TSM Aquatics Newsletter - Feb 2024
Note from the Executive Director/Head Coach
Happy 2024 TSM
I hope your year is off to a great start. This is the Olympic Year and we are all very excited for what’s to come.
One of our goals this year is to come together more as a community, and we were lucky enough to start the year by volunteering at the Westside Food Bank. This was an amazing opportunity to come together as a team and give back to our community.
As we are gaining momentum and heading into the Spring and Summer Championships I’d like to remind all of us that success has a few requirements…
Belief, Desire, and Trust… If we believe that we are capable and it is possible to reach our goals, we are one step closer to achieving them; however, we must believe, even when there are setbacks and/or failures… because setbacks are part of the process of becoming successful.
Once we have a goal and believe that we can reach it, we must have the desire to get better, every single day, and go through what it takes to be successful… that’s why we need good coaches/people in our corner to help us get better.
Finally, we must trust the people who are helping us and the plan that we are following. Questioning and doubting our plan or our coach will kill the progress… When we bring all of these together, we become unstoppable… we reach our goals… we become successful.
I am very excited and cannot wait to see you all reach your goals this year.
Go TSM!
Coach Mohammad
Note from the Board
This has been a great season so far, filled with successes both in and out of the pool. As a parent-run organization, the involvement of our parent community is crucial to our success, and we’d like to thank all those who’ve contributed in so many ways this season…
Our Home Meet in September was one of our most successful ever, in parent participation, funds raised and smoothness of the massive operation. More parents are participating at meets doing timing jobs/handling tents than we’ve had in years (we can still always use more help with tents!)
Our Annual Giving campaign in November had great participation across swim training groups, and our Annual Ramen Fundraiser in December was again made possible by the Miyake Family, and their connection with Tsujita LA
Our Liaisons rock, ensuring a quick flow of information between the Board/coaching staff and parents
Our Committees, from Fundraising to Facilities and Events are busy raising much-needed revenue, working on pool space, and planning fun activities away from the pool
What a fun evening we had at our 2nd Annual Parent Social a few weeks ago at the neighborhood establishment, Upper West! It was wonderful getting to meet new parents from both Swim and Water Polo, chat with coaches away from the pool, reconnect with alumni parents we haven’t seen in a few years, and laugh with friends over food and drinks away from the chaos of kids and meets!
We look forward to seeing more of you as we head into a very jam-packed Spring!
Warmly,
Laura S, Ben, Cathy, Gene, Kirsty, Laura G and Matt
Q&A With a Coach
Caroline Muldaur Interviews Coach Sydney
What’s your favorite food/restaurant?
It kind of depends on my mood, but I love Italian food. Growing up as a swimmer I really loved pasta. My favorite restaurant depends on if I’m trying to be fancy, but I like going out for a steak dinner. The Arthur J is my favorite restaurant, but only for special occasions.
If you had one superpower what would it be?
I would like to read minds. I find one of the most difficult things about people is that not everyone knows how to speak their mind, so knowing what everyone is thinking or trying to say would make mine and everyone else’s lives so much easier.
What do you miss most about Boston?
The seasons. My two favorite seasons are fall and winter, and I miss out on seeing those changes in LA. For fall, we don’t see a lot of the leaves changing colors and falling off the trees and during the winter we don’t have many snowstorms here.
What’s your favorite swim event?
My favorite fun, no stress event would be 100 fly because I have always thought butterfly is a really interesting stroke. My favorite event that I was kinda good at was 200 free because I swam it all the time, so I figured it out for myself. My favorite event to watch is the 200 IM because it’s cool to see where everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are. Most people aren’t good at all the strokes so it’s exciting to see them evolve throughout the event.
What’s your favorite quote?
“Train insane or remain the same,” is probably my favorite. Multiple of my Instagram posts have it as the caption and I went to my childhood home for Thanksgiving which has “train insane or remain the same” on the wall.
Coach Sydney Lee has been with TSM since Spring of 2023. She’s the lead coach for the Pink Group and assists with White, Purple and National Prep as well. Sydney has been swimming competitively since she was six and qualified for Junior Nationals in her teens. She went on to swim D1 at Boston University where she was a two-time team captain.
Orion Shanks and Julian Tyszko Interview Coach Dan
What’s your favorite food/restaurant?
My favorite food is donuts and my favorite restaurant is kazunori.
If you had one superpower what would it be?
Flying. No more waiting in traffic.
If you could invent a brand-new stroke, what would it be called?
Upside-down butterfly.
What’s your favorite swim event?
200 free. It requires speed, endurance and strategy.
What’s your favorite quote?
“I’m not good at the advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” -Chandler Bing.
I love Friends and I feel like this quote resonates with my personality.
