JCC Swimming: Welcome

MASL 2012 Champions
2012 Mid-Atlantic Swim League Champions
Welcome to the JCC Swimming website!

Our Swim Team is located in Owings Mills, Maryland and practices at the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC.  The team's history stretches back to 1977, when the first outdoor pool was built for the Shapiro Recreation Park (now the Shapiro Aquatics Park) on Gywnnbrook Avenue. 

As the Baltimore JCC Barracudas, our team competes in the JCC Association of North America's Mid-Atlantic Swim League during the winter and as part of the Central Maryland Swim League during the summer.  As the Barracudas, the team won the Mid-Atlantic Swim League championship in 2007, 2010 and 2012.  The team also won the CMSL Division IX title in 2011 and 2012. 

The team joined America's Swim Team, USA Swimming, in 2007.  The USA Swimming-affiliated swim team of the JCC of Greater Baltimore is officially called JCC SwimmingJCC Swimming participates in meets throughout the year as part of Maryland Swimming

In 2010, the team merged with another team (the Baltimore Metro Aquatic Club, or BMAC) under the leadership of Head Coach Brendan McElroy.  Later that year, the team sent its first swimmer to the USA Swimming Junior National Championships. 



Thursday, March 21
Summer Swim Team: Barracudas move up to Division 8!



After two undefeated seasons as champions of Division IX, the Baltimore JCC Barracudas will be moving up to Division VII this season!

The planned schedule for this summer's meets is as follows:

  • Sunday, June 23: Woodbridge @ Home (1pm)
  • Thursday, June 27: Crosby Crossing @ Home (5pm)
  • Sunday, July 7: Swan Lake @ Home (1pm)
  • Sunday, July 14: Southdown (AWAY, 8am)
  • Thursday, July 18: Glen Burnie Park @ Home (5pm)
  • Wednesday, July 24: Straehle Individual Championships (Four Seasons/ Manchester)

 



Sunday, March 17
Maryland State Junior All-Stars Meet Highlights



Day 1

During competition on Friday afternoon, Jensen Friedman dropped 12.76 seconds from her 400 Yd Individual Medley time to take second place in the 11/12 Girls division at the Maryland Junior All-Stars Meet. Karim Todd took 5th place in the 11/12 Boys division for the 400 Yd IM, and dropped almost 4 seconds to take a 6th place in the 500 Yd Freestyle. Adam Todd placed 8th in the 15 & Over 400 Yd Individual Medley.

Day 2

Congratulations to Jensen Friedman who took first place in the 11/12 Girls 50 Yd Butterfly at the Maryland State Junior All-Star Meet! She also took a second place in the 11/12 Girls 50 Yd Backstroke and fifth place in the 11/12 Girls 200 Yd Individual Medley. David Schechter placed fourth in the 11/12 Boys 100 Yd Backstroke and 8th in the 50 Yd Backstroke. Karim Todd placed seventh in the 11/12 Boys 100 Yd Freestyle and tenth in the 50 Yd Butterfly, just barely out-touching David Schechter by 0.02 seconds, who placed 11th in the same event. 

Day 3

During the final sessions of competition at the Maryland State Junior All-Star Meet, Adam Todd took Second place in the Boys 15 & Older 200 Yd Freestyle, Third place in the 15 & Older Boys 100 Butterfly, and fifth place in the 100 Yd breaststroke; Justin Burnette took third place in the 13/14 Boys 100 Yd Breaststroke; Karim Todd took 6th place in the 11/12 Boys 200 Yd Freestyle and 9th place in the 11/12 Boys 100 Yd Individual Medley; David Schechter took six place in the 11/12 Boys 50 Freestyle; and Jensen Friedman took 8th place in the 11/12 Girls 50 Freestyle. Alan Shpigel recorded personal best times in all three of the Freestyle sprint events (50, 100, and 200 yds)  

Congratulations to all of the swimmers who represented JCC Swimming at the 2013 Maryland Junior All-Star Meet:

