August 11

New Adventures

• Congratulations to Bill!  He's the new Head Coach of Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving at Pace University.  The Pace team competes in NCAA Division II.  Bill will continue with EMPIRE in the same roles with our Thunder and Xtreme groups.

• Registrations for 08-09 are rolling in!  Thanks to all who have signed up already.  We can't wait to hear from YOU! (registration) 

August 4

Empire swim school

We are proud to announce the arrival of the Empire Swim School!  Starting this year EMPIRE will provide an introductory instructional program for young swimmers.  (link)

GET YOUR 08-09 GEAR EARLY

Gulbenkien Swim will be at PLAYLAND this week for the Westchester County Swimming Championships.  Empire swimmers and families can visit him to order their suits, clothing and equipment for the upcoming season!

July 28

EMPIRE rEGISTRATION, '08-'09

click me!

July 17

4 things

1. Find info on JO & Sectional meets on our Meets page or our home page.

2. Tryout info / times on the right.  Registration info & downloadable forms will be up next week.

3. We will host a TURN, BREAKOUT, FINISH CLINIC at Hackley on July 28 & 29 from 10-11:30am.  Details

4. NEW COACH!  We welcome Mike Ruggiero to our staff.  Mike comes with years of experience coaching at many levels.  He'll be working mainly with the THUNDER & LIGHTNING groups.  More on Mike here

July 11

Summer Junior Olympics

Read the page this weekend (link)  We need to hear from you by Monday if you wish to be entered.

June 30

OLYMPIC TRIALS!

Monday was great!  Aleksa Akerfelds and Kaitlyn Ferguson both swam their 1st events today.  Both swam lifetime bests!  Kaitlyn, a veteran from the '04 trials, swam 1:02.59 in the 100m back, placing 21 out of 121 competitors in the event.  Akerfelds went 4:16.11 in the 400m freestyle, finishing 30 out of 86.  It's awesome to see our alumni swimming FAST at the country's largest stage.  Here are some links to help you follow the action.  Be sure to watch on NBC!

usaswimming.org  links to just about everything in the upper right corner

nbcolympics.com  more info & you can watch video of the meet streaming real-time on this site!

June 29

Saxon woods dryland

Monday, Wednesday, Friday:  Dryland 6-6:30am.  You must have sneakers!  We recommend tshirt, sweatshirt, shorts.  Starts tomorrow.

June 25

PRACTICE CHANGE

Friday, June 27:   Senior practice, 8-10:30am.  There will not be any afternoon practice on Friday.  Reminder - LIE meet this weekend, NYSA meet next weekend. (meets)

June 24

Records rewritten

Updated LCM & SCY records now include OWA, ESG trials, and FLA meets. 

Florida

22 Emperors & Empresses travelled with Brian & Kevin to Ft. Lauderdale for the International Age-Group meet.  Ages ranged from 10-18.  Despite weather-related challenges, we had a great meet and a very exciting trip.  Over a dozen team records were broken.  The relay team of Thompson, McNamara, Katchis & Schlesinger took gold in the 200 Free Relay and were only 0.01 seconds off the MEET RECORD!

 Thanks for the lemonade, iced coffee & popcorn shrimp!

2008 Florida Team:
Courtney Callahan, Erica Pangilinan, KC Ha, Ryan Marynowski, Caroline Shannon, Erin Calderoni,
Lucas Avidan, Chris Shannon, John Blackburn, Aiyana-Mei Tom, Halley Weinreb, Natalie Tanner,
Shane McNamara, Matthew Lantin, Sam Clark, Isabel Shipman, Bebe Thompson, Natalie Behnen,
Amanda Leopizzi, Sarah Schlesinger, Nicole Katchis and Ali McNamara

June 18

Modified Mornings

Next week, there will NOT be 5am practice on Mon&Thurs.  Ilan will be running a morning workout, Mon through Fri from 8:00-9:30am.  These morning practices will be IN ADDITION to the regularly scheduled afternoon workouts.  Note that Friday, June 27, the only PM practice is SENIOR, 4:30-6:30.  Xcel & Xtreme athletes should attend that practice.  The, "xtreme only" refers to the fact that there is no Thunder/Lightning practice that evening. 