Coach Dan Heraly joined TSM in 2020. He’s the lead coach for White Group. Dan began swimming competitively when he was six for the Green Bay YMCA. After swimming there for 12 years he was recruited to swim at UW Milwaukee where he studied youth leadership. His coaching career began when he was 16 when he started coaching for the Green Bay YMCA. After college, he briefly coached at local clubs in Milwaukee before moving to Virginia where he coached at Emory and Henry college and owned a small swim club. After a few years there he moved out to LA and worked with Trojan Swim Club and USC. He feels very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach athletes of all ages and abilities, including various world record holder.
Fiona Schweig Interviews Coach Ellis
What’s your favorite food/restaurant?
Anything with food. I haven’t met a restaurant or a food that I won’t eat.
If you had one superpower what would it be?
If I had one superpower, it would be to be able to grow my nails at an alarmingly fast rate.
What do you miss most about swimming in college?
The team aspect, and the support of everybody working toward one goal together.
What’s your favorite swim event?
The 200 back, specifically long course, was my favorite race. The only way to describe it is the feeling of home, comfort. From the moment I step behind the blocks everything would automatically slow down. All the noises going on would suddenly come to a stop. It’s the race that I always felt the most accomplished after completing because your best event is always the one that hurts the most.
What’s your favorite quote?
“Time is an illusion, a construct made out of human memory. There is no such thing as the past, present, or future. It’s all happening now.” This is from one of my favorite authors, Blake Crouch…to me, it’s a reminder to put everything into what I’m doing at any given moment, because the only thing I can control is what’s happening in the “now.”
Coach Ellis Miller has been with TSM since early 2023. He’s the lead coach for Senior Development. Ellis began swimming when he was five, starting his competitive career at the age of nine. He competed for a variety of teams in his youth in Arkansas, where he broke multiple state and LSC records in backstroke, butterfly and freestyle and broke five of the seven high school state records. He was nationally ranked in six different events and held the top time in the nation in the 200M back for the 2010 recruiting class. He swam for the University of Arizona in college, was an NCAA All-American, a Semi-Finalist at the 2012 US Olympic Trials, and won gold at the 2013 USA Swimming National Championships in the 400 Free Relay. Coach Ellis was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame in his home state of Arkansas.
Fall in Review
Coach Dan
The Fall season was one with many new faces eager to show what they’ve got in the pool. It began with a successful TSM Season Opener, where many White Group swimmers competed for the first time and they and their parents got their first taste of what a swim meet is like. They were amazed with what they had learned in a short time, and those who had competed before set many personal bests. This was just the beginning as with each ensuing meet, every swimmer was achieving best times and swimming in events they’d never done before. It will be exciting to see their growth continue as the season progresses.
Coach Sydney
The TSM Home Opener was also a great start for the Pink Group as swimmers got to reconnect with their teammates after the Summer break. Notable time drops have been achieved during this short course season to-date, setting a promising tone for future competitions as we head into 2024. Celebrating individual achievements, Isla Persson is the first Pink Group swimmer this season to qualify for WAG, attending her first ever championship meet.
On the coaching front, Coach Sydney was selected to coach at the All-Star Meet which took place in Las Vegas Jan 20-21.
Coach Juliana
For the Red and Blue Groups, our Home Opener kicked off what’s been a highly successful season to-date. All swimmers in both groups have achieved personal bests in every event they’ve swum so far this season, reflecting their dedication and hard work. Special recognition goes to Cataleya Hernandez, Lindsay Lake and Haley Navarro for achieving their first WAG cuts, attending their first ever championship meet. Overall, the enthusiasm displayed by our Red and Blue Group swimmers is remarkable, and we look forward with excitement to the growth and successes that lay ahead the remainder of the season.
Coach Ellis
Senior Dev had a phenomenal end to 2023! Some highlights include Tessa Nagy taking 4th place in the 200 meter freestyle at the Paralympic National Championships in Orlando in December! Our group training attendance is at an all-time high and out of all our races this past year 83% were best times!
On the coaching front, Coach Ellis was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame for his remarkable achievements in his swimming career.
Coach Chris
Sr Prep and Sr Performance Groups
The Home Meet proved to be a successful kickstart to the season, highlighting swimmers’ dedication and hard work from previous seasons. It provided an excellent opportunity to showcase skills in unfamiliar and challenging events, including the 400 IM, 500 Free and 200 Fly. Notably, Nico Manzella emerged as the first Senior Performance swimmer to qualify for two Sectionals cuts (500 Free and 1000 Free). Among swimmers across both groups, an impressive 88% achieved at least 80% of their personal best times across events.
