The 2016-2017 Boys Ladue Horton Watkins High School Season begins Monday, August 1st with our first weekday practice from 7:00am-9:30am. Weekdays practices for the remainder of that first week August 2nd through August 5th will also 7:15am-9:30am with a Saturday practice August 6th from 7:45am-10:00am. Because team members must complete 14 days of practice before they are eligible to compete in any competition (MSHSAA rules), we will offer an optional Sunday practice August 7th from 2:30-3:30pm to those that anticipate that they might have trouble fulfilling that requirement before our first competition Thursday, August 25th due to practice conflicts.
CRITICAL NOTE: BEFORE any member can participate in any practice, a PHYSICAL and PARENT PERMISSION for MUST be filed with the Athletics Office at the high school. These forms must be dated on or after February 2, 2015 to participate and can be found by clicking the following link: http://lhwhs.ladueschools.net/athletics/ Jenifer Strohbeck (314-983-5421), Secretary to Sweeney La Barge (314-983-5406), Interim Director of Activities, will review each set of forms to be SURE that they are complete BEFORE you will be allowed to participate in any practice. PLEASE take care of this BEFORE Friday, July 29th (she will NOT be in the office until after our practice is nearly complete that Monday the 1st).
Since the PHYSICAL form requires a signature following a medical examination (usually by your primary doctor), please make advanced arrangements to have this form (specifically and ONLY the form from the LHWHS web site above) completed and filed well before the first day of practice; the Athletic Office will not allow any exceptions to the "no forms; no participate" policy.
The Athletic Office has assured us that they will maintain and update our Season Competition Schedule on ArbiterLIVE at:
http://www.arbiterlive.com/Teams/Schedule/3583398 (LHWHS will no longer be using Schedule Star anymore so please do not refer to it). Please consider this our most reliable schedule; if there is any question about it, please direct them to Head Coach Hap Gentry. Team members should make every effort to notify the coaching staff of any practice or meet conflicts as far in advance of the conflict as possible.
During the regular school year starting August 15th, our weekday practice schedule will be Monday through Friday from 2:45pm to 5:15pm at the Ladue Horton Watkins High School pool. In addition, there will be Saturday practices from 7:45am-10:00am at least through Saturday, September 17th if not the 24th as well (YTBD).
On Saturday, August 27th, our team will be hosting up to 16 area teams in the "Ladue Early Season Invitational." This event is our ONLY fundraiser for the team and requires the support of the parents as volunteers to help run the meet (as timers) and run concessions (selling food). While parents need only work for a portion of the day (usually only few hours), please mark your calendars in advance so we can all SHARE in the responsibilities as well as plan to see your son compete.
While this web site is clearly in the process of being revised after its first year of use last year, the above information should be enough to satisfy the immediate needs of those interested to join the team. If you have questions that have not been address here above, please feel free to write to Head Coach Hap Gentry at either his personal email at [email protected] or his Ladue school email at [email protected], or text him at 314-303-7284.
Additional Notes: July 11, 2016
The Ladue Horton Watkins High School pool is scheduled to be closed for maintenance starting Monday, July 18th through the first day of practice Monday, August 1st. While it is possible that the pool might reopen prior to plan, I am warning all not to plan on it, but if it reopens early, I will post here that it is available. Also, MSHSAA imposes a "dead period" during which coaches and athletes are not allowed to directly interact prior to the start of the new season. This period is for one week from Monday, July 25th through Sunday, July 31st which effectively means that the coaching staff can not have direct contact with athletes after Sunday, July 24th until the first day of practice Monday, August 1st.
So far this Summer, Coach Gentry has given private lessons to five swimmers/divers who will be members of the team this fall. If others would be interested in the same, please contact Coach Gentry using his email or cell phone (noted above). MSHSAA rules limit the number of days during which coaches and athletes can interact to 20.
