From: Laura Blair (sometimes known as the Wreckers #1 Fan)

To: SHS Sports Teams’ Coaches

I need your help by publicizing the Annual Star Walk, Roll & Stroll on May 6th. You can help by passing the information below on to your team’s Web Master:

Our own Laura Blair is at it again, working for a great cause, “STAR, INC.” The 7th Annual STAR Walk, Roll & Stroll will take place on Sunday, May 6th at Sherwood Island Park.

STAR serves more than 500 area families. Of those, more than 130 families receive early intervention services for their infants and young children. STAR supports 11 group homes and 16 apartments, assisting 87 individuals with independent living. STAR provides training and job placement to 236 adults.

For more information, visit the Star webpage.

To donate, please go to: Active.com

Last year, I raised $5,500 for this worthy cause. The SHS community led the charge with $4,000 in contributions! So, let’s get going Wreckers and support this worthy cause.

The voting is now open with your team as finalists for the Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week. Click to go to the Hearst News blog to vote. The ballot is open until noon on Wednesday (1/19).

Elizabeth Fry

Westport resident and record-shattering open water swimmer Elizabeth Fry has been nominated for the 2011 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.

The nomination recognizes Fry, 52, for “her dynamic spirit in helping others realize their open water dreams while she realizes her own potential in some of the most difficult swims in the world,” according to the sponsor of the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) awards, Open Water Source. In particular, the nomination recognizes Fry for the two “double crossings” she swam in 2011.

Last June, she set the double crossing record and became the only person to complete the unprecedented 35-mile Ederle Swim, swimming from Manhattan Island to New Jersey, and back. Her time of 11 hours, 5 minutes set the standard for both men and women, young and old. She then became the oldest person to complete the 42-mile double crossing of the English Channel in 24 hours, 39 minutes, with her return journey faster than the outgoing swim from England to France. This was her third attempt to complete the two-way crossing of the iconic Channel, having previously accomplished five successful one-way crossings. She wrapped up her 2011 season with a 13 hour, 25 minute, 25-mile crossing from Vermont, U.S.A. to Québec, Canada.

In addition, Fry has served as the long-standing director of the 25K Swim Across the Sound, one of the nation’s largest open water swimming events, which has raised millions of dollars for the St. Vincent’s Medical Center Foundation.

Fry trains with the Westport Swim Club, a Connecticut Masters team, which is coached by Staples Girls Swim coach Michael Laux. She began her swimming career in Long Beach, New York and attended Camp Akomak, a swim camp in Canada. As a teen in Westport, she swam for the Westport Weston Family Y Water Rats and Staples High School swim teams. Fry attended college at the University of Connecticut, where she was awarded the John Squires Award for the most improved swimmer as a freshman while earning a degree in Chemistry, and earned graduate degrees at Fordham University.

About the WOWSA Award

According to Open Water Source, the WOWSA award is meant to honor not necessarily the best athlete, but the individual who best embodies the spirit of open water swimming; possesses the sense of adventure, tenacity and perseverance for which open water swimmers are known; and has most positively influenced the world of open water swimming in 2011. This year’s award nominees include twelve women from nine countries. Awards also are given for Man of the Year and Performance of the Year.

Voting takes place online at Open Water Swimming from November 1 to December 31. The winner will be announced and honored on January 1 at the Global Open Water Swimming Conference.

For more information on Elizabeth Fry, visit here.

Click to cast your vote.

For the second year in a row, Staples Swimming has created a relay team that will Swim Across the Sound.

On August 6, 2011, five current and past Staples swimmers will participate in St. Vincent’s Hospital’s Swim Across the Sound, swimming 15.5 miles to raise money to support cancer patients.

Last year, the Staples team placed 14th with a four-person team and raised over $10,000. This year, the team has expanded to five swimmers who hope to beat both those achievements.

The Staples Swim Across the Sound team includes:

• Verity Abel
• Gabrielle Wimer
• Joss Abel
• Laurence Abel
• Kyle Bacon

The Staples team will swim in honor of Masato Sakaguchi – the four-year-old brother of Fairfield swimmers Miki, Tomoya, Toshi, and Miku — who passed away last July after a two-year battle with brain cancer. The Staples swimmers hope that one day children like Masato will be able to beat their cancer. That is why they ask you to support them. They would greatly appreciate any donation that you can make (no amount is too small).

Please click to contribute to their effort by credit card.

Thank you for your support.

For anyone interested in more water polo over the summer, there are a number of water polo camps in the Northeast, as well as California and other locales.  More local camps include the Naval Academy, Princeton, Brown , Harvard, Bucknell and Maryland. A good source of information is the waterpoloplanet.com website.  The  Greenwich YMCA also runs a year round water polo program.

Have a great summer!!

Anyone is welcome to come and give the season a last shot.  There will be a pick up game for anyone that shows up starting at 5:30 at the Staples pool.

Have fun!

Thanks to all for the dessert contributions!!

Congratulations to the 2011 Aquatics Scholar Athletes: Maddie Mafilios – Girls Water Polo; Stephanie Nussbaum – Girls Swimming; Zach Slater – Boys Water Polo and Scott Feder – Boys Swimming