Coach Iman
Purple and National Prep Groups
The TSM home meet proved to be a success, marked by several notable achievements. As Fall unfolded, Maddy Wynholds from the Age Group program qualified for her first Sectionals meet in 200 Breast, demonstrating impressive progress. In National Prep, Lexi Burrell (500 Free) and Marshall Smith (800 Free, 1000 Free, 1500 Free, 200 Fly LCM, 400 IM SCY & LCM) also secured spots in their first Sectionals, and Sophie Chang added a second Sectionals cut (200 Fly) further enhancing the team’s growing prowess.
Coach Mo
Notable athlete successes this past Fall include Harrison Smith qualifying for his first Summer Junior Nationals as he clinched gold in the 200 Fly at the November Kevin Perry Senior Invite. The journey continued as Ivan, Coach Mohammad and Team USA traveled to Funchal, Portugal in late November for the final leg of the World Aquatics Open Water World Cup. Ivan’s exceptional performance secured his first position for Team USA and qualified him for the World Championships coming up February in Doha, Qatar.
In December, Victor Polo, Alan Shaaban, Harrison Smith and Zach Tower showcased their skills at the 2023 Winter Junior Nationals in Illinois and TSM made a triumphant return to the 4x200 Free Relay for the first time since 2015. Recognizing both athletic and academic excellence, Victor Polo, Alan Shaaban, Harrison Smith, Mattea Sokolow and Zach Tower were honored with the title of Scholastic All Americans.
On the coaching front, Coach Mohammad was selected to coach at the prestigious 2023 National Select Camp (Boy) held at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center (OPTC) in Colorado Springs. Joining forces with Ivan and Coach Iman, they also attended the National Distance Camp at OPTC. The achievements culminated with Coach Mohammad earning a prestigious position on the USA National Team staff for the 2024 World Championships.
We had 68 registered swimmers sign up for our November Fun Meet at SMSC. Swimmers raced 25s of all strokes and even Coach A’ilana got in the water for relays at the end!
TSM water polo had a great 2023! We participated in the Futures league, where we went up a Division. We also participated in the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, where we won bronze in our Division. We traveled to Croatia to play and be coached by former Olympians. In 2024, we hope to do the same - play in Futures league, qualify for Junior Olympics and travel to Barcelona in July for the opportunity to play there.
TSM Athlete Spotlight
We’d like to take the opportunity to highlight Tessa Nagy, her incredible career as a US Paralympic athlete, and her notable achievements in 2023. Tessa was selected as a member of the USA National Team for intellectually disabled for the Virtus Global Swimming Championships that took place last June in Vichy, France. In December, at the US Paralympic Nationals, Tessa had one 2nd place and three 3rd place finishes in her S14 classification.
Overall last year, she had time drops in eight events, achieved Top 75 world ranking in four events, Top 5 USA ranking in four events, and met numerous national and international standards including: CAN AM standards in nine events, Nationals MQS in five events, and World Para Swimming World Series MQS in three events.
Congratulations Tessa! We’re so proud of what you’re accomplishing and will continue to cheer you on as 2024 unfolds!
Breaking News
The Olympic Dream…
For the third time in a row, TSM has placed a swimmer in the Olympic Games. This past weekend, Ivan had an incredible race in the Men’s Open Water 10K in Doha at the World Championships. His 14th place finish overall secured his place on Team USA’s 2024 Olympics team, continuing TSM’s Olympic legacy and marking just the fifth American male in history to qualify for the Olympics in Open Water swimming.
Congratulations Ivan and Coach Mohammad! You’re an inspiration and we’ll continue to cheer you on as the journey to Paris unfolds!
Here is what he said after the race:
“I came here with a specific goal in mind, and even after intense visualization of achieving that goal it’s still such a surreal feeling to get the job done! I’m so honored to earn this opportunity and do right by Team USA and TSM!”
Find out more about the race and his road to Paris on this USA Swimming article.
Looking Ahead
Nutrition Seminars
Exciting updates are on the horizon! We are thrilled to be sponsoring a series of three nutrition seminars designed to elevate athletic performance. These sessions delve into essential aspects of nutrition tailored for swimmers, offering insights into balanced diets, hydration strategies and optimal nutritional habits. We encourage members to actively engage in these seminars, where we will impart valuable knowledge to optimize your performance in the pool. The first two Seminars took place on Jan 21 and Feb 4. A few spots are still available for the final Seminar scheduled for Mar 9.
Splash for Cash
The Fundraising Committee is excited for the launch of our new and improved annual Q1 fundraiser, Splash for Cash! Formerly known as Swimathon, we’ve revamped the concept keeping the best parts! As always, there will be lots of opportunities to win great prizes for fundraising efforts over the 7-week campaign which kicked off Jan 21. Fundraising runs through Mar 9 so get started raising money now and keep an eye out for our emails announcing the weekly contests and prize winners. And mark your calendars for the culminating “fun” event at SMSC on Sunday, Mar 10, 9am-12pm. There will be exciting relays and other fun activities, more opportunities to win great prizes and no more lap swimming (that’s right, we’re eliminating the not so fun part of swimming 200 laps)! Your involvement and that of your athletes in the fundraising and the fun is pivotal to ensuring the continued success of our team.
