Good Evening,
Dear Cleveland State Viking Swimming & Diving Friends and Family!
 
GIVING DAY: We are one week away from Giving Day!
 
Thank you to those who reached out already about planning a donation! Giving Day has transformed into a great opportunity for our program’s alumni, friends, & family to contribute to the continued success of Cleveland State Swimming & Diving! 

What can you do?  
  1. Give on Giving Day! Any donation, be it small or large, benefits our program!
  2.  Set up a matching gift: It's a great way to encourage others to donate and make your gift help even more! (Ex. Mr. X will match up to $4,000 for all gifts given from Noon to 4pm). Also, if your company also assists in matching gifts, let them be involved in the process! To see if your company matches gifts, you can visit https://www.supportcsu.org/how-to-give/matching-gifts for more details.
  3.  Donate game tickets, experiences, etc: We can use these as prizes giveaways throughout the day. (Ex. Anyone who donates $100 or more from 7am to 8am will be put in a drawing to receive two floor seats to an upcoming Cavs game).
 
 With your help, we are able to provide the resources and opportunities for our team to perform, train, compete, and thrive in the pool, the classroom, and in life.

Please contact me directly at 216.386.8067 to help in advance of Giving Day!
Where will your donations go?

Transformational Experience: Since taking over the program, we wanted to give the team a new look to go with our new culture. Ever hear of the phrase “look good feel good”? We bought new practice suits, dual meet suits, TYR backpack bags, swim caps, and tech suits for conference. Tech suits ALONE cost us $14,000. Jack Krusinski, sophomore, 3-time Horizon League Swimmer of the Week, and second-generation Viking said: “Our new matching warmups, suits and bags help convey our new team culture”. 
 
Lexie, Junior, team captain and school record holder said “Success starts with inspiration and being inspired to do something truly great. These donations show the swimmers and divers here at CSU that not only are we appreciated, but it also gives us the means to practice our expressiveness while transforming us into the unique athletes we are and to achieve amazing things.”

When I was being interviewed to take over this program, I told Scott Garret that “Results begin with Trust”. Task number one was hiring the BEST staff possible. The second task was bringing in Chris DeSantis, Positive Psychologist and Team Consultant to work on our Culture. 
Scholarships Another way you can help our program is to donate to one of our swimming and diving specific scholarships. If you choose to donate to one of these scholarships, you help guarantee the longevity of support we can provide in honor of Tom Smolinski, Frank Tilocco, and Busbey himself. 

Tom Smolinski Endowed Diving Scholarship

Tom Smolinski, one of CSU’s greatest divers and class of ’99 graduate, passed away from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in 2015. A strong, fun-loving individual, Tom is remembered as always having a smile on his face and a joke to share with his friends and teammates. Tom’s legacy lives on through a scholarship to honor his life and to strengthen the men’s and women’s swimming and diving program.

The Frank Tilocco, Jr. Memorial Scholarship
Frank Tilocco, Jr. was a dedicated member of the diving team who died in a car accident in 1981, when he was a sophomore. He’s remembered as a popular and loved member of the team. In remembrance of his love of diving and CSU, this scholarship is awarded to a student-athlete in the diving program at CSU.
 
The Robert F. Busbey Athletic Scholarship

Robert F. Busbey, 4-sport letterman and CSU’s first All-American, former Cleveland State University athletic director, vice president and head swimming coach impacted the University’s sports program, from 1946 – 1994, as only few men have at any collegiate institution. During his coaching tenure, he was named the 1964 U.S.A. assistant swim coach for the Olympic team, served as chairman of the NCAA swimming committee and was responsible for bringing five NCAA swimming and diving championships to CSU. Bob received the 1982 national collegiate and scholastic swimming trophy – one of the sports’ highest awards. Unanimously voted a charter member of the Cleveland State Athletic Hall of Fame, he devoted 49 years of his life to the school where he was educated and employed. The Robert F. Busbey Athletic Scholarship, funded primarily by former Busbey student-athletes, provides assistance to deserving member of the swimming and diving teams.

