st in the Paseo Clubhouse. A formal invitation/announcement will follow, but please mark your calendars for this event. We anticipate a tremendous turnout-- and an evening full of fun and good food.