  • Justin Burnette (14/M)
  • Jensen Friedman (11/F)
  • Jessica Hymer (14/F)
  • Samuel Ross (15/M)
  • David Schechter (12/M)
  • Alan Shpigel (15/M)
  • Adam Todd (15/M)
  • Karim Todd (12/M)
  • Sabrine Todd (14/F)
  • Gerard Whalen (15/M)
  • Kevin Whalen (13/M)  


Monday, March 11
Maryland Swimming 2013 Short Course Championship Highlights



Day 1

During Thursday night of the 2013 Maryland State Championships, Olivia Plant (12) took Sixth Place in the 11/12 Girls 500 Freestyle, and Alan Cherches (8) took eighth place in the 10 & Under Boys 500 Freestyle (... and apparently met Govenor O'Malley and talked to him about swimming at the JCC..!)

Day 2

On Friday at the 2013 Maryland State Championships, Alan Cherches (M/8) took 7th place in the Boys 10 & Under 50 Yd Breaststroke; Nolan Plant (14/M) made finals in all three of his events, and took 7th place in the 13/14 Boys 100 Yd Breaststroke, 4th Place in the 13/14 Boys 100 Yd Butterfly, and 3rd Place in the 13/14 Boys 200 Yd Freestyle; and Olivia Plant (12/F) took second place in the 11/12 Girls 100 Yd Freestyle. Michael Krasnitski and Justin Burnette scored personal times in all of their events.

Day 3

On the third night of competition at the 2013 Maryland State Swimming Championships, Alan Cherches (M/8) placed eighth in the 10 & Under Boys 200 Yd Freestyle; Nolan Plant (14/M) placed ninth in the 13/14 Boys 100 Yd Backstroke, 6th in the 13/14 Boys 200 Yd Individual Medley, and third in the 13/14 Boys 50 Yard Freestyle. Olivia Plant (12/F) placed fifth in the 11/12 Girls 200 Yd Freestyle. Justin Burnette and Michael Krasnitski continued their strings of personal best times today, scoring best times in all of their events so far at the meet.

Day 4

The final day of racing at the 2013 Maryland State Swimming Championship was extremely intense for JCC Swimming. Olivia Plant (12/F) took 7th place in the 11/12 Girls 50 Yd Freestyle, in a race where the difference between second place and ninth place was only 0.35 seconds. Nolan Plant (14/M) took fourth place in the 13/14 Boys 100 Yd Freestyle, and fourth place in the 13/14 Boys 200 Yd Butterfly. Justin Burnette (14/M)finished with personal best times in each of his three races at the meet, and Michael Krasnitski finished with personal best times in four of his five races. Alan Cherches (8/M) finished the meet with a total of seven personal best times out of eight events.

Congratulations to all ten swimmers who competed in the 2013 Maryland State Short Course Swimming Championships:

  • Justin Burnette (14/M)
  • Alan Cherches (8/M)
  • Jensen Friedman (11/F)
  • Michael Krasnitski (12/M)
  • Nolan Plant (14/M)
  • Olivia Plant (12/F)
  • Julia Shpigel (10/F)
  • Adam Todd (15/M)
  • Karim Todd (12/M)
  • Kevin Whalen (13/M) 


Monday, February 4
Maryland Swimming License Plates Available from MVA



Maryland Swimming, Inc. (MSI) Organization License Plate Program

Buy a Maryland Swimming, Inc (MSI) license plate and show your support for the sport of swimming in Maryland!

For $40 - you may purchase an MSI Organization license plate for Maryland registered vehicles. $25 goes to the MVA and $15 goes to Maryland Swimming, Inc. (The $15 Maryland Swimming portion is tax deductible.)

  • Maryland Swimming Organization license plates do not need to be renewed every year and are easily transferrable from vehicle to vehicle.
  • You do not need to wait until your current license plates expire.
  •  MSI license plates are available for passenger cars, multi-purpose vehicles and trucks up to ¾ ton. 

Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Bridget Vaché
MSI License Plates
807 Young Place
Frederick, MD 21702-4231

You will receive instructions and a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) form to fill out and sign. Once your application is completed and sent to the MVA for processing, you will receive new MSI license plates, a new registration card and expiration stickers in the mail. Return your old plates to any MVA location.

