Swimmers of the Week for May 14th – 19th:
Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park:Jordan Beaty– Jordan had gone from being quite timid to volunteering before she knows what exactly she is jumping up and down for. She has overcome challenges of fear and cold, flip turns and goggle malfunctions, to swimming more than two lengths of the pool without stopping. Jordan has done a great job improving her listening skills and in turn her swimming skills have improved greatly. She is also very welcoming to our new swimmers, always ready to be a demonstrator. Jordan, keep up your great work!
Bee Cave:Aihika Mitra– In the few months that Aihika has been with us, she has had a steady improvement. I can hardly recognize her as the same swimmer that I met just a short time ago. This last week we were really working on the fundamentals of backstroke getting our body positions and rotations down. This is something that requires constant body awareness in the water. Aihika was one of the few swimmers who was able to maintain great body alignment, not only in the drills but also in the completed backstroke. That takes consistent focus and hard work. Keep up the awesome work!
Bronze
Cedar Park:Autumn Matula– For her champion attitude and effort during last weekend’s Long Course Nitro at the Races. Autumn’s meet got off to a rocky start when she lost a tooth in the middle of warm-ups! Nevertheless she refocused and swam crazy fast! The coaches were impressed with her determination and maturity all day, race after race. Thanks for being awesome Autumn!
Bee Cave:Maddy Oleary– Maddy always has a smile on her face. She works hard, is clearly competitive, but also knows when to listen and when to concentrate on her strokes rather than speed. Maddy is new to Nitro but I see her improving every day and look forward to seeing her get faster and faster. Keep it up Maddy!
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Jack Shields and Robin Smithson – Robin is really a pleasure to have in our T/F group. She brings a great attitude and energy to the pool. Jack has been with the T/F group for a while, and this summer will be moving up to the SILVER group. He’s put in a lot of hard work this past month. Great job you two, thanks for being a part of NITRO, and we’ll see you at the pool.
Bee Cave:William Buchanan– Will has been with us at Nitro for quite some time. He has always been a pleasure to have in class. His class act character and sense of humor makes him great to coach. He has really stepped it up recently and the coaches have noticed the extra fire in him at practice. Keep up the great work Will!
Silver
Cedar Park:Emma Greene– Emma has really stepped it up over the last week and it showed at the UT meet this weekend. She has some great swims and showed a lot of improvement. Keep the hard work up Emma!
Bee Cave:Tyler Quintana– Tyler always maintains a happy, positive attitude & sets a great example for her silver peers. She consistently leads her lane, and is always striving to be better. Her fast swimming, great work ethic & awesome attitude has earned her a spot in Advanced Silver this summer!! Keep up the great work Tyler!
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park:Kaylie Pasquino– For the first time all season she made every part of the Saturday set! It’s great to see her hard work pay off with this accomplishment. Great work this week Kaylie!
Bee Cave:Smriti “Sue” Rai– Smriti or “Sue” as she likes to be called, has been with Advanced Silver only a short time. In that time, I have noticed her great attitude and determination to improve. Despite an injury which has kept her pulling the last couple of weeks, she is has been positive, energetic and focused. Having moved up recently, Smriti is at the beginning of the endurance curve as she acclimates herself to the new level. I know that this stage can be frustrating, especially when an injury has seemingly thrown up a road block. That said, I have seen Smriti’s response as one of determination, focus and a general attitude that will not be dampened by frustration. Sue, you are doing a great job, keep it up!
Gold
Cedar Park:Matti Friesz – Matti had a really amazing weekend, swimming great times and capping it off with her first two ever TAGS cuts in the 100 Butterfly and Backstroke. We are really proud of her and cannot wait until we get to see her continue to succeed.
Bee Cave:Gregory Raper– Gregory has stepped it up in a major way these last few weeks. By increasing his tempo, and an overall change in his training approach, Gregory has made impressive, drastic results. In this week’s 400 IM test set, Gregory dropped 1 minute off his time from last month’s 400 IM time. WOW!! Keep it up Gregory, good things are coming your way!