The Retriever Aquatic Club believes that COURAGE and PERSEVERANCE developed by swimming will prepare the individual for the challenges they undoubtedly will face in life. RETRIEVER PRIDE IS... Success from our Age Group Swimming program to College Swimming.

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Congratulations to all of our state swimmers. It was a great meet with fast swimming for our program. It was also great to see so many smiles and positive attitudes on the pool deck.

We would like to congratulate all of our state champions for 2010:

• Ariana Bernstein in the 100 and 200 back
• Colin Stang in the 100 and 200 Breast
• Angela Zhu in the 50 fly, 100 Fly, 50 back, 100 back, 50 free and the 100 IM

Thank you to all of our parents who helped with the meet. You all make our program look great!!!

Good luck to all of our swimmers swimming over the next few weeks at the Junior Champs, the 10 and under Champs and the Speedo Champions Series (Sectionals).

• Announcer - Thursday Finals - report to announcer table at 4:30 p.m.
• Awards - report to Jennifer Frediani or Lori James
  • Friday Finals - 1 volunteer
  • Saturday Finals - 1 volunteer
  • Sunday Finals - 1 volunteer
• Timers
  • Friday Prelims - 2 timers Lane 4 -- report at 7:45 a.m.
  • Friday Prelims - 1 or 2 relief timers
  • Friday Finals - 2 timers Lane 4 -- report at 5:00 p.m.
  • Friday Finals - 1 or 2 relief timers
  • Saturday Prelims - 2 timers Lane 4 -- report at 7:45 a.m.
  • Saturday Prelims - 1 or 2 relief timers
  • Saturday Finals - 2 timers Lane 4 -- report at 5:00 p.m.
  • Saturday Finals - 1 or 2 relief timers
  • Sunday Prelims - 2 timers Lane 4 -- report at 7:45 a.m.
  • Sunday Prelims - 1 or 2 relief timers
  • Sunday Finals - 2 timers Lane 4 -- report at 5:00 p.m.
  • Sunday Finals - 1 or 2 relief timers

We have looked at everyones spring break this year and it turns out that every county except Howard county has the same spring break. Do to this and the fact that it is better for our athletes to not take a full week off we will take two long weekends as we have in the past.

This years break will be: April 1-4, 2010 and April 8-11, 2010

Surprise, Surprise UMBC is closed. We will be making the following changes to the day:

Senior Gold 1:45-4:00pm
Senior Red 3:45-6:00pm

Due to inclement weather and the closing of the CCBC-Catonsville campus on Friday, February 12th, the Friday night session of the GBSA Last Chance Qualifier meet will now be held on the evening of Saturday, February 13th at the conclusion of the Saturday afternoon session. Warmups for the Saturday evening session begin at 4:35pm and the meet will start at 5:30pm

At this time it looks like UMBC might run on a regular schedule tomorrow...So guess what so will we. Friday all practice will run as scheduled. We will be tight but we would like all Age group Gold swimmers to come at 3:45 -6:00pm too. Saturday practice will run as scheduled please check schedule on practices page of racswim.org. Sunday all senior swimmers not in the GBSA meet will have practice 4:00-6:00pm. Monday is a regular day for UMBC and all practice will run as scheduled.

UMBC is closed tomorrow as well. If you come to UMBC for practice you will be coming at your own risk. Please be careful as sidewalks do have some ice on them.

All senior groups will swim 9:00-11:00am. Age Group Gold, Red and Yellow will swim 11:00-12:30pm.

Seeing that most of us can not get out of our driveways we will not run any practices today (Sunday)!!

At this time Senior practice for Sunday has been postponed. We hope to have it later in the day. Please check tomorrow for updates.

This is the e-mail that you all have been waiting for.
UMBC is now closing at 1:00pm. We have made the decision to cancel all practices TODAY Friday Feb 5, 2010 and TOMORROW Saturday Feb 6, 2010.
SENIORS there will be a practice for all seniors Sunday Feb. 7, 2010 11:30-1:30pm.
REMINDER the ASC meet is Cancelled
Be Smart and have fun...

