Swimmer of the Month for March 2017
Cedar Park
Sectional Development: Vladimir Volobouev
Vlad has been swimming for both his high school and Nitro this past season, working towards some great backstroke and freestyle improvements. He culminated his season with a fantastic 50 freestyle at STAGS at the beginning of March, managing to qualify himself for the Senior Zones meet coming up at the end of the Summer season. Since we’ve been back at it for the Spring/Summer season Vlad has already made a commitment to being at practice and spending time improving his techniques at practice. He has made it very clear he wants to improve even more through his actions and deeds every day at the pool. Congrats Vlad you deserve it! —Coach Dan
Senior: Cameron Zapalac
Last week in practice Cameron asked me how he could make his freestyle faster. I gave him a couple pointers regarding body line and told him that if he focused on those things every day he would see improvement. Cameron said he would do it, and true to his word it became evident immediately he was focused on his body position and rotation. Any time a swimmer asks how they can be faster/better/improve is a nice moment for a coach because it means that swimmer is engaging in very thoughtful training. For this reason I chose Cameron to be the Senior swimmer of the week, but it is also coupled with a very tough last week of training that he put in. I threw some very difficult challenges at the group and he stepped up to each one. Keep it up Cameron! —Coach Dan
TAGS 2: Kendall Strauss
Kendall’s attitude and work ethic set the standard for our group & helped move the whole team toward success this season. This young lady impressed her coaches on her way to earning her TAGS cut in the 50 & 100 Backstroke. Kendall’s determination and drive were evident as she worked hard to get all the details right and earn a chance to compete at the TAGS meet. Great job Kendall and keep up the good work. —Coach Daniel
TAGS 1: Landon Alarcon, Shannon Bagnal, Emily Burchett, Lauren Chaney, Trisha Filimoehala, Anastasia Fleming, Bryce Flynn, Corby Furrer, Ana Herceg, Joseph Hunninghake, Sydney Johnson, Joshua Louie, Karsten Olsen, Sophia Rivas, Shreyush Shankar, Rylee Worley & Karen Yin
This was a fantastic group to coach to the TAGS meet. I am beyond proud of what all of these swimmers have accomplished. From the girls winning the 400 Free Relay to the Boys winning multiple both the 800 Free & 400 Free Relays on their way to setting new TAGS records in both. And coming away with the 13/14 Boys High Point, the combination of our CP boys with all the BC boys made for a really successful TAGS meet. Look forward to what this group is capable of during Long Course, as only two of them aged up. —Coach Flo
National Development: Tai Lun Zhang
Tai, this past month has continued his training to compete in Canada Games and also showed some mad 4-Square skills during spring break. I have been super impressed with his willingness to make changes and push his teammates to work really hard. He is always showing up with a great attitude and wanting to learn. Keep up the great work! We are looking forward to having you back with the group! —Coach Jeremy
Bee Cave
HS/MS Training: Alice and Kevin Huang
Alice and Kevin have made some really great progress over the past few months. What I’ve been the most impressed with is their underwaters. No matter the distance we are swimming, I always see them pushing off in a tight streamline and doing great dolphin kicks. Coaches call underwaters the fifth stroke. That’s how important the are, and Alice and Kevin have does such a great job understanding that. I have also seen an improvement in their four strokes, which I am very happy to see. Excellent work, Alice and Kevin! —Coach Peter
Senior: Trinh Nguyen
Trinh is just the hardest worker in the pool, but it’s not just show up and go as hard as you can, she listens, makes changes, tries different things all the time. If you watch a set you may see that one person has opted to use a snorkel while sprinting or leaves the snorkel on for some recovery work and that person is Trinh. She is exploring how to improve her pace work, this is something we talk about all the time, but she is also the one person who steps out of her comfort zone at meets to test her training. So many young swimmers fear the thought of adding time to an event so they never really go after the race, Trinh pushes her racing ability every day so when we go to a meet I can always expect her to push the limits of her training. She is the one swimmer I can count on to give me direct feedback in a meet as to what adjustments can be made in the training. This drive she has in her swimming is one reason why she is such a focused student and displays great drive in everything she does! Great job young lady! —Coach Chuck
TAGS 2: Logan Walker, Morgan Rodriguez, Taylor Ashbaugh, and Sydney Rawie
Man am I going to miss you guys, but man oh man am I so very proud of the work and commitment you guys have put in over the past month and short course season. I could talk for paragraphs about all of your achievements in the water, but most importantly I want you to know how proud I am of the team mates you were while in TAGS 2. The energy you brought to practice each day made my life just a little bit better, and you guys raised the bar for all of your team mates! I loved every single dance party, high five, and smile Ive experienced with you guys! Keep rocking it for Nitro. —Coach Allison
TAGS 1: Mia Thompson
I’m a strong believer that the only way to SUCCESS is hard work. Today’s kids definitely have a very busy schedule in between school, sports and extracurricular activities. Mia is a great example of this. Morning practices with the school swimming team, exams and projects, Nitro in the afternoon and many more. That’s why she achieved two TAGS cuts (50/100FR) during STAGS and also she was part of two relays on the most important championships of Texas. A very good example that hard work is never in vane, keep up the good work Mia! Let’s go stronger on the Long Course season! FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!!! SI SI SI!!! —Coach Felix
National Development: TJ Piercy
TJ had an excellent short course season becoming a new Sectional Qualifier in the 50,100 and 200 free. His 100 free is .2 away from NCSA Jr. National cutoff. TJ’s success has caused a newfound drive to achieve even more. His work ethic has shown in practice too. He is a positive teammate, fun to be around and most respectful to others. I enjoy seeing TJ continue to progress into the Long Course season and beyond. Keep it up! —Coach Randy
National Group: Chris Yeager and Emilie Parks
Chris battled through a pretty tough illness at the end of February and was able to get back in the water only 1.5 weeks out from the American Short Course Championships. In a testament to his constant work ethic he was still able to put up some lifetime bests and perform at a high level. This wouldn’t have been possible if he didn’t have such a strong work ethic. Emilie did not have the season she wanted this past winter. Instead of moping and retreating she has double downed on her practice performance. Since we’ve returned from our break, Emilie has been the most determined and hardest worker in the group. This is seen by her effort in dryland, while we run before practice, and in the pool. Resilient young women like her make great collegiate athletes! —Coach Elliot