Coach's Corner

2/15/08

CONGRATULATIONS to our boys who have been named to the CSCA All-County Team:

Richard Cornelius - 1st Team and County Diver of the Year

Eric Pictor - 1st Team

Owen Sweitzer - 2nd Team

Ryan Sloat - 2nd Team

Mike Klodnicki - 2nd Team

To see the rest of the all-county team, go to www.cobbswimming.com

Awards Banquet:

The swim and dive banquet will be Monday, Feb 25th at 6:30pm at Mazzy's Sports Grill located at 2217 Roswell Rd NE in Marietta.

The booster club will cover the cost for all athletes, but the cost for additional family members is $10 each.

If you haven't done so already, please send your money and RSVP to Mrs Sweitzer as soon as possible.

2/13/08

The state championships went very well - almost everyone had personal best or season best times in their swims - the boys team finished 13th in the state (outof over 160 AAAAA swim teams) - the best finish for Wheeler since 1996...

The Medley Relay finished 14th, the 400 Free Relay finished 11th and the 200 Free Relay finished 8th (barely missing the school record)...Congratulations to our state finalists (Eric, Mike, Owen, Ryan and John) and to everyone else who swam their hearts out in the meet...

The banquet will be on Monday, February 25th...Mrs Sweitzer will be (or probably already has) contacting you with information about the time and location.

Water Polo (for those who are interested) will begin on Tuesday, March 4th...practices will be every Tuesday & Thursday morning from 6:00-7:00am at the central aquatic center...since this is a club and not a varsity sport, we are able to have students at other schools participate...if you know of someone at another school (that doesn't have a water polo club) who would like to participate, have them contact me or bring them to the first practice...

2/4/08

What a great meet...we finished 5th overall and many people had the opportunity to swim in events they aren't normally able to...we even had a couple of people earn a "county time" to allow them to letter this year...

Kudos to our boys 800 Free Relay for winning the event so handily and setting a new meet record...

If you haven't already...you need to remember to bring your pull bouy and turn it in to coach Tavernaro...

STATE TEAM

Diving - Richard will be able to warm up on Thursday morning beginning at 7:30am until the girls' diving starts at 10:00 - at that point he will most probably join the rest of the team at the OK Cafe for lunch until he has to dive (I'm guessing he'll dive around 1:00)...

Swimming - Everyone should sleep in on Thursday...if you'd like to come down to watch Richard warm up you can, but the real excitement won't start until boys diving starts (probably around 1:00 - after lunch)...Everyone should meet at the OK Cafe at 12:00 for lunch - we will all then head back to Westminster to watch diving...Swimming warmups will begin as soon as diving is complete and prelims start at 5:00pm

Friday: We will have a workout from 4:00-5:00 at the CAC for those who qualify for finals.

Saturday: Those who qualify for finals should arrive at Westminster no later than 11:30pm for warmups...Finals begin at 1:00pm...

1/31/08

The last meet of the year (besides the State Championships) - the Pope Relays. I have scheduled the state team for only a couple of events each - I especially wanted to get the seniors into the Senior Relay at the end - for the Senior Relay, you should "dress up" in funny costumes and generally just have fun with it...since we don't have eight seniors (it's an 8X25 relay) some of you will have to swim more than once...

Everyone should plan to arrive at the Central Aquatic Center no later than 2:30...Warmups start at 3:00...the meet starts at 4:30...

I have put the lineup for the Pope Relays below

THERE IS NO DIVING IN THIS MEET

State Team:

Changes to the practice Schedule:

Both these practices are mandatory for all State Team Swimmers

Monday: 4:30-5:30pm (I will hand out the State Team t-shirts)

Tuesday: 6:00-7:00am

We will also have a workout on Friday from 4:00-5:00pm for those swimmers who qualify for finals...

STATE MEET SCHEDULE

Diving - Arrive at 7:30am on Thursday for warmups - girls dive first at 10:00, so diving will start immediately after girls diving (probably around noon)...

Swimming

Thursday: No School - sleep in late and rest for the meet - we will meet at 12:00 at the OK Cafe on Paces Ferry Rd for lunch, then will head over to Westminster afterward. Warmups will begin as soon as diving is complete and prelims start at 5:00pm

Saturday: Those who qualify for finals should arrive at Westminster no later than 11:30pm for warmups...Finals begin at 1:00pm

1/29/08

What a great meet...almost everyone dropped significant time in every event and we had the best finish for Wheeler in the county championships since 1988 - if Eric hadn't cut his fingernails that morning we might have won the 400 Free Relay (yes, it was THAT close folks...good job)...in case you didn't hear the other coaches talking, they were WORRIED about our relays...before the meet, several of them asked me how fast you were going to swim...they were "scouting" you...and since several of you said you have more in you, we're looking even better for the state championships...