The Bezzant's have graciously agreed to host our team breakfast on Saturday morning, August 20th at their house (22 Vouga Lane, 63131) directly after morning practice (7:45-10:00am). The boys "bond" over video games and much food. If you'd like to help our hosts, Andrea and Brandon, please contact Andrea at [email protected] (it will be MUCH appreciated)
Aside from our Ladue Invite on Saturday, August 27th, our schedule includes other Saturday Invitationals: Cape Girardeau on Saturday, October 1st; COMO on Saturday October 8th; and Lindbergh Saturday, October 15th. Given that Cape Girardeau is ~ 2 hours south, plans are being made to stay over night at a local hotel the Friday night, September 30th before mid-morning swimming warm-ups (divers will likely have their warmups between 3:00-6:00pm and the competition between 6:00-10:00pm on Friday the 30th so thewy will need to plan to go in advance of the swimming team). Also of note will be a Intra-Team Competition on Thursday afternoon, August 18th during regular practice time to host the "Blue-White Meet" before the Fall Pep Rally starting at 6:00pm. Directly after the Pep Rally, parents are invited to a brief Swim/Dive Team Parent Meeting to meet the coaches, discuss the season and answer any questions. The meeting usually starts at 7:00pm and last only 30 minutes; parents are encouraged to come to both the Pep Rally and the Parent Meeting. As a final note, our End of Season Banquet is not listed on the public calendar and is scheduled for Thursday, November 10th in the school cafeteria starting ~ 6:00pm.
Finally, I'd like to encourage parents and athletes to make plans to complete their PHYSICALS early. The PHYSICAL and PARENT PERMISSION forms must be filed with the Athletic Office BEFORE any athlete can participate in any sport activity. Jenifer Strohbeck in the Athletic Office will be available to receive these forms starting Monday, July 20th; it is my first season goal to have EVERYONE participating in the first day of practice. Only parents and athletes can achieve that goal for the TEAM; please make every effort to plan in advance.
Additional Notes: July 12, 2016
The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association of America (NISCA) All-American Scholar Team rankings are out today and all Ladue Aquatic teams ranked exceptionally well nationally for the 2015-2016 Academic school year. Over 344,755 students are involved in aquatics at the high school level in over 16,294 programs for boys’ and girls’ programs in the nation. Teams qualify for three levels of All-American Scholar Award status based on their average cumulative GPA: Bronze Level is 3.200-3.499; Silver Level is 3.500-3.749; and Gold Level is 3.750-4.000 (with 4.000 being the highest).
The Boys Swimming & Diving Team of 30 Varsity members achieved an Average Cumulative GPA of 3.689, earned the Silver-Level Award status, and ranked the 35th Best Scholastic Boys Team in the country out of only 124 Boys Scholar Teams that qualified for All-American status. Each Boys Scholar Team’s GPA and Award Level can be found at http://www.niscaonline.org/aalists/2016/scholarboys2016.htm
Varsity Members of the Boys Swimming & Diving Team are: Alex Benduski, Dixon Bezzant, Noah Blucher, Collin Connors, Shrey Dharnidharka, Noah Douaihy, Jacob Elliott, Cedrick Everaert, Avery Fredman, Luyi Gao, Michael Heins, Zachary Helmkampf, Joel Hsieh, Ayush Kaw, Yan-Alexander Kefalov, Noah Krause, Tom Liu, Nathaniel Marsters, Iyayi Ogbeveon, Michael Raskin, Joseph Rater, Reid Rogers, Reis Rosenbloom, Parkes Rowe, Collin Schott, Kenji Sherman, Jordan Smith, Austin Szweda, Lachlan Thompson, and Brandon Yan
Great Job, Varsity Team!
Additional Notes: July 25, 2016
Over the summer, Jacqueline Filardo and Michael Clay both informed me, with great regrets, that they would not be returning for the 2016-2017 Season. Having completed her degree in Teaching, Jacqueline returned to Kansas City, MO (home) to find her first teaching job while Michael determined that two aquatic seasons each school year was too much when starting a new family. We are SAD to loose them and wish them well (Michael will likely be at most of the meets running the timing system for which we are most indebted). That said, after many interviews and an exhaustive search to find replacements, our coaching staff is complete and I am VERY PROUD and EXCITED to announce Tony Ciaravino and Jacob Froeschner as our two new Assistant Coaches this year. Until just recently, Tony had been the Assistant Coach at Christian Brothers College (CBC) for 7 years and he has been an Age Group Coach with the CSP Tideriders Swim Club for nearly 10 years. While coaching with LHWHS this fall, Jacob will be in his second year as the Head Swimming Coach for Francis Howell Central having been an Age Group Coach with the Bridgeton Swim Club for 9 years, most recently as the Head Coach of the club. Both have extensive experience with high school swimming having both been qualifiers for the MO State Championships themselves. We are all excited to start the season and anticipate a GREAT SEASON to come!