June 17

Florida Meet

Psyche sheets: (link)  * Entries were sent AFTER the OWA meet, June 7&8.  12&under swimmers who swam best times at that meet will have updated entry times.  ESG trials results were not included in the update.
Interesting search results :  "east" is in the word brEASTstroke, and Van EASTer is not on our team.  Other than that, use the Adobe "find" to quickly scan our entries.  

June 9

Xtreme DRYLAND will be MON, WED, THURS this week only.

June 5

2 important notes

One:  The practice switch is for today ONLY.   Both Bill & Kevin have a meeting at 7pm, necessitating the switch for this evening's workouts. 

Two: 
As announced at last night's practices, Friday, June 20th will be John Gullotta's last day as a coach with Empire Swimming.  As most of you are aware, John was recently engaged to be married.  He and his fiance Nickie have an opportunity to purchase a home which will require them to relocate to Stanhope, New Jersey.  We cannot express enough gratitude to John for what he has brought to our program the last three years.  He has carried the "Senior B / Senior III / Xcel" groups to new levels over the years through his boundless energy, enthusiasm for the sport and desire to continually work hard to move his athletes to the next level.  John has had a profound impact on our team and he will be greatly missed.  We have begun our search for a coach to take over the Xcel group and any decisions will be announced as soon as possible.

May 29

June Calendar (link)

June 5 (thurs) the Hackely practices flip.  T&L come in 4:30-6, Xtreme comes 6:00-8:00.

Note that the summer schedule begins 6/30.  Details on the right side of this page!

May 20

Update on June meets

Weekend of June 6,7,8:  (meet calendar)

• Friday:  Our Torpedoes & Rockets swim @ Norwalk

• Sat/Sun:  Thunder & Lightning (12&u only!) are in the OWA meet.  NCAC=new name for the "Goodwill Games pool @ Eisenhower park.

• Fri/Sat:  Our 13 and over swimmers can swim at Empire State Games trials. (information)  *Note* You must live in NY to compete in this meet.

May 15

Connecticut meet: june

Singing the Long Course blues.
We were cut out of the Hopkins-Mariner Invite at Wesleyan.  The meet filled up with CT teams and, due to local rules, out-of-LSC teams get bumped.  Any changes or additions to the meet schedule will be posted here and on the meet calendar. 

Pictures

Team pictures: 
Thunder&Lightning - taken at the beginning of the party Thurs
Rockets/Torpedoes - taken at the beginning of the party Sat
Xcel/Xtreme - taken at the beginning of practice Sat

All orders must be presented at picture time! order form Pics will be taken on deck, please wear your team suit or something DARK if you can't find it.

May 13

Expansion!

Yes!  Like every great empire throughout history,  we look to extend the Empire.  This year 13 of our ambassadors will move on to 10 different colleges.  In honor of tonight's Senior Banquet, we launch the EMPIRE ALUMNI page on our web site. (link)

May 7

college swimming

As the Empire Senior Banquet approaches, our graduating seniors look forward to their futures.   Will you be in their shoes soon?  Here's an article on college recruiting : link  Worth a read for swimmers and parents!  

May 4

Connecticut hotel info

For the meet June 6-8:

We have rooms @$90 per night being reserved under "Empire Swim Team".  Rooms will be held until May 16th.  After that date, reservations will be based upon availability.  Check-in time is 3pm, check-out time is 12noon.

Courtyard by Marriott
Hartford Cromwell
4 Sebethe Drive
Cromwell, CT  06416
Hotel phone:  860.635.1001
 or Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-Marriott (1-800-627-7468)
 

May 1

Updates, Changes &Parties

May calendar is posted.  Updated entry for LIE is posted.

3 days will have practice changes in May:

• May 10 (Sat)  No Xcel/Lightning due to the LIE meet.  The Torpedoes & Rockets will have regular practice

• May 13 (Tues) Torpedoes will have regular practice.  All other workouts are cancelled due to the Senior Banquet

• May 26 (Mon) Memorial Day =

  • Xtreme = 8:00-10:00 @ Hackley

  • Thunder/Lightning/Rockets 10:00-11:30 @ Hackely

  • Xcel = come to either Lighting or Xtreme.  You choose!

Parties:   Senior, May 13@Antun's.  Thunder/Lightning, May 15@Hackley.  Torpedoes & Rockets, May 17@Hackley.
 