In the HOYA Invite, the boys took third place despite only having five guys swimming...the girls placed 8th - again, the best finish in school history in this meet...

The Pope Relays are this weekend...this meet is optional for those qualified for state...if you do not want to swim in this meet or would like to swim only a couple of events, let me know ASAP - I'm submitting the entries Tuesday afternoon...the last event of the meet is the "senior relay"...you are allowed to dress in funky outfits and will swim an 8X25 relay...it's CoEd so all seniors will swim together in this event...

Right before the senior relay is the Coaches Relay...depending on how I feel (i.e. recovery from my surgery) on Saturday, I am planning to swim in this event - Coach Gordon will also be swimming...that alone is worth the price of admission if you ask me...

Practices: we will only practice in the afternoons this week...next week, only the State Team will practice - we will practice Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning...the Tuesday practice will mandatory for ALL state swimmers (including US Swimmers)...I will hand out the State Team t-shirts at this practice...we will also have a short (1 hour) workout on Friday afternoon for those who make finals...nothing heavy, just to work out the tightness from Thursday's competition...

Equipment: Make sure to bring your issued equipment to practice this week...we will be collecting them at the end of practice on Thursday...

Banquet: Mrs Sweitzer is in the process of making arrangements for the awards banquet - it will be Monday, February 25th at 6:30...location TBA at a later date

1/25/08

SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEKEND

County Prelims (Friday PM)

- all events except diving and 500 free

- warmups start at 4:00pm

- meet starts at 6:00pm

County Diving (Saturday AM)

- warmups start at 8:00am

- diving starts at 9:00am

Hoya Invite (Saturday AM)

- Warmups start at 9:00am

- Meet starts at 10:00am

- Diving starts immediately after county diving

County Finals (Saturday PM)

- warmups start at 3:00pm

- meet starts at 5:00pm

- 500 Free will be done as timed finals during finals

1/24/08

Remember, those who are swimming in the county championships should go straight to Mountain View after school on Friday. Warmups are "Open Warmups" beginning at 4:00 and the meet starts at 6:00

CHANGE FOR THE POPE RELAYS:

I had originally planned to give those who are swimming at state the weekend off for the Pope Relays, but several of you have said that you WANT to swim in that meet...so, I will enter everyone in the meet unless you tell me otherwise. If you do not want to swim in the Pope Relays, let me know ASAP...

1/22/08

PRACTICE SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK:

Tuesday: 4:00-5:30pm (Captains Practice)

Wednesday: 4:00-5:30pm

Thursday: 6:00-7:00am (EVERYONE)

There will be no practice on Thursday afternoon.

SENIORS: The Cobb Swim Coaches Association is awarding a $500 scholarship to a senior swimmer or diver this year. You can download an application at the CSCA Website (www.cobbswimming.net) - the application deadline is this Saturday (they can be brought to County or the Hoya Invite)...

I am posting the lineups for both the county meet and Hoya Invitational...unfortunately, because we had so many people qualify for the same events, and we are only allowed four entries per event (and one of each relay) there are a couple of people who qualified for county in an event but won't be able to swim...these people will swim in the Hoya Invite instead...(this will NOT effect lettering)...

This weekend...those who are swimming in the Hoya Invite are not required to attend the county prelims...those who are swimming in the county prelims are not required to attend the Hoya Invite...EVERYONE will attend the county finals to cheer on those who made finals...

This weekend is the last chance to qualify for the state championships...I have to submit our roster on Monday...good luck to everyone!!!

1/18/08

Remember, the bus LEAVES the school at 6:30 on Saturday morning...make sure you are there BEFORE then...

We have the first warmup session, which begins at 9:00...the meet starts at 11:00...

According to the folks who are running the meet, the computer-generated prediction for the meet shows it ending at 8:15...this will put us back at Wheeler between 10:00-10:15pm...we will have everyone call their parents when the bus is about 30 minutes from the school...

Make sure you have money for food...though the boosters will be bringing some food for us, I doubt it will be enough to feed everyone all day long...

1/14/08

This weekend we travel to the University of Georgia for the Clark Oconee Invitational - this is a great meet in a very fast pool...those of you who are close to county or state qualifying times might just be able to drop that extra time in this meet. This will be the last opportunity to qualify for the county championships (which are the following weekend).

The bus will leave Wheeler at 6:30 Saturday morning. Swimmers AND Divers will ride the bus. Warmups will start at 9:00 (for both diving and swimming) and the meet starts at 11:00 (diving and swimming starts at the same time). This is a timed finals meet, but it is still a long one...I'm not sure what time we'll be back, but it's usually well after dark. I will have everyone call home when we are 30 minutes from the school on the way home.

I will post what everyone is scheduled to swim here tonight.

PRACTICE CHANGE:

Due to the college fair at the school Tuesday, there will be no practice Tuesday afternoon - everyone should plan to attend the morning practice instead (not just the boys).

