Feb. 2011 — Our kids swam very fast; we have some new JO and Sr. Champs cuts! Congrats to out high point winners 11 &12 Girls Kara Wilkins, 13 &14 Girls Savy Savitt, 13 & 14 Boys Rasmus Skjaerpe, 15 &16 Girls Emily Clifford, 15 & 16 Boys John Nolte, 17 & over Girls Emma Siewert!!

The Meet Was Terrific! Our goals were to raise money; provide a place for our kids to swim fast; showcase our team and facility; and provide a meaningful place for our parents and team to get acquainted. I hope you had a good experience. Working this meet is grueling – physically, and sometimes emotionally. (Just ask a few of our safety volunteers!) We do not have our final financial report yet, but it looks promising. I am happy to report that we had only one or two families who did NOT volunteer and/or donate. This means we, again, can keep our, “Work or Pay,” policy for next year. We will do this again next year and your comments are helpful as we reflect on this year’s meet and look forward to Gasparilla Races, 2012! Please send any feedback you wish to share via email at lfredlake@gmail.com.

The Kids Were Terrific! By most accounts, our swimmers did extremely well and are poised for greatness in the upcoming championship meets. Whether it was a best time for one of the Big Bucs, or a first-ever-Fly swim for a Mighty Buc, they did fantastic!! As a matter of fact. A few fun photos are attached. Be sure to send me your photos from the meet. I will use them in our slide show at the end of the year! For meet results, you can visit Eva Gronke’s website.

High point winners from TBAY Central: Kara Wilkins, Savannah Savitt, Rasmus Skjaerpe, Emily Clifford, John Nolte, and Emma Siewert. Many of our other kids finished in the top three!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! The meet starts and ends with our Coaches. Jason works all year long to plan and organize the meet. You may have noticed four new teams in attendance this year, despite other meets in Clearwater and Orlando. That is all due to Jason’s networking and relationship building with other coachs. Jen, Reese, Mike and Lindsay did a great job on deck and helping to run the meet. Every single parent, grandparent, brother and sister who helped this weekend – THANK YOU. Many hands make light work, and truly this event took many, many hands.

A huge shout out and thank you to concessions/hospitality chair, Allene Myers. She did a terrific job, pulling together donations, purchases, peoples and fantastic food to raise money and make the meet feel like home. Allene had a lot of help from EJ Foody, head grill master and Dorilee Savitt. Thanks to both of you, as well!!! Thanks to our leaders: Arne Skjaerpe (timing), EJ McCargar (co-meet-manager), Carrie Werdine (Welcome desk/financial), Mike Gratz (safety), Nancy Westbrook (announcing), Elizabeth Clifford (awards), and Jeff Siewert (timing). You all went above and beyond to make our first three-day meet a success! To our head official, Bob Griffiths; THANK YOU! You are such an important part of our team, and we love you. Your crew did a great job – please extend our thanks to all of them! Eva Gronke, JJ and Tia: thank you for making our meet run soooo smoothly!!!Thank you, Rob Munns, for printing the program. Thanks to our sponsors and donors for their support of the meet:

Thank You, Sponsors!

AJ Arrango

Back to Work

Baird Private Wealth Management

Bayside Engineering

EquiPro Int'l

FitLife Foods

Hula Bay

Jimmy Johns

Mason, Black, & Caballero

Sally O'Neals

Sharl Loaf Café

Six Tables

Smith & Assoc, Traci Burns

The Gaetner Family

The Peek Family

Tropical Smoothie

Café Veredus

Wright's Gourmet House

GASPARILLA RACES ALL STARS! And, here it is, our newest tradition, the TBAY All Stars! These wonderful parents worked all three sessions of our meet, and deserve a GOLD STAR for their hard work and dedication!! (My apologies for any omissions…we may have missed someone who worked all three sessions but did not sign in. Let me know so I can send you a SHOUT OUT!!)

Kris Bexley

Julie Campo

Jim Carideo

Grant Clifford

Dilton Desena

EJ Foody

Mike Gratz

Jim Fredlake

Laurel Fredlake

Lee McCargar

EJ McCargar

Pradnya Muley

Allene Myers

Dorilee Savitt

Jeff Siewert

Regina Siewert

Arne Skjaerpe

Unni Skjaerpe

Star Swanson

Bill Waite

Carrie Werdine

Jay Wilkins

Pamela Wilkins

Good Luck to our Kids during the Championship meets and GO TBAY!