Questions? Email: bvache@verizon.net Subject Line: MSI License Plates



Monday, February 4
Coming Soon: Maryland Swimming LSC Select Camp at Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center



Maryland LSC Select Camp - Colorado Springs, CO/ Fall 2013

Purpose: To instill a vision of success and inspire athletes in our LSC by providing the opportunity to train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs (6350 ft. elevation).

The Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs provides housing, meals and a 50 meter pool to qualified swim teams and their coaches.

Who will attend

24 Athletes (12 Male, 12 Female) - Top 4 power point scores added up for each swimmer. Short or Long course score, but not 2 scores from the same event (ie 500 free and 400 free) 1 male 1 female per team max.

4 Coaches - 1 max/team based on the top scoring swimmers. Coaches will be eligible every other year.

Eligibility:

  • Age between 13-16 at the time of the camp (Sept 26th).
  • Athlete cannot have achieved a USA swimming Junior National qualifying time or higher. Athlete can not have attended a prior LSC select camp.
  • Qualifying period: Scores will be taken from April 1st 2012 - April 1st 2013.

Schedule:

  • Day 1- Morning flight PM practice
  • Day 2 - AM and PM practices
  • Day 3 - AM and PM practices
  • Day 4 - Morning flight.

Dates: Late Sept - early Oct. Maryland Swimming has applied to the Training Center for one of three sets of dates (Sept 26-29, Oct 3-6, Oct 10-13.)  In the event an athlete is not available for a specific date we will take the next qualified applicant to fill that spot.

Deadline: Applications (Athletes and Coaches) must be in by April 15th. Everyone will be notified on selection by April 30th. OTC has a good deal of paperwork that must be done prior to attending.

Costs: Maryland Swimming will be covering all transportation, room and board



Sunday, February 3
News for Parents of 8 & Under Swimmers: 25yd Times Removed from Deck Pass



The following message is from Maryland Swimming's official times/ records recorder:

...In case you have not noticed, the 25 yd event look up has disappeared, both in SWIMS and on the public look-up. The process was changed the week after Thanksgiving actually. The experiment to test the system with the 25 yd events/times did not produce the results we hoped for. 

[These are some of the reasons] why the upload/look-up is no longer available:

  • 25 yd events are not officially recognized events/distance for USA Swimming recognition.
  • They were added to enhance the Deck Pass app – the times in a swimmer’s app will remain and the swimmer or parent can manually add any time, including 25 yd times, to a swimmer’s logbook.
  • The integrity of the times, due to problems with touches, the need for timing adjustments, was not to [USA Swimming's] standards.
  • The Age Group Development Committee has always advocated for ranking and recognition beginning at age 11; (but) the look-up feature was being utilized to see where 6 & U and 8 & U swimmers stand in the country.
  • Internally, we were all dealing with errors and issues of records being set in every heat of times that came in. 
[As a result] 25 yd events are not being uploaded and will not be available on the USA Swimming website for look-up. [Parents are encouraged] to manually input [times for their swimmer's] 25’s into a Deck Pass log,


Tryouts for New Swimmers



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The team is open to members of the JCC who are able to complete the following swimming skills tests:

  • Ages 8 & Under: Must be able to complete one pool length (25 yards) swimming the front crawl (or "freestyle") and one pool length swimming the back crawl.
  • Ages 9-12: Must be able to complete one pool length (25 yards) of each of the following strokes: front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke; and 15 yards of the butterfly.
  • Ages 13 - 18: Must be able to complete two lengths (50 yards) of each of the following strokes: front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke; and one length (25 yards) of the butterfly. 

All swimmers trying out for JCC Swimming must be able to perform a shallow dive.

Swimmers who are unable to complete the above skills checks but are interested in participating in our swimming programs should consider either our award-winning swimming lesson program (to learn specific strokes) or our Pre-team program (to build endurance and learn fundamental skills for competitive swimming.)

For more information or to arrange a tryout time, please contact the Head Coach Brendan McElroy at 410.559.3530 or email: swimteam@jcc.org



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