Overview: Growth and Structure Youth Swim Team The season is off to a great start! Our team has grown and we now have over 200 members. The building blocks that were put in place over the last few years allows for a steady stream of swimmers graduating to our higher groups. We have seen a marked growth in the number of athletes in the Age Group, Age Group Elite and Senior Elite programs, and we have maintained consistent numbers in the Youth, Youth prep and Intro groups ensuring there is a large number of young swimmers ready to progress through the team ladder. Best wishes to Stefano and Welcome Linda! It was with a heavy heart that Coach Stefano Spagnuolo left the team in November to pursue a new career. We wish him the best in his future endeavors! Linda Babins took over Stefano s duties and brings a wealth of swimming experience to impart to the kids Physical testing, Team building & Dryland On September 9 th, 115 of our athletes met at the ACC and put their fitness to the test and established their baseline. In April, the athletes will be retested on the same skills to quantify their progress. The addition of Strength and Conditioning Coach in September 2017 has allowed us to keep pace with other high performance teams in the province. This season, dryland has evolved from the basic building blocks developed in 2017/2018 and is focusing on increasing strength, power and flexibility. CSLA swimmers are swimming stronger!
Team Breakfast, October 14 th The team breakfast was a great opportunity for the new families to meet some of our veteran parents, get to know the coaches, and have their questions answered. 2018 / 2019 Competitions to date The team took part in several competitions this fall. Beginning with the Neptune Invitational over the weekend of October 20 and ending with the CSLA Holiday Invitational on the weekend of December 7th. In total, we participated in seven competitions. Quebec Team Champs, November 7 to 9 Great performances were had by all groups, with the highlights being our promotion to Division 1 at the Team Championships is Sherbrooke, QC, and our home meet where we took home 202 medals with our nearest rival managing 67. CSLA Holiday Invitational, December 7-9 We proudly hosted 14 teams and over 500 swimmers over the three day event. A truly dominant team performance by our 110 swimmers! This competition allowed for our youngest through to the oldest swimmers to compete as a team and we certainly displayed our swimming power!
Awards Night, November 14th This night was about the swimmers, and recognizing those who had an outstanding 2017-18 season. Individual award winners 1: Best Effort 2017-2018: Youth and Youth Prep: Julien Pelletier-Henley, Ella Giberovitch 2: Biggest Improvement 2017-2018: Youth and Youth Prep: Konstantin Baltazar, Simona Makkerh 3: Perseverance Age group and Age group Elite: Temuun Uyanga 4: Perseverance 13+: 2017-2018: Oscar Cruz 5: Rookie of the Year 2018: Jiaqi He 6: Top Fina performance 2018: Ainsley McMurray 200 Free 2:00.86L 816 Pts. 7: 2nd Fina Performance 2018: Cailin McMurray 200 Fly 2:20.13L 656 Pts 8: 3rd Fina Performance 2018: Amaya Sastron-Navarrete 200IM 2:21.34S 640 Pts Provincial Records 1: Provincial Record SC: Senior 4x100 IM Mixed: David Hartal, Isabelle Lupena, Alex Mir-Oréfice, Ainsley McMurray 2: Provincial Record SC: 15-17yrs 4x100 IM Mixed: Ethan Kreuzer, Sunbin Kim, Cailin McMurray, William Stone-Barney 3: Provincial Record SC: 13-14yrs 4x50 IM Girls: Vanessa Patrizi, Olivia Lam, Iris Pouliot, Amaya Sastron-Navarette Other recognitions included our new team record holders and 150 records established last year. Provincial Recognitions:
FNQ Recognition Head Coach, Michael Calcutt and swimmer Ainsley McMurray were honored by the Quebec Swimming Federation(FNQ) as the top Age group coach and swimmer in the province and received recognition for the Quebec records the team has established. Regional Swimmers Swimmers had a quiet start to the season with two competitions. In the new year, six competitions are lined up. They have swum very well and established 162 new personal best performances!!! L) Our swimmers and coaches at the first regional meet. (R) Coaches Laurie and Linda with our swimmers at the Regional competition in St-Laurent.
(L) Some of the 66 swimmers who took part in the Team championships. (R) 10 and under athletes in Mtl-North.. Winning team and swimmers in action from the CSLA invitation!
Synchronized Swimming Artistic swimming has become an integral part of the CSL Aquatics community. Many young, aspiring athletes turn to synchronized swimming as their number one choice for remaining physically active. The Club has grown, and our reputation has increased since its inaugural year. Our new head coach Kandace Kalin has taken on the task of developing all of our young, and returning athletes while incorporating new techniques while focusing on a solid foundation for the club. Kandace brings several years of National level experience, both as a coach and as a retired international competitor. The athletes have taken enormous strides in developing core strength, flexibility and conditioning under the guidance and support of Kandace and Strength and Conditioning Coach.
Triathlon The athletes are gearing up for the winter season, a time when training goes into full swing. Intro to Tri We are very excited that the new Intro to Triathlon program for athletes ages 14 & under has taken off! Having made its debut in the Spring of 2017, the program was redesigned for Fall 2018, quickly reaching capacity. Coach Alex Nowakowski is a former CSLA Swim Team member, and former outdoor pool supervisor. Youth, Youth Elite & Masters Most seen in the pool with Coach Kyla Rollinson, the triathletes have developed a partnership with Strength & Conditioning Coach. Adding this training element to the program will ensure their continued success. Masters Lead by Coach Oto and Coach Cindy, our Masters swimmers are hard at work. On Saturday November 10th ten members of the team took part in the Coupe de Montréal at the Claude Robillard Centre. It was a fantastic event with many new members of the team competing alongside our veterans. Special mention to Brigid Glustein, Linda Babins, Joseph Douek and David Quane who all accepted the 800 meters challenge.
THANK YOU to our dedicated volunteers! Without the incredible team of volunteers, we could not be a success. At Team Champs, a wonderful group of chaperones helped guide the swimmers and the December Invitational ran smoothly in great part to their involvement and efforts. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season! CSLA Coaches & Staff