April 22

Congrats from the Empire

Jason McLaughlin, Empire swimmer and sophomore at the University of North Carolina, received the Bruce Webster Memorial Most Dedicated Men's Swimmer Award.   

April 17

Summer Meet Schedule

Our LC meet schedule is posted. (link)  Entries for the LIE meet in May and the Hopkins/Mariner meet in June have already been sent.  If you cannot attend please let us know ASAP by email

April 15

Florida meet

click here right away!!!

April 1

IN like a lion, out like a 10&under?

Our 10 & unders rocked at Metro JOs, held on the last weekend in March.  Bill & Kevin knew good things were in store from the 1st event, as they watched every swimmer in the 200 IM swim to a lifetime best.  The success continued as our 10&u girls swept the relays.  Combined with strong performances from our 10 boys, we finished 2nd overall as a 10&u team.  Caroline Poleway brought her A-game and won the highpoint trophy.  Poleway set 6 individual team records, Bebe Thompson 2, C-co Jaile 2, and relay teams of Poleway, Thompson, Nicole Katchis and Sarah Schlesinger set 2 team relay records.

2008 JO swimmers:
10: Natalie Behnen, Ryan Cicchello, C-co Jaile, Nicole Katchis,  Amanda Leopizzi, Eleni Najarian, Caroline Poleway, Sarah Schlesinger, Bebe Thompson
12:  Kaitlyn Gardner, Charlie McFarland, Bujar Zabelaj

Not too far north in Wilton, CT, our 9&unders competed Sunday in the Wahoos annual invitational.  Brian was thrilled with the progress in technique and the enthusiasm of our swimmers.  Thanks to all the parents who volunteered!  All athletes who participated will receive a Tshirt at practice this week.

March 27

Saturday xtreme practice

Xtreme will swim 10-11:30am this Saturday (3/29).  Xcel/Lightning will swim 7-9, Torpedoes & Rockets 9-10.

WiLton 9 & under meet

We will need to provide 5 timers on Sunday.  This is a great meet.  The kids have fun, it's run at a calm pace and isn't too long.  Don't be shy!  We'll be glad to help teach new timers.  Please email or speak to Brian if you can help us.  Thank you.

Sunkissed Meeting

Saturday (3/29), Ilan will be available in the Hackley pool lobby from 8:30-9:00am to discuss the team trip.  We recommend parents of 1st time "Sunkissed" swimmers attend, though all are welcome.  There will be time for Q&A.

March 24

Wow.

March Madness - with cap and goggles.  The NCAA DI women's swimming & diving championships were held this past weekend at Ohio State University.  What a show.  History was rewritten from the first evening, when Arizona broke the American record in the 200 free relay (1:26.90)  in the first event at finals.  That was followed by Caroline Burckle breaking Janet Evan's NCAA record in the 500 free with a 4:33.60.  This is fast swimming.  (results)

Empire was well represented.  Tennessee Freshman Aleksa Akerfelds finished 9th in the 1650 (16:07.20) and scored points in the 800 freestyle relay (1:48.27).  Kaitlyn Ferguson, Junior@Penn State, swam lifetime bests in the 100 backstroke (54.02) and 200 backstroke (1:59.35). Both girls earned Honorable Mention All-American status and will be back in the pool training for USA Olympic Trials coming in June. 

March 18

AGAIN, and again, and again

March:  Another chance for Empire athletes to shine, and we did.  This time, it was at Wesleyan University in CT.  Our team finished 3rd in the overall standings.  As you can see below, it was a close race for top 3, and we destroyed the rest of the field.

   - Combined Team Scores -                           
            Place Team                                            Points
       ================================================
                1 Bay and Ocean State Squids         BOSS-NE      1495 
                2 SoNoCo Swim Club                   SNCO-CT       1384 
                3 Empire Swimming                    EAST-MR           1214.5
                4 Wilton Y Wahoos Swim Club          WYW-CT    644.5

Emperors (boys) finished a close 2nd, led by seniors Robert Eyckmans and Blake Preston who finished 2/3 in the point standings.  The Empresses (girls) took 3rd with Stacey Rogers as our top point scorer at 7th overall.  Team records have been shattered again and will be updated today!

March 15

Commander!

