Team Santa Monica Newsletter - May 2021
MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT:
While the pandemic is far from over on a global scale, the news more locally has given us reason to be cautiously optimistic - that perhaps we are through the worst of the pandemic. More and more of our community fully vaccinated, including nearly 43% of LA County residents and 50% of residents in Santa Monica’s 90405 zip code. I know I’m much more comfortable sending my kid to school knowing his second dose is next week!
I want to take this opportunity to thank our amazing membership for responding so quickly to our recent call to action to oppose further fee hikes at the SMSC pool. Your letters were received and heard, so thank you all so much! Our Board members were listening at the 2-night meeting, and a few of us delivered public comments. Coach Mo was literally the last person to speak during the public comments section of the meeting. Although it was painful to sit through a 5-hour meeting, I think that Mo’s comments at the end were both well-placed and well-put. Finally, I want to give a special shout out to Wendy Dembo, a Seals parent, who waited those long hours to deliver a poignant, heartfelt public comment about what this team has meant to her daughter, Ruby, particularly during this pandemic. Thank you, Wendy! It remains to be seen what the City Council will decide, but it is wonderful to see the outpouring of support for TSM. Thank you all!!
Looking forward, I’m turning my attention to the questions of how we care for and support our youth as they navigate the emotional and physical emergence from this pandemic, and how do we support and guide them during this time of unrest and racial awakening. It’s bound to be a lot for all of us, and I think it’s worth exploring what the role of the team should be. As nightly news anchor Rachel Maddow would say, “watch this space”.
Finally, our Annual General Meeting (Saturday, June 12th @ 10am) is upon us! You’ll soon be receiving an email with a link to a ballot. There are two elected Board positions and the revised Bylaws on the ballot. Please be sure to participate in this. Online voting will take place May 29th through June 8th – watch your email for your ballot (one per family).
FUNDRAISING
Holy cow, the Swimathon was awesome!! It would not have been such a success without our tireless fundraising committee – particularly co-Chairs Laura Scott and Laura Goodman, Cathy Burrell, Michelle Chang, Steve Kimura and Nancy Wu. There is truth in saying it takes a village. The donation page will be up until the end of May, but as I write this, we have exceeded our $25k goal and raised more than $28k!! Thank you team parents, thank you coaches and thank you swimmers.
A special thank you to all of the donors who provided gifts for the swimmers, including those mentioned before, Summer Solutions, Goodbye Chlorine, MalibuC and The Soap Kitchen. I want to add to that list the generous donation from lagunabeachtextileco.com (Turkish Towels).
Meet Highlights
18&Under Spring Cup Recap
TSM was well represented at the 18&Under Spring Cup in Irvine, CA. Here are some of the highlights...
Mattea Sokolow finished 2nd in Women's 800m free, with Annalena Siering finishing 11th
Colton Milne finished 7th in the Men's 100m breast
Mattea Sokolow finished 6th in the Women's 400m IM
Colton Milne finished 6th in the Men's 400m IM, with Samuel Telanoff finishing 9th, Adam Shabaan 12th and Colin Kim 22nd
Colton Milne finished 9th in the Men's 200m breast, with Samuel Telanoff finishing 14th
Kristin Bartlett finished 23rd in the Women's 100m back
Mattea Sokolow finished 11th in the Women's 400m free
Mattea Sokolow finished 6th in the Women's 200m back, with Kristin Bartlett finishing 20th
Mattea Sokolow brought home 1st place in the Women's 1500m free, with Annalena Siering finishing 5th
Theadora Leimone finished 22nd in the Women's 200m IM
Colton Milne finished 11th in the Men's 200m IM
Canyons Memorial Day Meet
TSM once again had a strong showing competing at the Canyons Memorial Day Meet in Santa Clarita, CA. For many swimmers this was their first LCM meet since 2019! It was great to see everyone get right back into it and see how much they've improved. Here are some highlights...
118 new best times
4 new sectional time standards achieved
Grand Challenge
New Sectionals cuts:
Tino Mullins 200Fr
Nico Mullins 200Fr
Zach Tower 100Fr
New Futures cuts:
Thea Leimone 200Br, 200IM
Mattea Sokolow 200IM, 200Fly
Even though it was a very long weekend we had many good swims and personal bests. The kids did well and the majority were able to make Finals and get a second swim. The team is doing really well.
Go TSM!
CIF
Congratulations to all the following TSM swimmers who competed in CIF…
Thea Leimone
Amelia Hines
Isabelle Shapiro
Kae Tanabe
Kristin Bartlett
Annalena Siering
Brandon Wu
Summer Liu
Audrey Marcus
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Annual General Meeting (Saturday, June 12th @ 10am). This is for ALL members to attend. We will discuss the latest with the team, the budget forecast for the next year, and announce the new Treasurer and the results of the Board elections (May 29th – June 8th). Please watch your email for the Zoom link.
We get to have an annual banquet IN PERSON this year!! It will be on the beach on June 30th. Please watch your email about that, too. This will be a great time to celebrate, and our final chance to throw a send-off party to our NINE graduating seniors. Please watch your email for the announcements and ticket sales.