Altitude Training Camp
We are once again heading to the mountains to hold an Altitude Training Camp during Spring Break. This year, we’re headed back to Colorado Springs to train at 6000 FT elevation. Our training camp will have doubles (AM and PM swims) every day to make sure we can gain the most benefit from being and training at altitude. Training at high altitudes can offer numerous benefits to athletes, including enhanced oxygen utilization, improved endurance capacity, and increased tolerance for high levels of carbon dioxide. We’re also looking forward to going back to the Garden of the Gods and driving up to Pikes Peak summit this year. It will be a fun camp!
Annual Online Auction
Our 2024 auction goes live on Sunday, April 21. For it to be a success, we need your help! We hope to have every TSM family participate in donating at least one item by Feb 29. Examples include obtaining a gift card to a favorite local restaurant or store, tickets to a show or game, hosting a party or get-together. We’ve already received some fantastic items, please help us collect more!
Email auction@teamsantamonica.org with questions or to donate.
Key Spring Swim Meets
As we chart our course through the season, be sure to mark your calendars for key swim meets. The Lunar Festival Meet is set for Feb 16-19 at MVN, followed by PAC COM Champs at Rose Bowl Feb 23-25. The LCM Speedo Sectionals will unfold Feb 29-Mar 3 in Carlsbad, and the 14&U AG Champs SCY will take place at Rose Bowl Mar 14-17.
Annual Swim Banquet
Last but not least, anticipate the celebration of our achievements and camaraderie at our annual swim banquet on Sunday, June 9th. Save the date and more details to come this Spring
Committee Updates
Committees are a great way for parents to get involved and support the team while developing friendships with fellow parents in our wonderful community! Current committees include: Fundraising, Events, Facilities and Finance. New committee we’re looking to form: Newsletter!
Fundraising Committee
This is the committee’s busiest time of the year! We’re hard at work on both Splash for Cash and our annual Online Auction.
To join the Fundraising committee, email Laura Scott at president@teamsantamonica.org
Events Committee
The committee is hard at work planning our year-end Annual Swim Banquet. We’re also going to be getting started with early stage planning for our 70th Anniversary celebration, which will be coming up in 2025!
To join the Events committee, email Tracy Gilmore at tracyagilmore@gmail.com
Facilities Committee
This committee works to identify additional pool space for our program offerings, securing our standing as a premiere aquatics program for years to come. Members also help with projects at current facilities as needs arise.
To join the Facilities committee, email Gene Gilmore at genegilmore@gmail.com
Newsletter Committee
Do you love to write? Are you organized and detail-oriented? We could use your help with our 3x yearly newsletter.
To join the newsletter committee, email Laura Scott at president@teamsantamonica.org
FAQs
SCY vs. LCM
SCY stands for short course yards while LCM stands for long course meters. Short course season runs the majority of the year, from late August to the end of March, when events are swum in 25-yard pools/lengths. Long course season starts in April, concluding in early August and uses 50-meter pools/lengths.
Typically high school and college meets are swum in SCY while major international competitions, such as the Olympics, are swum in LCM. With 2024 an Olympic year, we’re seeing some senior-level meets this short course season being run as LCM (and even a combo of SCY for prelims and LCM for finals), to provide senior swimmers more opportunities to earn qualifying long course times ahead of Olympic trials.
As yards are shorter than meters, SCY times will be faster than LCM times for any given event. In short course, swimmers make more turns to swim the same event (e.g., three turns for 100 yards in SCY vs. one turn for 100 meters in LCM).
Aug-Dec / Jan-Mar / Apr-July Seasons
Throughout the swim year, there are three periods that culminate with Age Group (AG) Championship meets and Speedo Sectionals meets in Dec, March and July.
AG Championship Meets
There are now five AG Championships in SoCal Swimming – Winter Age Group (WAG, early Dec), Spring AG Champs (mid-March), June Age Group (JAG, mid-June), Summer AG Champs (late July), and the newest addition, Elite AG Champs (late July). WAG and Spring Champs are SCY while the others are LCM.
Championship meets are prelims/finals format for most or all ages (depending on the meet) and take place over 3-4 days. Time standards vary by meet except Spring and Elite Champs, which have the same/fastest cuts of all AG championships as they mark the culmination of the SCY and LCM seasons.
Groups often build up to these meets in training as they’re among the most important meets of the season. If your swimmer qualifies, do your best to plan accordingly!
Thank you to TSM swimmers Maddy Wynholds and Sophie Chang, and their moms Lora and Michelle, for their help with some of the content for this edition!