Please note the following changes to Saturday AM practice.
Saturday January 9, 2010
MSC Meet
UMBC vs Drexel and Howard 1pm HOME
SR Gold 6:30-9:00am
SR Yellow 6:30-8:30am
SR Red 6:30-8:30 am
AG Gold 9:00-11:00am
AG Yellow 9:00-10:30am
AG Red 9:00-10:30am
AG white A 9:00-10:00am
AG White B 8:00-9:00am

***The party will be on as planned...Please read below:
***We will also run an adittional workout for AGe Group Yellow this Tuedsay from 5:45-7:30pm. Due to the snow day and missing practice all week.

We are pleased to announce our annual holiday party will be on Monday, December 21, 2009 at 6:00pm. It will end at 7:15pm. Practices will be as follows:

• Senior Yellow and gold practices will run as scheduled but will end at 5:45pm
• All other swimmers will be off...Please be at the pool at 6:00pm for the party.
• There will be open swim but it will end at 7:15pm
• We ask each family to bring the following:
  • Last names ending in A-H Drinks
  • Last names ending in I-P Side
  • Last names ending in Q-Z Dessert

Due to the weather updates we will be making the following changes and cancellations to practice for Saturday December 19, 2009.

All Senior Groups will run from 8:00-10:00am This will allow for us to make a decsion in the morning. A decsion as to if practice will run will be made at or before 7:00am. A e-mail will be sent out and it will also be on my voice mail 410-455-2670.

ALL AGE GROUP PRACTICES WILL BE CANCELLED.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:
After speaking with the McDaniel College physical plant, we have come to the following adjustments to the Winter Frolics Meet.

• Friday night events will run as scheduled.
• Saturday's events (both am and pm) will be postponed until Sunday, December 27th.
• Sunday's events will run, with the am session warm-ups beginning at 11:00am.
  Relays will not be swum in the am session.
  am events: 11:00a warm-up/12:00p meet start
  pm events: 4:00p warm-up/5:00p meet start
  In the case there are any questions on Sunday morning regarding the meet, I will leave a message on my office phone by 8:00am.
• Saturday's events will be moved to Sunday, December 27, at the previously scheduled times.

I apologize for any inconvenience these changes may cause, but with the impending snow storm this is the best route for us to take.

Please pass this along to your swimmers. A message will be left on my office phone, 410-386-4616 for anyone who calls.

The Retriever Aquatic Club is pleased to announce that we have completed the requirements to take the step from level one to level two in the Club Recognition Program offered by USA swimming. More information about Club Recognition can be found on usaswimming.org.

The holiday schedule is now on the practices page.

We are pleased to announce our annual holiday party will be on Monday, December 21, 2009 at 6:00pm. It will end at 7:15pm. Practices will be as follows:

• Senior Yellow and gold practices will run as scheduled but will end at 5:45pm
• All other swimmers will be off...Please be at the pool at 6:00pm for the party.

• Last names ending in A-H Drinks
• Last names ending in I-P Side
• Last names ending in Q-Z Dessert

Time to sign up for Columbus Day Meet! Please contact Amy Lowe at thelowes1@aol.com HERE is a list of jobs and for those of you that are new, the descriptions of what they involve.

The sessions are as follows:

• Session 1: Saturday am: warm-ups start at 7am, meet starts at 8am
• Session 2: Saturday pm: warm-ups start at noon, meet starts at 1pm
• Session 3: Sunday am: warm-ups start at 7am, meet starts at 8am
• Session 4: Sunday pm: warm-ups start at noon, meet starts at 1pm

Please tell Amy which session, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of jobs. If you do not sign up, we will be assigning you a position. So PLEASE sign up for what and when you would like to work. The longer you wait, the fewer the choices. To those Senior Parents: you may want to consider having your kids work your session at this meet.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Peggy McKissick at pmckissick5108@verizon.net or Amy Lowe. Thank you for your continued support, it is what makes RAC great!

Please note:

• Orders are due October 2, at the Pizza Party!
• The minimum order is 2 latex and/or 2 silicone caps... you cannot buy one of each.

Peggy McKissick will be at the pool on Thursday and Friday Sept 24 and 25, from 5:45-6:30pm to help anyone who may have questions. You will be able to find me in the balcony/observation area of the indoor pool.

