Fall 2007
Stingrays Alumni News
Coaches Corner
RAYS Alumni,
Hope this Newsletter finds you all well and keeping in shape!
It’s been a busy year for us with our ever expanding team. We truly have a great organization that incorporates our values into everything we do. Our volunteers, staff & swimmers are exceptional and that’s what makes our 21st year really exciting. Plus it being an Olympic year helps.
Ten of our 2007 graduates are swimming in college; Shanna Spears (LSU); Claire Miller (Navy); Kristen Simon (Charleston); Jarrod Brinker (Florida); Gray Terrell (Tampa); Will Bayles (Charleston); Eric Moore (Maryland); Michael Viscardi (Union) & Michael Vallecoccia (GA Tech).
To quickly recap our year, we swam – GREAT, but more importantly we really had a lot of FUN!
In January we had over 700 athletes swim at our Coaches Invite meet. Kristine Polley went to Hawaii to represent the good old USA and swam great. February we did great at AG State (I bet a lot of you remember those days). March was Sectionals, which we hosted – great achievement. Nationals had two finalists (Kristine 200 BR & Erin Reisinger 200 Bk). April started our Long Course season and we graduated 16 seniors at our banquet. May – not much happened in May, except a lot of training :). June we took 45 swimmers to California. Glad to report we brought back 45, even though we visited Alcatraz. We also sent three swimmers to the Grand Prix meet in Charlotte, NC. July was a big month as we swam Sectionals, AG State and Senior State all in a row. A highlight at Senior State was Erin Reisinger making her 100 Bk Olympic Trials cut – that was fun for all. August we went to Nationals in Indianapolis and Bryan Lundquist represented the USA at the World University Games. He won a Gold Medal as well. September we started our year with 480+ swimmers and we are ready to do a better job this year.
Last year we hosted Sectionals at GA Tech and this coming summer (2008) we are hosting the Southern Zones Championships. If you are around the first week of August, help would be appreciated.
As for the staff, I’m glad to report no change, except looking a little older, especially Andy (he got glasses).
Remember to keep up to date with all the RAYS happenings by visiting our website www.stingraysswimming.com
Be safe and remember all you learned in the pool can be utilized today – Training for Life
You’re Coach, always
Ian
iangoss@bellsouth.net
Craig Sears
770-993-7492
Things are going well. As we all know, it was a VERY dry and hot summer, which makes for an exhausting summer for those of us in the pool business. No rest from the sun. But we made it through. I’m looking forward to some down time in the off season. We need to recuperate.
Not much time for travel this year as Renata was pregnant, and on August 8 we had a beautiful baby girl with a full head of hair: Lillian Sofia. Delivered via c-section, because she was in the Frank Breech position. For those of you who know diving, that’s basically the pike position. So we’re hoping she’s going to be aquatic just like daddy. She was 20 inches long and 7 lbs. 9 oz. at birth. She’s now 2 months old and 23 inches long and almost 12 lbs. I will send you some pictures of Lily so you can put them in the newsletter. She is our precious angel. We are so blessed to have a happy and healthy baby. Praise God for that!
We have also been very fortunate to have Renata’s mom and dad alternate staying with us for the first few months to help with cooking and baby care. We plan to take her abroad during the winter so she can visit with the rest of Renata’s family in Europe. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that she will travel well. We don’t want to be “that couple” with the screaming baby on the plane.
Hope everyone is doing well. Looking forward to reading about you in the upcoming newsletter.
Take care, Craig Sears
Class of 1993
Meredith C. Moore-Hansen
moore@eaglestrategies.com
404-459-2073
I competed in six triathlons this spring and summer and kept seeing Courtney Moorman throughout the season. My practice is still going well and picking back up since I’ve been back 110% at work. Medically, things couldn’t be better. I still live life day to day, though. My son Erik and my husband Keith are also doing great. My story was recently featured in Newsweek. In fact, the photo they used was from the Alpharetta Dynamo pool. I’ve also been doing a good bit of motivational speaking, as well.
Arika Urich Dickens
arikadickens@yahoo.com
Hello Alums, Well, let's see. Life has certainly changed in the last year, and for the better. This past June, Scott and I welcomed our daughter, Juliet Maeve, into our lives. The answers we most commonly give regarding her: yes, we're sleeping...yes, she's had blowouts...yes, she DOES have a lot of hair. Prior to her arrival, we moved a whopping 0.5 mile from a condo to a house and spent last winter transforming it from the House of Curry (use your imagination) into a lovely home. If I don't see another can of paint or piece of baseboard, it will not be too soon.
On the work-front, my school has been flexible and is allowing me to work 3 days a week as the librarian and stay home with Juliet for the other 2. It is a great set-up, though leaving Juliet at daycare is not easy. The whole "family" thing would be much easier if either of us had family in the area...but no such luck. Maybe we'll move back South one day...
In swimming news, I again coached the neighborhood swim team, working right up until Juliet was born.
I've also gotten back in the water recently – working out with the high school girls team once a week. This is the first time in a long time that I've enjoyed getting in the pool.
I think of y'all often, as I must have a Stingray-related dream every few months or so (or are they nightmares when you're swimming 10x400?). Hope all is well, and if you're ever in the Great Northwest, give me a call!
PS: The setting of the new chick-lit book Odd Mom Out (a quickie read) is the community where I work. The book was recently featured in Entertainment Weekly.
Bobby Mayhew
rsmayhew1975@hotmail.com
Hello Alums - Everything has gone well over the past year in NC. Married life is going well, but not much different from before. I guess you have to have kids for things to change much. My job is going very well. I just recently got promoted to Production Superintendent of one to the three operating areas at the plant. It is a lot more management work than before that is keeping me very busy, but I am enjoying it. In addition, I have gone back to school to again try and get my MBA. I am taking an online program through Drexel University with a concentration in Pharmaceutical Management. I am really enjoying the program, the professors and the classmates I get to work with from various Pharma backgrounds. Other than the new job and school, my wife, Kari, and I got to spend 5 days in Paris, France this past February. Kari was over there for work so I tagged along at the end for vacation. We had a great time even though the weather was a little spotty. We visited all the major sites - Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Versailles, etc. For me the two best parts of the trip was the food (especially the homemade desserts) and the catacombs (creepy but fascinating). This past spring and summer, I have ended up becoming a swim coach again to Kari off all people. Kari began competing in Triathlons this past spring and I have been teaching her how to swim. She is actually doing very well and has dragged me off my spot on the couch to begin training. That pretty much sums up this past year. I hope everyone is doing well and take care.