1/10/08

I finally found out how many entries we are allowed for the meet and did the lineup - we were only allowed two entries for each event (except the 50 free, 100 free and 200 Free Relay) so everyone didn't get to swim four events...I did get everyone into at least two events though...below are is the lineup

I will not be able to make it this afternoon...going to practice last night wore me out so much that I slept for the rest of the day and I'm really tired today...Coach Gordon will be going with you to the meet...

1/9/08

For tomorrow's meet at Rome, the bus will be in front of the school immediately after school...make sure you have everything you need for the meet with you at school tomorrow and go straight to the bus at the end of the day...

Booster parents are providing sack dinners to eat on the bus on the way to the meet...

This meet shouldn't take too long...about the same as the meet in Douglasville....we should be back at the school around 10:00pm

1/7/08

For those who had not heard already, I had to miss the meet this weekend because I had to take an unexpected visit to the emergency room to have my gall bladder removed (I had a gall stone the size of a golf ball)...I'm doing much better and hope to be back at school (and practice) on either Tuesday or Wednesday...

Despite that, you all swam a fantastic meet - the coach from Kennesaw Mountain just emailed me the results and we had a lot of REALLY good swims. Several more county qualifying times and three new state qualifying times...the boys brought home the second place trophy and we won the third place overall trophy as well...a good job by everyone...and a special thanks to coach Roberts for filling in at the last minute for the meet...

I have updated the list of qualifiers for both...

I'll post more info on our next meet once I'm feeling a little better and can handle sitting at my computer a bit longer...

SWIMMERS OF THE MEET are Brian Boda, who qualified for the State Championships for the first time in an individual event (the 500 free) and Emily Hays, who qualifyied for the county championships for the first time (in the 100 fly)...

12/20/07

I submitted our entries for the Mustang Invitational today...our entries are posted below. I did my best to put everyone in the event(s) they requested or in events in which they are close to qualifying for county.

At this point, a significant percentage of the team is qualified for the county championships, and I expect to have quite a few more before it's all said and done...

Remember, practices over the break are Wednesday and Thursday both weeks - if you are in town, you must attend practice...when we get back to school, we will only have three weeks before the county championships - we can't afford to miss two weeks of practice...

For those who will be out of town over the break, I am also posting a workout that you can do while you are gone...

12/15/07

What a great meet - though we didn't win out division, we came very close. We had a LOT of best times and county qualifying times - a total of 28 County Qualfying times today.

Remember, next week we will only practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday due to finals. No morning practices next week.

Over the break we will practice on Wednesday and Thursday each week. If you are in town, you must come to practice.

The next meet is the Mustang Invite on Friday, January 4th and then the Cobb Diving Challenge the following day. Let me know ASAP if you are going to be out of town the day of that meet.

12/12/07

Saturday is the biggest meet of the year so far - the Cobb/Gwinnett Challenge at the Cobb Aquatic Center...we will pair up with Sprayberry to take on Central Gwinnett and Peachtree Ridge...we'll have to swim hard - both teams are very good.

Warmups start at 12:00, so everyone needs to be there and ready to get in the water no later than 11:45am.

I've posted the entries below...

Next week, we will practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...no morning practices...and no Thursday practice...

Over the break, we will practice Wednesday and Thursday both weeks...we have a swim meet on the second Friday (1/4/08) and the divers have a diving meet the next day...if you are going to be out of town at all during the break and will miss practice, have a parent send me an email ASAP...

If you are going to be out of town during the meet I need to know this week, before I submit entries...

12/5/07

The great swimming continues. We won last night's meet 153-55 (73-34 for the girls and 80-21 for the boys). We had several more state and county qualifiers and lots of personal bests. At this point, we have 6 girls and 19 boys qualified for the county championships....quite a few more of you are REALLY close...

The next meet will be a BIG one...the Cobb/Gwinnett Challenge...Saturday, December 15th at the Cobb Aquatic Center...we team up with Sprayberry to swim against Peachtree Ridge and North Gwinnett...this meet carries bragging rights between the two top swimming counties in the state...

The meet will begin at 12:00, so everyone should plan to be there no later than 11:45...I will post the lineups sometime next week....

12/3/07

What a great meet. We had a lot of county qualifying times this weekend and several state qualifying times (including the first for the girls team) - many more are in the near future.

Tomorrow's meet is in Douglasville, against Chapel Hill HS. The bus will leave the school immediately after the bell. Be sure to bring your swim bags with you. Mrs Haines will be making a "sack lunch" for you to take on the bus with you. Make sure you thank her (and all your parents) for all the work they do to help out.

Here are the entries for tomorrow:

11/28/07

The permission form for the meet this weekend is due to coach Tavernaro by Thursday - remember, without this form signed by both a parent and athlete you will not be able to attend the meet. If you have lost your form, you can get another one on the downloads page.

