Our Last Swimmers of the Week/Month for 2012:
Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park:Joaquin Herman- Joaquin is always smiling and energetic from the beginning to the end of practice. Working hard is fun with Joaquin in the water, great listening skills and demonstrations really set Joaquin above the rest! Keep up the great work mister!!!
Bee Cave:Michael Wustrau– Michael has had an excellent few weeks. He has really stepped up his game in all areas. He has gotten better at listening and paying attention. Which has improved his technique tremendously, because he is putting my words into action. Michael has also been working harder during the kick sets, which is also sling shooting his swimming to another level. Amazing Job, Michael!
Bronze
Cedar Park: All the Swimmers who made practices during the Christmas break – We had several swimmers who attended practices during the Christmas break, all of these swimmers did a great job training and improving their skills. Good job to all of you!!!
Bee Cave:Sam Beiter – Sam has been 100% this week with attendance, attitude, and effort. He is really shining in the bronze group and earning a leadership role while being humble. Sam is truly committed to becoming a better athlete, keep it up!
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park:Arianna Frederick and Michael Taylor – Arianna has really been swimming well over the holidays. She’s gotten her head down on her butterfly and her backstroke technique looks amazing. Michael has really taken a shine to his IM (Individual Medley). It’s fast, efficient and legal. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO, and we’ll see you at the pool.
Bee Cave:Will Kamm– Will came into practice with a ton of energy, partly to do with the holiday season. He thrived from our break down of butterfly this week. Drastic improvements were made in his butterfly. His timing of his kick, breath, and pull are all coming together nicely. His butterfly seems to be effortless. Keep up the great work Will!
Silver
Cedar Park: Mckenzie Hunninghake –Mckenzie is a very consistent swimmer. She is always leading her lane and is always impressing Coach Bob and I. She works hard and listens well and is really learning to push herself beyond her limits and is growing into a better swimmer every day. Keep it up Mckenzie!!!
Bee Cave:Aidan Berryman– When we have combined Silver Groups during the Holidays the numbers are up but now I get to see all the swimmers at the same time and Aidan was a clear step above, working right along side the best Silver swimmers at Bee Cave. He has shown great improvement in turns and streamlines, but how well he executes stroke changes and improved stroke pacing is what makes him swimmer of the week. Nice job Aidan!
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park:Lucy Paratore– Lucy has discovered a new passion for distance freestyle and has been absolutely awesome in practice. Her new found kicking skills are taking her to the next level and we are enjoying it every day!!
Bee Cave:Jacob Ward– Jacob is a hard worker and has a fierce since of competition. I like it when kids want to lead their lanes and push their teammates to excel. However, it is easy to fall into the trap of wanting to lead so badly that you neglect your strokes or abandon a drill all together. It is frequently the case that some swimmers will be better at drills targeting one skill over another necessitating the exchange of leadership throughout a practice. Not only does this give different people a chance to lead, it reminds us that we all have things to work on. This week Jacob did a great job of maintaining integrity in his drills and I saw a conscious effort to change his streamlines and breakouts. Well done Jacob!
Gold
Cedar Park: GOLD 100%s– All those swimmers who made all of the Christmas training practices, an extremely dedicated group of swimmers. Not flinishing once at our more difficult sets just finding a way to push through them. Great job keep it up!!!
Bee Cave:Clayton Meyer– Clayton has been working very hard on his stroke improvement which is no easy chore during a week where the holiday training has increased by so much, but it has been his improved focus on the little things, streamlines, no breath first stroke up, no breath in the red zone, and all done with a quiet smile. Keep going Clayton!
Swimmer of the Month for December 2012:
Cedar Park
High School Training: Preston Bleasdell. Preston has set his eyes on the prize and is turning up his game, working harder than ever! Discovering new ways to motivate himself I practice while making corrections Preston ha been doing a great job setting himself up for a great 2013!! Keep on “doing better”!
TAGS 2:Hannah Milikich- Hannah has been very consistent with her practice attendance. Her attendance is also including attending dry-land practices (just before practice). She has worked hard and consistently shown improvements in her technique and therefore resulting in better times. Hannah is an emerging leader in the TAGS 2 group and often steps up to lead the lane when necessary. She helps motivate her teammates by pushing through on tough sets.
TAGS 1: Rae Friesz.Rae is one of the few 12 year olds (for 1 more day at least) in TAGS1. Rae swims every lap of every practice. She is very consistent and does a good job managing the interval lane that she swims in to get the most out of every practice. She started out the month dropping almost 8 seconds in her 200 Back at the Jingle Bell Splash, putting her only 3 seconds from the TAGS cut. If she keeps up the consistent training there is no doubt that she will make some TAGS cuts this season, even though she ages up within a few months of TAGS.
Senior:Sarah QuinteroSarah Quintero has been very consistent with her practice attendance. Sarah is the most consistent participant of our Saturday morning dry-land practices. She continues to work hard and show improvement in her swimming and race strategies. Since the beginning of the short course season, Sarah has worked her way up to lead the lane. Sarah continues to motivate her team mates with a general overall pleasant attitude and dedication to work hard.
Sectional:Szilvia Haide and Klarissa Lu– They both have worked very hard. Their personal best seems to only last until their next swim. They cannot be ignored with the great strides they are making to be Sectional level swimmers.
Bee Cave
High School Training:Rachel Kingery– Rachel has an awesome attitude, every time she is at practice she is there to work and she gives %100 effort the whole practice. She knows what it feels like to swim tired and push through the pain. To leave practice knowing that you gave it your all. That’s what makes a champion that kind of spirit. Keep up the great work!
TAGS:Maggie Jukes – Maggie earned her first 13-14 year old TAGS cut in the 100 Breaststroke at the UT December meet. While Maggie swims in high school, she still has pushed herself to elevate her training – and meet performances! – with Nitro. After several attempts, our resident oceanographer made her individual 13-14 TAGS cut. Congrats Maggie!
Senior:Jack Cornish– Jack’s training has stepped up to a very high level this entire month. Something has clicked inside of him and he’s been on a roll all of December. He went from laying back in the the group to leading the group in a matter of weeks. At certain sprint sets he has been clocked in his 100’s off the block as fast as 54 and holding 56’s! Very impressive Jack. His times are not what got him swimmer of the month. It’s his consistent attendance and effort in the pool. He brings up the entire group. The group usually holds an average of 1:10’s on 100’s, but now that Jack is pushing himself and his teammates I’ve been clocking them in the low 1:00 marks. His smile is infectious that is noticeable to the entire deck. Coach Mike and I also nominate his hair as the best on deck! Jack is making giant strides to obtaining several more Sectional cuts at our New Years Classic meet at UT. He has a very bright championship season coming in the new year. Keep up the great work Jack we’re all very excited and proud of you!
Sectional:Regan Barney– Regan started off the month with a great performance at the COR meet (more NCSA cuts!), followed by NCSA Bonus cut in an ‘off’ event – the 200 Breaststroke – at the December Jingle Bell meet. In addition, she is challenging herself with harder intervals, more underwater work, & better stroke technique. Regan is moving herself to another level and her performances both at practice and at meets demonstrate the merging of ability and consistency. Congrats Regan!
National Group: Lauren Thompson is this month’s winner for NG. Lauren had a spectacular meet at UT earlier in December doing best times in 5 events and really setting herself up well for Junior Nationals in March. LT has taken the confidence she gained from that meet and applied it to her training taking that to new levels and helping to make the swimmers around her better. LT has had a super month and really changed not only her season but her entire career as she has gone next level through her training and racing. Congrats LT and keep it up…Orlando is 80 days away!