Nitro Swimmer of the Week for April 23rd – 28th:
Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Anna Sanchez – We have been working very hard on butterfly and finding the right timing, Anna has risen above the expectations and impressed us all. Her hard work and dedication to swimming is easy to see when she is listening in class and more so when you see her put it to use in the water. Last week I challenged the kids to do a drill; 4 body waves with arms up, then pulling them down and doing 3 more body waves arms at their side, finishing it off with throwing their arms back to the front over the water with continuous body waves. This is a tough concept to understand and even more so when you are so young, but Anna rose to the occasion and did it flawlessly! Keep up the Fabulous work Anna!!
Bee Cave: Katherine “Laney” Kalsu – Laney has really been working on her listening skills in the last few weeks and it has really shown in her practices. She has been taking the initiative to ask the coaches questions or to just explain the drill again if she doesn’t understand something. Laney is also a great team mate. She is always happy to be at the pool working hard and is always nice to all her team mates. Great job Laney!
Bronze
Cedar Park: Karsten Olsen – Karsten has made some significant strides in his training over the last few weeks. We’re so proud of his solid technique and intrinsic motivation to do it right every time. Thanks for being part of the Bronze group, Karsten. You’re a terrific swimmer and a great kid! Keep up the good work!
Bee Cave: Hannah Griesmer – Hannah is a constant at Nitro. She is always smiling and eager to get better. She works hard in the water but also likes to have fun. She knows that swimming is about enjoyment as much as it is about discipline and hard work. Keep up the great work Hannah!
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Alyson Jia & Wiley Unruh – These two swimmers are a great addition to the NITRO team. They bring great energy to the pool, with attitudes to match. We have seen some great technique from these two, over the last few weeks. Great job you two, keep up the good work, thanks for being a part of NITRO, and we’ll see you at the pool.
Bee Cave: Isabelle Saquing – Little Isabelle shows up to practice with a tremendous amount of respect and discipline in the pool. Lately she has really stepped up her game during practice and the other swimmers are feeding off of it. She may be a little shy at times but her swimming speaks enough for her. Huge improvements in streamline work and backstroke. Keep up the great work!
Silver
Cedar Park: Avery Chan – Avery has done a great job improving his swimming since coming back from an injury. He swam really well at the UT Kickoff meet and is making his back to a high swimming level. Bright future for Avery this summer, keep up the hard work!
Bee Cave: Olivia Mazzei – Olivia has been making big improvements every week at swim practice because of her strong desire to learn & swim faster! She is a fun loving, energetic kid, which makes it so easy to coach her! Keep up the great work Olivia!
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park: Nick Nerhood & Kim-Nhi Ngo – Nick has made great strides in his streamlining and underwater swimming this week. He’s consistent every time he pushes off the wall and it’s starting to pay off! Kim-Nhi found her stride in practice this week, who knew she was a distance freestyler? She was outstanding in each and every freestyle set we did all week. Great job Nick and Kim-Nhi!
Bee Cave: Evan Margiotta – Evan is a new addition to the advanced silver group having just moved up from silver a month ago and, I must say, he has really taken to the spirit of the group. Both he and Ethan Bernice are National Junior Honor Society hopefuls and I love having swimmers in the group who are balancing their athletics with their scholastics and are looking to achieve excellence in both. Keep up the great work!
Gold
Cedar Park: Max Jones – Max has really worked as hard as he possibly could over the past few weeks, he makes everyone smile but he knows exactly when to pay attention and focus on the task at hand. On top of all his swimming success this weekend he finished first in his age group at triathlon. Super proud of his swimming over the past few weeks.
Bee Cave: Elizabeth Padon – Elizabeth is one of the hardest workers our Gold group has. She never misses an interval or miscounts a set. Her attitude is always positive & happy. She is a born leader & excels in any task she is given! Elizabeth is a joy to coach. Keep up the great work Elizabeth!
Swimmer of the Month for April:
Cedar Park
High School Training: Seon O’Grady – Since joining the group Seon has done a great job improving her swimming proficiency, and learning more and more what she is capable of. She works extremely hard from warm-up through warm down, and is a great addition to the group. Looking forward to what she will do in the coming weeks at swim meets. She is setting herself up for an outstanding summer and fall. Keep on keeping on Seon!
TAGS 2: Rae Lynn Friesz – Rae has done a great job this season, staying focused on her goals and putting together solid workouts on land and in the water. A string of great sets leads to a great workout, and a string of great workouts lead to a great season, so Rae is set up for a great summer!
TAGS 1: Nick Milikich – Nick has attended 100% of the TAGS1 practices for April and consistently works hard at every practice.
Senior: Tyler Smits – Tyler recently moved into our group, up from the Gold group and has really taken the move as an opportunity to grow. Tyler regularly steps up to the challenge of the Distance group when we split up to train and we, as coaches have been really impressed with his efforts day in a and day out. Thanks for making the group better, Tyler!
Sectional: Gus Whiteman, Kathleen Rousset & Meaghan Rousset – Gus had a great meet at the TXLA Kick-Off meet. He swam seven events and had seven best times and won two events in his age group. Gus got both Sectional cuts in his 100 & 200 Backstroke. Gus has demonstrated an ever increasing work ethic and generally leads a lane through long sets. Gus is starting to “get it” that he is a talented swimmer and has a future at the national levels of swimming. It was just a great month for Gus. At the TXLA meet both Meghan and Kathleen made sectional cuts in the 200 Breaststroke, finished in the top eight with some very talented national qualifiers. The twins bring their best effort every night. I feel very fortunate to get to watch these two young breaststrokers as they develop into national level swimmers. They seem to get better almost every night in the pool. Nitro has had some great breaststrokers like Zach Gunn and Sydney Tan who had great feel for the water and these two young ladies are right in that mold. They both appear to be mild mannered young women but neither likes to lose to each other or anyone else.
Bee Cave
Senior 2: Jarod Sargent – Another newcomer to Nitro who had a great first month of practices. Steadily working himself back into shape, Jarod exhibited great persistence as he accepted various challenges in practices. Welcome to Nitro & keep it up!
Senior 1/TAGS: Maggie Taylor – Welcome to Nitro Maggie Taylor! Outstanding first meet with us at UT preceded by some eye popping practices. Great work Maggie & welcome!
National Group Swimmer of the Month for April: Maddie Edwards is our winner for April as Maddie really turned up her training a few notches while maintaining her first month of perfect attendance. It is very obvious to the swimmers and coaching staff when a swimmer really takes their overall training and performance level up—- as it can be seen in attitude, demeanor, confidence and actual training and racing results. Maddie has her sights set on Omaha and being a student-athlete at a great university and this month it was clear for all to see she is on a mission. Great job Maddie—keep it up and bring others with you!