Swim and Dive Teams

The pride of Raccoon Valley are the Masked Bandits – our kids Swim & Dive teams. Both are open to RVSC members up to age 18, and both offer great competition, great traditions, and great fun. For more information on each, including how to join, please see the About the Swim Team and About the Dive Team pages, or explore the links at left. Catch Us If You Can!

Here's the latest team news and information:

Kelsey Sorensen capped a terrific undefeated season by winning the 13-14 Girls 50m Backstroke gold medal at Suburban Championships this weekend. Sean Minderlein and Ali Bennett took a pair of silver medals along with the 8&Under Boys Freestyle Relay of Jack Gable, Griffin Reddington, Colin McKenzie, and Robert Wagner. Robert and Griffin won individual bronze medals too, joined by Mary Wagner and the relay quartet of Kelsey, Ali, Sarah Whiteman and Melissa Postoll. In all, the Bandits earned 73 Top Twelve placings, and the 15-18 Boys broke both of their relay records one last time. Great job, everyone; see you at the team banquet on Tuesday night.

If you're waiting for those official Peach Bowl results we promised you, get in line. There were quite a few issues with the electronic timing system at GCIT on Tuesday, so the final placements are still under review. Brookside was announced as the winner, with Green-Fields a close second and Whitman Square, Greenwood Park and RVSC in a tight cluster for third through fifth.
    However, we can tell you that our IT department can't count – the Bandits didn't win nine gold medals, they won thirteen! That's our best total ever by far. Hats off to our Gloucester County Champions: Ali Bennett, Lindsey Straga, Sean Minderlein, Robert Wagner, Colin McKenzie, Kelsey Sorensen, Kyra Schwerzler, Mary Wagner, Julia Kotyla, Nolan Lea, Megan Reidenauer, and the double-winning relay of Ali, Kelsey, Melissa Postoll and Sarah Whiteman! Congratulations also to our record breakers, and to the entire Bandits' team who made this our best and most enjoyable Peach Bowl ever...no matter where we finished! (And, congrats to our neighbors at Brookside for their great accomplishment.)

The Masked Bandits ever-growing dive team had their best season ever, capped by a gutsy gold medal performance by Hannah Maloney in the 12-13 Novice Girls 3-meter division. Who says you need two healthy feet to dive? – great job Hannah! Off the 1-meter board, plenty of Bandits had Top Ten finishes too: Demi Trace (16-19 J.O. Girls, 2nd), Jay Soukup (9&Under Novice Boys, 2nd), Nick Falconi (12-13 J.O. Boys, 3rd), Hannah Maloney (12-13 Novice Girls, 4th), Gina Straga (14-15 J.O. Girls, 5th), and Nediva Levine (9&Under Novice Girls, 5th). Olivia White, Carole Trace, Sami Fredericksdorf, and Gigi Maloney also qualified for Championships this year. Congratulations to coach Natalie Doebler and the diving Bandits for a super season.

The Raccoon Valley record board always looks a little bit nervous in late July, and with good reason. The Masked Bandits lately have been using it for target practice at the Peach Bowl. We're still waiting for the official numbers, but we think another seven team records fell tonight: five relays and two individuals. Plus, the Bandits won, by our count, nine gold medals on the night! We'll fill in the details tomorrow — great job, kids and coaches!

What do you get when you combine smiles, cheers, flowers, war paint, and the world's largest water-filled latex glove (don't ask), mix well, and bake for three hours at 95°? Raccoon Valley's first Olympic Division trophy in 14 years! In the final dual meet of the season, the Bandits defeated the Ramblewood Tiger Sharks for the first time ever, 356-206, earning themselves a third-place finish in the Suburban League. Dylan Regan, Julia Kotyla, Kelsey Sorensen and Sean Minderlein won five blue ribbons apiece, and Sean joined Corey Hardesty, Shane Tubb and John Straguzzi in breaking both 15-18 Boys' relay records. The Bandits also honored graduating senior Nate Grant, and we finished the day with a wild Parents/Alumni relay race that ought to ensure that the Mullica Hill CVS will be sold out of Ben-Gay and Advil tomorrow. Next on the schedule: the 39th annual and always-awesome Peach Bowl on Tuesday evening!

It figures: the summer that gas is $4 a gallon is also the one that the Suburban League sends Raccoon Valley to Mt. Laurel, Vineland, and Westampton in consecutive weeks. Still, the Masked Bandits made the most of their final l-o-n-g road trip of the season by returning from Tarnsfield with a 326-239 win over the Torpedoes. Nolan Lea led the way with five wins. It was a fun, spirited, and hugely entertaining morning (Tarnsfield are awesome hosts), and the score was close until the Bandits made a big move in the breaststroke events. The dual meet season concludes Saturday against the Ramblewood Tiger Sharks, with third place in the Olympic Division at stake...and, thank heavens, this one's at RVSC!

