Our SAL swimming and diving season is over – but there is still Marlins business to take care of!   RSVP for the banquet; send in pictures for the slide show; fill out an evaluation of the season; read about League Champs– all this and more, below.  Read on…

Sunday, February 26, 1 – 4:30 PM at the Radisson Hotel

Click here for your invitation to the fabulous Marlins Annual Banquet, the traditional end to our SAL season.   All swimmers and divers and their families are invited;  all Marlins will get a trophy and a team gift.  So please plan to join us from 1  - 4:30 PM on February 26th as we celebrate the season by sharing food, fun, door prizes, awards, and the eagerly-awaited end-of-year slide show (organized by Diana Felker).

To respond, download your invitation here, fill it out, and mail it, with payment, to Katherine McClelland at 589 Forest Road, Wayne, PA 19087 by February 21^st (next Tuesday).    Since we have gifts and trophies to give out, families who cannot attend are requested to make arrangements with other families to pick up their awards and trophies; you can indicate this on the RSVP form.

Every year at banquet, we formally elect the Marlins Board for the next season.   Our goal is to have a balance of new and experienced Board members, so most years there are one or two positions open.    This year, we have one:  Treasurer (currently held by Carol Jiang).      We invite those of you who are interested in taking a more active role on the team to consider whether you might be interested in this position, or other positions on the Board; with our move to USA swimming and extended swim and dive seasons, we may be adding a position for the coming year.     Descriptions of what each board position currently entails are listed here.  Descriptions of other key volunteer positions, are here.   For additional information on what the jobs involve, please feel free to contact the current incumbents, or Katherine McClelland at kemcclell@gmail.com .

FROM THE (POOL) DECK:

The Marlins League swimmers brought their A game last Sunday at LaSalle, showing their SAL peers that we are a force to be reckoned with!    There were many best times and four new Marlins records set at the meet, including a first-place finish by our 8 and under Boys Free Relay team of Andew Hoy, James Condi, Jason Look, and Carter Besz.   The same group teamed up for a 3^rd place finish and new Marlins record in the 8 and under Boys Medley Relay to start off the morning.    Our 8’s were so strong this year that we sent a second relay team of  Alex Hoy, Adam Chen, Ronald Xu, and Jack Bonner, who finished 14^th in the Medley Relay and 11^th in the Free Relay.     Not to be outdone, our 11-12 Boys Relay Team of Daniel Vallette, Justin Ardamoy, Griffin Hamilton, and Aaron Zheng swim best times in both the Medley and Free Relays, finishing 14^th and 11^th, respectively.

In between the relays, our swimmers kept busy with individual events, almost all of which represented best times.   Carter Besz swam to new Marlins records in the 25 Breast (2^nd place) and 25 Fly (2^nd place); he was accompanied in the 25 Breast by Jason Look (9^th) and Adam Chen (13^th), and in the 25 Fly by Andrew Hoy  (8^th).    Carter and Andrew also swam the 25 free, finishing 4^th and 8^th.    CJ Besz represented the Marlins in the 10 and under age group, swimming best times in both the 50 Back (12^th) and the 100 IM  (12^th).   Justin Ardamoy swam JO times in both the 50 Breast (9^th) and 50 Free (14^th); he will represent the Marlins in three weeks at the Mid-Atlantic Junior Olympics, a USA meet.   

On the girls’ side, Megan Hall also swam a JO time in the 50 Breast; Kaitlyn Miller swam well in the 25 Back, and Taylor Mateja finished up her distinguished SAL career with strong races in the 100 Back and 100 Fly.    Taylor was accompanied by fellow Marlins veterans Elissa Salamy, Micheala Kiczula, and Paige Dunlap for the 15 and over Girls Medley and Free Relays. 

Congratulations to all our League swimmers and divers!  

FROM THE DIVING BOARD:

Watch this space next week for the news from the Diving League Champs!