Please, please, please . . . If you have any questions, contact Peggy McKissick at pmckissick5108@verizon.net

Fall Kick off Pizza Party and Picture Night:

• Friday October 2, 2009
• Team pictures will be taken
• Photos must be paid for that night (Bring a check)
• The Age group Photos will be taken at 5:30pm
• The senior photos at 5:45pm
• The Team photo at 6:00pm
• Pizza to follow
• PRACTICE Cancelled for all Age group Groups, Senior Yellow and Gold will run as scheduled

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our parent meeting on Thursday. For those who missed the information the meeting note are here. You are responsible for all materials discussed.

This is a reminder that our begining of the year parent meeting will be this Thursday September 17, 2009 at 6:00pm. Please meet at the pool. See you all soon.

Gianni's Pizza and Snack Kit Fund Raiser

The Retriever Aquatic Club will be selling Gianni's Pizza and snack kits as a fund raiser. This is the only time this year we will offer this fund raiser. Order forms and information are already in your brand new RAC folder, extra forms are located in the back of the team folders. Here are the details:

• Sell the kits between now and 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23rd.
• Your family will raise between $5.00 and $8.00 for each kit sold which will be applied directly to your fund raising account.
• Tally your oders and include a single check made payable to "RAC". (This means your friends and family will make their checks out to you and you will write one check to the team.)
• Place all order forms and checks in "the box" or the Wolter family folder. Please include your phone number on the order form.
• Pizza and snack kits should be picked up on the outdoor pool deck on Thursday, October 1st between 6:00-6:30 p.m.
• If you have any questions, please contact Carol Wolter at wolt7@comcast.net. Thank you for your support!

We would like to take the time to welcome all of you to the 2009-10 Retriever Aquatic Club swim season. We are very excited and happy to have all of you with our program.

As we are starting the first day of practice I would like to ask all of you to stress to your swimmers that they need to enter and exit through the front entrance of the building. This excludes Saturday's where swimmers will enter though the side pool door entrance. Can you also please have swimmers enter through the locker room and not enter through the glass door by the diving well. We thank you in advance for all of your help with this.

We will have our beginning of the year parents meeting Thursday September 17, 2009 at 6:15pm on the pool deck. This meeting is mandatory for all families. If you are unable to attend we ask that you have a representative there in order to relay the information back to you.

ALL swimmers will fill our the 2009 USA swimming form at that time. ALL NEW SWIMMERS must have a copy of their swimmers birth certificate at the meeting as well.

Once again welcome and we are looking forward to a great year.

We are pleased to announce that swim pro will be coming to UMBC for sizing MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2009.

The team warmups and bags will be changin this year!!

• First order will be placed on Monday September 21, 2009 from 6:00-7:30. Swim pro will be at the pool
• Forms and payments will be handed on line
• New and old product will be available to size
• Swimmers are required to have team equipment on the pool deck during meets. Please remember that our team colors are black and gold.
• Please make checks payable to "Retriever Aquatic Club"

We are pleased to announce our wonderful coaching staff and group assignments for the 2009-2010 season.

Age Group White B - Joanne Propert
Age Group White A - Nancy Malchak
                  - Erin Mathews
Age Group Red     - Joanne Propert
                  - Tereza Kaplanova
Age Group Yellow  - Molly Bolek
                  - Abigail Randell
Age group Gold    - Devin McGonigal
Senior Red        - Kyle Kerner
                  - Matt Mattingly
Senior Yellow     - Rob Franc
Senior Gold       - Chris Gibeau
		

RAC Families,
It is great to see all the senior swimmers back in the water. I hope all of you had a great break. We would like to welcome back all of our returners and a big welcome to our new familes.

Below is a link to our Saturday and Holiday workout all the way until October 31, 2009 - also available under Practices.

There will be much more information to come in the upcoming days please pay attention to all of the dates.

There has been some confusion as to the start dates for some of the groups. Here is a list of the official start dates for each group.

Age Group White A and B : Tuesday September 8, 2009
Age Group Red : Wednesday September 9, 2009
Age Group Yellow : Thursday September 10, 2009
Age Group Gold : Tuesday September 8, 2009
Senior Red, Yellow and Gold : Tuesday September 1, 2009

More information will be out this week as to important dates including parents meeting, suit sales etc.

I hope everyone had a great break!

