Hey, Marlins!

Wow. We’ve had an awesome season! GREAT JOB parents, volunteers, and, most of all, swimmers. You guys are just amazing, and we, as your coaches, are so proud to teach you, represent you, and know you. Thank you for everything. It’s taken me a while to send this note out just because I’ve been so overwhelmed with emotion and with people’s kind words since the awards ceremony. This community is something very special, and I am very grateful to be part of it.

Week in Review:

We WON our meet against Eichler this past Saturday 263-206!! Wowza!!!! GO MARLINS!! It was so inspiring to get to do our loud fired-up cheer at the end of the meet (big thank you to Tyler Hodson for leading that cheer so well, and to previous GMCA coach John Neff who initially introduced that cheer to the Marlins), and a ton of fun when the swimmers pushed the coaches into the pool, ha! Later that day we had our awards ceremony, which was an awesome albeit an emotional event. :) It was really special for Coach Caleb and I to get to give the swimmers something that let them know how proud we are of them.

I am attaching the meet results to the bottom of this note. In other news, in our virtual champs we managed to snag third place! Woohoo, good job team!!! Here were the final scores:

1. Brookside 357
2. Saratoga Woods 347
3. Greenmeadow 302
4. Laurelwood 219
5. Eichler 167
6. Cupertino Hills 66

Parent Reminders:

Even though we had our last meet this past weekend, we still are running practices through the end of July!

If your swimmer wasn’t present at the awards ceremony, we have their trophies/medals waiting for them in the team shed! If you didn’t receive a goodie bag, there are extras in the lifeguard office. Let us know and we can get the awards/goodie bags out for you!

Listed below are the recipients of special Marlins’ awards.

Awards:

If you see your swimmer’s name on this list of special awards, please come pick up your special award!

Coach’s Award recipients:

6U

Kyle Zhang

Ben Balliet

7-8

Freyja Bozek-Lee

Rumi Ballagas

9-10

Eve Kaleba

Kelly Tao

11-12

Liani Ragade

Noah Kunder

13-14

Yardenne Sternheim

Parker Ballew

15-18

Emma Grant-Bier

Hugh O’Shaughnessy

Swimmers of the Season/Coach’s Award honorable mentions:

Avedon Lynch

Andrew Song-Liang

Keiko Tao

Maddie Andrikopoulos

Cat Thurman

Theo Purcell

Phoenix Lynch

Brooke Andrikopoulos

Reagan Mattson

Seneca Marasco

Jordan Wong

Charlotte Shoenen

Ellie Rassam

Ellie MacCannell

Iris Wang

Elizabeth Tanriverdi

Finnleigh MacCannell

Ella Tal

Riley Hill

Naomi Wang

Andersen Tanriverdi

Analiesse Schoenen

Brett Hodson

Roderick Van Breeman

Nessa Kmetec

Most Improved recipients:

6 and under

Vivienne Schoell

Aaron Lieuw

7-8

Matias Foldes

Noam Sternheim

9-10

Vincent Hopkins

Ameya Bonthu

11-12

Elizabeth Tanriverdi

Eamon O’Shaughnessy

13-14

Andersen Tanriverdi

Jules Nagayama

15-18

Oscar Germanow

Hannah Nusser

Sportsmanship award recipients:

This is what was read for these truly very special swimmers at the awards ceremony:

Both of these swimmers have been team leaders at Greenmeadow for a long time. Our first swimmer has consistently shown her dedication and perseverance both in and out of the water throughout her time at Greenmeadow. She is one of the hardest working people I know; I personally really admire her tenacity and commitment to the sport of swimming. This whole year, not just in this summer season, even back during our pandemic time trials in the fall and winter, this swimmer has made a point of cheering for all her teammates, even when it wasn’t required, even when she was the only one there. She is loyal, dependable, respectful, honest, and persevering. She is a leader on this team, and a true Marlin. Her kindness and support of her teammates is inspiring! However, for herself she has a high standard and can be hard on herself. I want us to take a second now to extend the same kindness and love this swimmer has shown to all of us back to her. Let’s let her know how PROUD we are of her, how much we appreciate her, and how awesome, strong, brave, and inspiring she is! Everyone, our first recipient of the Marlins 2021 Sportsmanship Award: Riley Hill!

Like Riley, our second Sportsmanship award recipient is also notable for his leadership qualities. This swimmer is extremely reliable, consistently showing up for his teammates as a cheerleader, supporter, friend, and all-around great guy. This whole year, I have watched this swimmer transform every practice group he’s been part of into a group of hard-working but also silly, fun, and kind athletes. This swimmer inspires his teammates to challenge themselves, and to bring their positive attitudes. It’s not a coincidence that this swimmer’s practice groups have turned out this way; people respond and are drawn to his friendly, cheerful, and hardworking presence. He just gets along with everyone! This swimmer is so reliable, so consistently hard-working, respectful, and kind that watching him practice makes me feel like it’s all worth it, that everything that’s hard and tough for me in this job is nothing compared to the joy of getting to know and coach swimmers like him. To me, this swimmer exemplifies what it means to be a successful swimmer and athlete because this swimmer understands what it means to be a successful person; kindness, friendliness, gentleness, generosity, honesty, bravery, perseverance, and spirit. These are qualities that will last him a lifetime, and that really inspire me. Everyone, please give a round of applause for our second recipient of the Marlins 2021 Sportsmanship award: Brett Hodson!

What to bring to practice:

Here’s what you’ll need to bring to practice:

• Mask (make sure to always wear a mask on deck and to remember to walk one-way around the pool!)
• towel/flip-flops/clothes
• Goggles
• Cap (recommended)
• Water Bottle (pre-filled)
• Kickboard
• Fins
• Pull buoy (optional)

Contacts:

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of the coaches:

Coach Tjasa Kmetec [email protected]

Coach Caleb Fenner [email protected]

Coach Malia Jefferson [email protected]

Thank you, everyone! Please let us know if you have any questions. :) Love you all!

Coaches Tjasa Kmetec, Caleb Fenner, Malia Jefferson