Did you check the NCAA D3 results?  Amanda Nicholson (Jr @ Williams) won the 400 IM (4:20.31) and set a new NCAA Division 3 record! 

Note - We're still searching for results from the CT open,  if you find them please share!

March 14

The Constitution State

Yesterday, while our swimmers traveled to Connecticut, it was an Empire swimmer from Connecticut turning heads.  Amy Minowitz, a 2008 graduate (and current freshman @ Emory University) went 5:02 in the 500 yesterday, TWICE!, at NCAA DIII nationals.  Check out the results - here - Jaime Straub swam a 5:01 in prelims, Amanda Nicholson went 2:04 in the 200 IM, and Crissy Haley 2:07.

At the CT Senior Open, we had men's 1000, women's 1650 and the 800 free relays last evening. 

• Remember January?  We finally got the info on pictures from the GCIT meet.  here

March 13

3 things

1 The Sunkissed flight list is up on the Sunkissed page.

2 Info for the CT Senior Open meet is available from the home page. Please note that we will need to provide timers.  Let Brian & Ilan know when you can assist. (thanks!)

3 Good press.

March 10

Photo hunt

Looking for some rotation on the front page of our web site.  Take a picture featuring the Empire logo and send it in!  You might find yourself welcoming our visitors.

March 3  (swoosh day)

SprinG?

All practices are normal this week, and this month!  Check the group pages for your team's SPRING schedule. 
Great Job at Silvers this weekend.  Our Empire swimmers brought their A-Game to the meet up in Montgomery, NY.  Thanks to the parents who volunteered on the deck & in the gym.  Results are up on the meet calendar & group pages.

February 28

also..

Xcel will practice 6:30 to 7:30 on Friday

SILVERS WARM UP CHANGED! the afternoon will be 2:00 warm up, 3:00 start for 11-12 & 15-18.   Morning session still 7:30 warmup.

February 28

Saturday, Sabato, Samedi, sÁbado, sobota

There will be one workout for Xtreme, Xcel and Lightning from 7 to 9 on Saturday morning (3/1).  Torpedoes & Rockets will have their usual practice from 9-10.

February 26

Ct open

The 1st posting was incorrect.  Check the updated entry for the correct events.  Update was posted at 920pm Tuesday.

February 22

Snow!

All practices canceled today & tomorrow morning.  SrMets is still on for Sunday.  We will be swimming trials only.  Also, Empire will need to provide 6 timers at the Sunday am session.  Please let us know if you can help. email

February 21

Thursday

1. Congratulations to Blake Preston, boys high-point winner at the Region I meet.  Blake placed top 8 in seven events, including 3 wins and 2 second place finishes. 

2. Notice the info on the right side →→→→→→→→→→→→

3. Email from Aleksa to our Empire swimmers.  She is competing in SEC conference champs. (live results)

As I go into the first night of my biggest meet of the season so far, my first big meet of my college career, I am nervous. I am scared because before this year, I didn't know what it was like to swim a best time in every meet. But its not the bad scared, its the excited scared. I think that this weekend is going to be amazing. I am going to not only witness but experience great things happening right before my eyes. And it makes me think about everything that has helped me get here. The training and the consistency that I have shown has meant the world to my success and that makes me appreciate the coaches that have been there for me through everything, Ilan and Kevin. As I read about the successes of the new team it makes me excited to see that I am not the only one swimming fast times, most recently a certain 59.9? WOW! I know that the "Sunkist Invite" (I'm just gonna call it Y-Nats), will be fast no matter what.
I just wanted to say that believe in yourselves and your coaches, have the strength to be the best you can be and GO FOR YOUR GOALS!!!!

Miss you all so much
(maybe see you soon!!)

LOVE
ALEKSA
 

February 19

Region i champs

Hail to the victors!  Our Empire boys put on an impressive display of speed, depth and the ability to swim fast times without shaving.  They outscored every other men's team and would have taken 2nd in the combined category.  But, of course,  the Empire girls made a big impact as well.  They were stronger each day and climbed up to a second place finish in the women's race.  Their success, along with the boys dominance helped capture the team trophy - and exposed a new area of the country to the power of Empire Swimming.  Nice job all. 
And if you hear someone exclaim 59.99... it's not the price of a new Wii game, it's simply a superior 100 backstroke time. 