If your job is to bring relief to drought-stricken areas, the surest way to do this is to schedule an evening swim meet between the Masked Bandits and the Vineland Dolphins. For roughly the 200th straight year that Raccoon Valley made the trip down Route 55, a line of thunderstorms rolled through in the middle of the meet, forcing a postponement. The result will go into the books as a win for Vineland. Next up: a road trip to Westampton on Saturday to take on the Tarnsfield Torpedoes.

New in the Swim/Dive section: an up-to-date Masked Bandits Leaderboard of the top swimmers in every event dating back to 1998, and organized by stroke and age group. Many of our team records are virtually unbreakable (unless we clone the Leupolds!), but making it into the Top 12 for an event is a much more attainable goal for our swimmers, and it's still a real honor. The Leaderboard section is for RVSC families and coaches only, and you can get the password from Coach Karen.

Divers and parents: note that the second Gloucester County qualifier meet has been moved from this Sunday, July 13th at Old Orchard to next Tuesday, July 15th at Brookside. The Dive Schedule page has been updated to reflect this.

It came down to the final relay, but the judges (us) ruled that the Masked Bandits edged out a narrow victory over the Larchmont Barracudas in the annual battle between the two ultra-spirited teams over who can cheer the loudest during the Free Relays. Oh, you mean you want to know the swimming results? That'd be Larchmont 377, RVSC 188. The Barracudas are truly outstanding this year - wow! But, the Bandits had a super day in terms of time drops and strong performances up and down the roster, and Larchmont were fun and gracious hosts as always. Next up: a night meet at Vineland on July 9th.

In a meet that was close from start to finish, the Masked Bandits kicked off the 2008 season with a 304-261 home win over the always-tough Chartwell Dolphins. The morning concluded with a bang, as the 15-18 Boys broke the team record in the 200m Open Freestyle Relay with a 1:48.09 – congratulations John Straguzzi, Corey Hardesty, Shane Tubb, and Sean Minderlein. Shane and Sean broke the record set last year by big brothers Mike and Kevin, respectively. (In fact, the last three groups of boys to hold this record has included a different Minderlein, beginning with eldest brother Jason. We like to keep things in the family here at Raccoon Valley.) Next up, a road trip to Larchmont.

We've updated the practice schedule for the week of June 16th; there are a few unusual starting times early that week so be sure to check it out. In addition, we've posted the extensive Masked Bandits Social Calendar for 2008, including all of the red carpet events that put Hollywood to shame and swim parents in therapy. Find it all on the Swim Schedule page.

Be sure to pick up the coolest formalwear of the season: the latest catalog of shirts and sweats for the Raccoon Valley Swim Team is now available. We'll have an online page up shortly, featuring runway photos of the gear being presented by the extremely cute cast of America's Next Top Pint-Sized Model, but until then you can download the order form and send it to Lisa Straga () directly with your check.

The pool hasn't even opened for 2008 yet and we're already talking about 2009? We like to think ahead here at RVSC. At the end of this swim season, three positions will be opening up on the Aquatics Committee: President, Vice President, and Treasurer. Parents interested in any of these spots should contact Drew McEvoy at .

The 2008 Masked Bandits Dive Team registration form is now online on the About The Dive Team page, and you'll find the meet schedule (minus start times, which we don't have yet) on the Dive Schedule page. We've also posted the usual 2008 SSA Waiver Form from the Suburban Swim Association, which needs to be completed and returned before your child may participate in a meet this summer.

Attention all Masked Bandits: The 2008 Swim & Dive Team Registration Night will be Tuesday, May 6th, from 6pm to 8pm at Harrison Township School (the K-2 Gym.) The folks from Metro Swim Shop will be there too to take swimsuit and equipment orders. The registration form and the Parents Committee's official Pre-Season Letter are now online on the About The Swim Team page.

The Suburban Swim Association hasn't officially released its 2008 schedule yet, but through some detective work on other teams' websites, we've pieced together Raccoon Valley's dual meet slate. The Bandits will kick off the season at home against Chartwell on June 21st, then make road trips to Larchmont, Vineland, and Tarnsfield before closing at the friendly confines of Church & Eric against Ramblewood on July 19th. That would put the Peach Bowl on Tuesday, July 22nd and Suburban Championships (hosted by Haddon Township this year) the weekend of the 26th. The meets normally held on July 4th weekend will instead be on Wednesday, July 9th.
    All of this is tentative and subject to change, so keep checking RVSC.org for updates. See the Swim Schedule page for complete details.

...that raccoons can dive as well as swim? The Masked Bandits dive team qualified 11 swimmers for the South Jersey 1m Diving Championships, and two Bandits earned gold medals: Ryan Allen (U9 Boys) and Demi Trace (14-19 Girls)! Congratulations to them and to all of our terrific qualifiers: Chrissy Costill, Nick Falconi, Nediva Levine, Carolyn Loudermilk, Hannah Maloney, Harper Patsko, silver medalist Gina Straga, Carole Trace, and Amanda Ott (who doubles as the Bandits' assistant coach.)