Car Assignments for Friday:

Haines: Hena, Kruti, Lacey, Leah, Shelby & Casey

Sweitzer: Owen, Eric Pictor, Steven & Ryan

Guzak: Nick, Taylor, Peter, Julie & Kelsey

O'Connell: Dillon, Chelsea, Eric Patten, Brian Boda, John F.

Rogers: Hank, Vanessa & Ashley

Tannenbaum: Max & Walter

Leinweber: Chris L, Brian Boone & Patrick

Fachinne/Carter: Harrison, Hunter, Alex & Chris H

Prins: Parker, John T & Savannah

Erickson: Blair, Emily, Katherine & Melissa

Directions to McCallie are on the "Meet Schedule" page.

Here is the list of who is scheduled to swim what this weekend:

11/17/07

Wow...what a meet. The best finish in team history. The girls finished in 7th place and the boys finished in 4th place (out of 29 teams). The boys qualified for the state championships in all three relays, plus three individual events. The "big three relays" finished third (medley), second (400 free) and FIRST (200 free). There were also a number of people who cut significant time from their best times.

Swimmers of the Meet this week were Dillon O'Connell and Kelsie Maloney.

Congratulations to everyone. From this meet, you can see how well the rest of the season is going to go for us.

Practice next week will be only Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning - enjoy your Thanksgiving break...BUT, it would be good if you swam on your own over the break...the longer you stay out of the water, the more you will lose performance-wise. I will provide you with a workout to swim over the break if you are able.

11/14/07

The Gold -vs- Blue meet went very well...quite a few swimmers had personal bests..not bad considering we were swimming in the diving well, with very warm water and a turn-end that's only three and a half feet deep...I'm posting the results below.

Our first meet is finally here. Friday night is the time trials - only those who are scheduled to swim need to attend...the following people are scheduled to swim on Friday:

Kelsey Maloney

Nick Guzak

Brian Boda

Eric Pictor

Owen Sweitzer

Mike Klodnicki

John Franklin

Alex Olbrych

Hank Rogers

John Tyson

Walter Kim

Dillon O'Connell

Peter McKenna

Max Tannenbaum

Saturday is the Relays...EVERYONE should plan to be at Mountain View Aquatic Center no later than 6:45am on Saturday...I will also post the lineup for this weekend below.

(the lineup for the each relay may change between now and Saturday - make sure to double check the lineup on Saturday morning for each relay)

11/1/07

There will be practice next week on Monday and Tuesday (including Tuesday morning for the boys team), even though there is no school. We only have two weeks to prepare for the first meet and we need every night of practice we can manage. If you are out of town for the weekend, I'll need a note (or email) from a parent letting me know you'll be out of town.

The first "Captain's Practice" will be Nov 13th. This is the Blue & Gold Meet. I will be announcing captains sometime next week - they will then be given their rosters for the meet to be able to put together their lineup. Next week I will put a form on this website to allow you to provide your "votes" for team captains. I will use these votes to make my decision as to who will be captains for the year.

10/24/07

Tryouts went very well...the roster for those who attended the regular tryouts has been posted. For those who are participating in fall sports and were unable to attend the regular tryout because of practices/games for these sports, there will be an alternate tryout on Tuesday (10/30) and Thursday (11/1) from 6:00-7:00am (BOTH DAYS). The roster will be updated after those tryouts.

The fitting for team suits will be Thursday, October 25th at 3:30 in the cafeteria. bring your order form and check made out to Wheeler Swimming to the fitting.

There will be no practice on Thursday due to the homecoming parade. The next practice will be Monday afternoon.

10/5/07

IMPORTANT CHANGE!!!

Contrary to what we had originally been told by the county, the state has NOT given us permission to hold a week of "in-water conditioning" prior to tryouts. Therefore, the first day we will be in the water will be October 22nd for the first day of tryouts...

Many of the members of the swim team are involved in the Water Polo Club. They will be competing in the Finals of the Championship Tourniment against St Pius X on Tuesday, October 9th at Wesleyan. Some footage from their semi-final game against Pace Academy have been uploaded to YouTube. Here are the links to the footage:

9/24/07

Only a few more weeks until we start. In-water conditioning will start on October 15th (normal "practice" times) and tryouts will begin the following Monday. Remember, I need all your forms AND your completed physical before you are allowed to do anything with the team (this includes conditioning). If you do not have the forms, they are available on the "download" page of this website. If you are not sure whether I have all your forms, stop by the guidance office to see me and I'll let you know.

USS Swimmers are only required to attend the first night of tryouts. All other swimmers must participate in all three days. Divers will have their own tryouts - stay posted for more info on that.

9/7/07

The practice and meet schedules are finalized and posted on the website. We will discuss this further at the organizational meeting on Tuesday.