Congratulations to the following Retrievers and Parents who participated in the Andover Triathlon: Jeffrey Sham & Joanna Sham (mom), Veronica Tis & John Tis (dad), and Joseph Laciny.

RESULTS
Men                        Women
Rick Hrybyk    1:12.48     Catherine Aucella  1:19.43
Steven Vaughan 1:18.02     Jenna Boykin       1:21.31
Tim Troy       1:18.55     Kris McCullough    1:23.36
Alex Hrybyk    1:21.58     Suzie Fisch        1:26.20
Steve Muchow   1:30.33     Heather Mullin     1:27.43
Gary Lam       1:31.58     Kelly Murray       1:27.58
Jeffrey Sham   1:36.57     Sarah Weammert     1:28.29
Joseph Laciny  1:46.15     Patty DeVanny      1:32.13
John Tis       2:15.56     Ellen Fehrenbacher 1:38.00
                           Veronica Tis       2:15.56
                           Joanna Kai-Sham    2:33.44
Relays
Hilary Badger, Matt Campbell & John Summers   1:09.53
Phil Ratlief, Derrick Allender & Tommy Thomas 1:12.46
Megan Brodie, Chris Brodie & Greg Kennell     1:23.47
Sue Wenzlick, Dan Wenzlick & Angela Lam       1:29.16
Sharon Brodie, Gabe Maier & Erin McAninch     1:35.00
Meghan Fugate & Barry Schaub                  2:01.26

Retriever Aquatic Club is pleased to announce it's Fall Stroke Clinic. Please be sure to sign up as it is expected to fill and it is first come first served.

Retriever Aquatic Club Breaking News......
Colin Stang, Shelby Stang and Coach Molly swim the bay witha total of 547 swimmers who finished the swim. This morning was the day of the annual Great Chesapeake Bay swim. They host a 4.4 mile swim and a 1.1 mile swim the proceeds from the day go to the March of Dimes. We had 13 of our own swimmers swim the 1 mile swim and the results were great!! There were 363 total swimmers competing today. We congratulate all of our swimmers on doing so well today!

More photos on the Photo Galleries page...

Here are the over all final standings of our swimmers: 1.1 mile
place - number - name - time - age/group
8 - 1220 - Matthew Walls - 24:22 - 4/14
12 - 1264 - Austin Gabel - 25:04 - 3/15
26 - 1066 - Taylor Hollingsworth - 27:00 - 2/14
28 - 1050 - Catherine Frediani - 27:13 - 5/17
31 - 1089 - Joseph Laciny - 28:09 - 4/15
77 - 1221 - Jacob Walls - 31:55 - 8/15
101 - 1362 - Danielle Clark - 33:37 - 11/17
102 - 1360 - Alissa Caulfield - 33:37 - 12/17
130 - 1361 - Mikey Caulfield - 34:55 - 9/15
195 - 1405 - Kelly Long - 38:18 - 15/17
202 - 1078 - Aaron Jacobson - 38:48 - 12/15
Coach Joanne and Olivia Stang also swam today.

The following are the results for the Great Chesapeake Bay swim 4.4 miles:
13 - 708 - Colin Stang - 1:44:34 - 3/8
99 - 426 - Molly Bolek - 2:01:35 - 5/15
172 - 709 - Shelby Stang - 2:09:14 - 4/5

This is a reminder that due to most of our athletes being in school much later than expected we will not start summer practices as posted.

THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER PRACTICE WILL BE MONDAY JUNE 22, 2009.

The summer and Saturday practice schedules can now be found on the practices page.

The Retreiver Aquatic Club is pleased to announce the awards day. We will have it on Wednesday July 15, 2009. More details will follow.

The Retriever Aquatic Club is pleased to announce its tryout for the 2009-2010 season. Tryouts will be July 7 and 8th at 5:00pm. Please e-mail coach Cradock at ccradock@umbc.edu if you plan on attending and which day.

The next scrip order is due Monday March 9th - all checks must be turned in by 6pm that evening. Please be aware, any orders placed with out the check in by the 9th or use presto pay will be cancelled. Orders should be ready for pick up by Monday March 16 from 5:45 - 7pm.

If you have never used scrip before below are the basic instructions on how to sign up.