February 12

Upcoming metro Meets

SR Mets - Ilan has decided that the team will swim on SUNDAY 2/24.

SILVER CHAMPS - we will be attending Silver championships.  Swimmers from ALL GROUPS who qualify will be entered in this meet. 
New to Silvers? Click this link for more info.

JOs - As the Sunkissed meet falls only days after the meet, swimmers who plan to go to Charlotte will skip JOs in preparation for the better meet.

February 4

Parking

It is absolutely critical that we pay more attention to how we handle our cars at Hackley.  Nobody at any time on any day should be parking in front of the pool building or the athletic building across the street.  Each evening it is busy up there!  Many activities are finishing around the same time that we are arriving and the traffic outside these buildings is an issue.  Please help us control the situation instead of adding to it.

It is expected that Empire cars be parked in the lower lot.  Please do not park your cars on the side of the road.  Our continued use of the Hackley facility is critical to the future of Empire Swimming.  At this time, the parking situation is inhibiting our ability to secure the Hackley pool for the 2008-2009 season.  We need your cooperation, and would appreciate having ALL of us use the lower parking lot only.

 January 29

The List Gets Longer

2 more swimmers qualified for the 2008 Sectional meet - Monica Poleway and Maggie D'Arcy both swam faster in finals at the Elite Meet and made their cuts in the 200 backstroke.  Yes!
Even though we scratched Sunday night finals, EMPIRE still finished in 3rd place out of 59 teams. 

February Calendar is posted.  Later this month we'll see some changes as we move to our Spring Schedule.  The M'ville practices on Monday & Friday will be able to start @ 6:30, and the Hackley practices will move back to the 4:30-8:00 slot.  Check the calendar (link) for dates of these switches.

The TEAM RECORDS are updated to include the meets at GCIT and Yale. Results will be up on our site.

February Meets - details on the Meet Calendar (link)

• Rockets, Thunder, Lightning, Xcel and some Xtreme are swimming at Sharks meet next weekend.

• Xtreme qualifiers will swim at Region I champs the following weekend.

• Xtreme qualifiers will swim ONE DAY at Sr.Mets the next weekend.  All swimmers who make the Sectional standards must swim in this meet.

• Silver Champs are at the end of February, stay tuned to see who will be swimming in that meet.
   

January 14

Outstanding Volunteer

Click Here

Outstanding VolunteerS
Thank you to all who helped us run the meet this weekend.  Over 850 athletes competed - including about 180 from our team - and there were just under 5,000 races! (wow)  Your help made it all possible, and we're grateful.

January 9

Empire Meet Volunteers

This weekend we are hosting our 2nd and final meet of the 07-08 season.  Empire will co-host with New York Sharks, this time we're responsible for SUNDAY volunteers  AND the 8&under session. 

For the 8's Empire represents about 1/3 of the swimmers entered and it would be good of us to help out.  It's a short session & a great time for new & beginner volunteers to "learn the ropes".   We need timers! 

For SUNDAY - (2 sessions)

• we need 16 timers for each session

• 2 or 3 Meet Marshals for each session

• 2 people to work the door (admission & programs)

• 2 Computer Operators

• 1 Timing System Operator

Please email to let us know how you can help.  You help provide the best experience for all the athletes, and your time is greatly appreciated. 

January 8

Empire Meet Time Change!

Session 3 (Saturday afternoon) will now be 3:00pm warm up / 4:00 pm start.  That's an hour earlier!  All other sessions remain as originally posted.

January 7

Dryland

Xtreme dryland will be held at Hackley Mon/Wed/Fri at 6pm.  This will be the normal times until further notice.  On days where practice is NOT at the usual time (1/23,25,30 & 2/1) dryland will be adjusted or cancelled.  Pay attention for announcements regarding those 4 days.

And another thing...

Very exciting week at Xtreme.  Can't reveal any secrets.  You'll find out at 6:45 tonight.

December 30

Zeus 8 & under Meet

Entries are posted.  This meet is on FRIDAY 1/4!  There will be no ROCKETS practice that evening.  Regular practices for ROCKETS and TORPEDOES will be held Saturday morning (1/5)

December 21

Elite Meet

Entries posted (link) Please check to make sure your entries are correct. 

GCIT Hotel Info

Two available hotels:

September 14

It's Official