We are truly One Team and One Family . We need our family to donate on February 12th for Giving Day. Only have a little to give? Have a lot to give? Show your support. Give thanks back to the program that gave opportunities to you or to your loved ones. Please help make for a better present and future for our family. 
Below is an update on our most recent meets.
 
Michigan State & Oakland:

Friday January 24th we hit the road for BigTen Country. While we may have lost the meet, we put up a great show. Timmy won both the 200 Back (1:50.05) and the 400 IM (4:02.35). Dominic Niedzialek won the 100 Back (50.41) and the 500 Free (4:39.62). Matt Martin won the 200 Fly (1:53.49) and Jack Krusinksi won the 200 Breast (2:03.29).
Emma was the lone event winner on the women’s side, winning the 1-meter and was runner up on the 3-meter.
Rachel Contich and Lexie Kostelnik went 2-3 in the 1,000 (10.29.77 and 10.36.3). Madi Jaszcz was runner up in the 100 butterfly (59.64) and Shaw Barney in third with 1:00.06.  Agnes Bahr and Sule van der Merwe went 2-3 in the 400 IM with 4:38.86 and 4:39.45.
 
The team was jovial, supportive, and tough in their racing. The best moment was Lexie finishing the 1,000 with a laugh and a smile after swimming the last 200 with her cap falling completely off her head!
 
For more details and full results:
 
The very next day we went into our rival’s house and put up our best efforts and comradery to date. After learning some of Oakland’s goals for the meet, the team was extra motivated. If you’ve never been to a meet where Oakland is competing, they chant “OU” after every race that they win. Since our goal was process oriented on winning our culture we decided to chant “Vikings” after EVERY race. The meet truly became about US. Swimming for teammates and family. Swimming for something bigger than trying to beat someone else. We truly won our culture AND we won big races.
 
Lexie was the lone female in the 1,000 and was 8 seconds faster than the previous night and won with 10:29.31. Even bigger context: Last year at this meet she was 10:44!
Rachel Contich won the 500 free (5:04.44).
Madi Jaszcz won the 100 backstroke (58.19).
Jack MacDonald won the 100 free (45.59).
Jack Krusinski won the 200 breaststroke (2:02.68!!!)
Emma Kerro and Matt Akers both won the 3 meter!
 
Runner ups included Rachel (200 free), Chuchu Yang (100 back), Dominic Niedzialek (100 Back), Jack Krusinski (100 Breaststroke), Stephanie Sipple (100 and 200 fly), and Dominic Poletta (50 free)
 
The meet ended on incredible highs. The women won the 400 free relay with a gutsy, bold, incredible anchor leg by Madi. She finished with 51.55 and her flat start best is only a 54!. Lauren Frank led off with 54.55, Rachel Contich 53.39, and Gabriella Marinelli 53.16.
 
The men were runner ups, but with huge swims as well. Dominic Poletta led off with 46.40, Nate Eberhardt 46.77, Tyler Stevenson 45.67. Jack MacDonald lit the pool on fire anchoring in 44.39! You would have thought we won the entire meet based on the cheering after those incredible relays.
 
For more full results check out:
Senior Day!

We celebrated our seniors with our final home meet of the season against Kenyon. I am so thankful for the leadership and perseverance of our seniors. They have bought into everything we have asked of the program and more. We are so lucky to have them! After the meet we had a luncheon where we featured our seniors in a 20-minute video made by Trevor Mahoney. It was a beautiful and touching memento for our seniors. Alumni Emma Flynn came and photographed the day for us. I am truly inspired by the creativity and engagement of our current student-athletes and alumni.
 
What’s Next?
Horizon League Championships! 
Hannah Burandt
Cell Phone: 216.386.8067 

PS - If you missed our January newsletter, its here: https://conta.cc/2NWjG7D
---------------------------- About This Email --------------------------
This email is being sent to CSU Swimming and Diving Friends and Alumni. 
If this email is a duplicate simply "reply" with "REMOVE-DUPLICATE"
in the subject line. If you no longer wish to receive team and alumni news "reply" with "REMOVE" in the subject line.
If this email arrived in your inbox by mistake please use the SafeUnsubscribe link below. Thank You.