1. Go to www.shopwithscrip.com
2. Below Member log in, Click on "not a member click here"
3. complete the registration information. RAC's enrollment code is 649L299L7675

If you choose to sign up for presto pay, please be aware it takes several days to process. You will probably need to pay for your first order by check.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Peggy McKissick at pmckissick5108@verizon.net

• Senior Gold and Yellow 6:00-8:00 AM
• All other groups OFF

    Dear Coaches
    Attached is are the final versions of the Time Line and Psyche sheet.
    A few reminders:
    1. All chairs may not be left on deck after the session is over.
    2. No swimmers will be allowed to set behind the block area or on or around the hot tub. 
       The area just off the corner of the pool back to the behind the blocks are for swimmers 
       who are getting ready for the next event.
    2. Warm ups are open. There will be no assigned lanes.
    3. Limited warmup and warmdown lanes will be available during the meet. Please do not expect 
       enough to warm up large numbers of swimmers during the warmup/warm down period. As room 
       becomes availble durind the day we MAY be albel to expand. I am anticipating that we will 
       have at least three lanes for warm up/warm down. Coaches please plan accordingly. If you 
       instruct swimmers to come late for warmups and are expecting a full for warmup this will 
       not happen.
    4. Warmup time:
    	Saturday and Sunday Am sessions- Pool will be open for warmups at 6:30 a.m.
        Saturday 12& under session- Warm ups will begin at 12:00 meet will start at 1:00
        Saturday Open evening session - warmups will begin at 4:30 meet start at 5:30
        Sunday afternoon session- warmups will be at 12:15 and meet will begin at 1:00
    I think this is it for now. I will see everyone at the pool on Saturday.
    

• Saturday AM - 6:30am
• Saturday PM 12 & under - be there by 11:00am
• Saturday Evening (1000 free, 200 back, 200 breast) - 4:30pm
• Sunday AM - 6:30am
• Sunday PM - be there by 12 noon

Revised Schedule for RAC Classic

• Afternoon Sessions - January 17, 18, & 19 (Sat, Sun. and Mon)
• Warm-ups: 12:30 - 1:20 p.m.
• Session Starts: 1:30 p.m.

There are almost 400 (yes four hundred) volunteer slots that will need to be filled for this upcoming meet. 10 sessions, in which each session requires about 40 volunteer positions.

The sessions run as follows:

• Friday evening: distance events - warm-ups at 3:45 (timers are not needed in this session, head timer only - swimmers provide their own timers)
• Sat, Sun, and Mon morning prelim: 13/14 and open - warm ups start at 6:30am
• Sat, Sun, and Mon afternoon prelim: 10&U & 11/12 - warm up start at noon
• Sat, Sun, and Mon evening finals: all who qualify and relays-warm up start at 5pm

This is our biggest meet of the year, and will need help from ALL families - even if you do not have a swimmer in the meet.

We ask that:

• Age Group White and Age Group Red each sign up for AT LEAST 2 total sessions (unless you have a swimmer in the meet - see below)
• Age Group Yellow Age Group Gold, and Senior Red WITH OUT swimmers sign up for AT LEAST 3 sessions
• Age Group White, Red, Yellow, Gold, Senior Red, Yellow and Gold with a swimmer in this meet will need to sign up for AT LEAST 6 sessions.

I know it is a lot - but again, this is our biggest and most prestigious meet of the year. If we are unable to fill all the slots, we will start to assign. So PLEASE, PLEASE sign up now.

Sign up Requests go to Amy Lowe at thelowes1@aol.com questions, concerns come to Peggy McKissick at pmckissick5108@verizon.net

2009 RAC Classic staff roster

RAC meet job descriptions

Below is the Concessions donation listing for the upcoming 2009 Retriever Classic Invitational Meet. Please note:

• Be sure to label your donation with your family name to ensure you get credit for it.
• Drinks can be dropped off at RAC at any time. Just take them to the Coaches' office.
• Unless otherwise specified, donations should be delivered to Concessions at the start of warm-ups on the day indicated.

2009 RAC Classic concessions

Below is the link to preorder t-shirts for upcoming RAC Classic meets. Orders need to be in by midnight on Sunday January 11. Pre-order and get the size you want! T-shirt orders are to be picked up at the Kast-away booth during the RAC Classic meet. Any questions, contact Peggy McKissick at pmckissick5108@verizon.net.