Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Lucas Hassell
Lucas consistently does a great job listening to his coaches every week. Not only has a become one of the leaders of his group, he has become one of the biggest encouragers in the group. Lucas always leaves the wall in a great streamline. This past week Intro worked on freestyle, emphasizing getting a quick side breath. Lucas did a fantastic job with keeping his head low and breathing quickly. Great job this week Lucas and keep up the great work! —Coach Hannah
Bee Cave: Vivi Howell
This week I was beyond impressed with my Intro swimmers, but Vivi ‘s butterfly really stood out. Don’t let her size fool you; she is dynamite in the water. Vivi continuously leads the group with her underwater streamline push-offs. This week was no different as she demonstrated butterfly body waves and how to recovery with long arms over the water. Thank you for always giving 100%! Keep it up young lady! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Adarsh Naveen
Adarsh had an outstanding week of breaststroke work this past week. First, Adarsh worked his narrow, powerful kicks and his low breath while maintaining his body-line. Next, Adarsh showed me some great fast hands and awesome underwater pullouts. Adarsh has come a long way since joining the Bronze group, and I am excited to see his continued growth. Way to go Adarsh! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Charlie Tester
Charlie has really been on a roll, his freestyle and backstroke are tall long strokes with good power and form, his underwater push-off reaches out to the 4th line every time, and the improved control he displays shows how much focus he has put into his training. The fun begins when I pull out the stopwatch, when asked for a best effort Charlie never disappoints, the kick delivers speed and power, the breathing becomes quick, and the hands move fast and clean. I see best times from him almost every time the watch is on him. The young man shows a great ability to race. This next meet is going to be very exciting! Great work young man! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Dori Clason and Wyatt Moye
Doris great job on the Individual Medley work. Awesome underwater streamlines and great job on your turns. Wyatt is trying out for our Senior group and has proven to be a success in the pool. Excellent job Wyatt! Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Ruby Jalufka
Ruby has a natural feel for the water. She makes corrections to her body position or head position before I even say a word. Catching water properly also comes naturally to her. She’s one of the swimmers that will be a demonstrator for almost anything we do. She’s a joy to have in my group, but I’m afraid she won’t be with me for long…Advanced Silver is quickly arising on her horizon. —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Sophia Carey and Caleb Fant
Sophia and Caleb were very thoughtful in their races this weekend. What I mean by that is I could see the wheels turning as they took the block. Both gave 100% effort during practice this week and it paid off this weekend. I saw explosive dives off the block, HUGE underwaters, fast turns, and long strokes. Way to go y’all! —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Kaitlyn Phan
We did the three-minute kick challenge this week where you kick all out for three minutes and the goal is to reach eight lengths or a 200. Kaitlyn absolutely blew it away! She has made it before with no time left to spare, but this time around she finished with ten seconds left! She was the only swimmer in Silver to make it this time, and the other coaches and I agreed there were kids in the higher level groups that wouldn’t be able to do what she did. It was amazing to watch her zoom across the pool. Great job, Kaitlyn! —Coach Peter
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Bruce Chen
Bruce is a hard-working key member of our group. He has strong knowledge of our sport and possesses a can-do attitude. He is taking his swimming to the next level of success! The thing that is most impressive about Bruce is that Butterfly kick and Freestyle strokes have developed very quickly due to him accepting the challenge of improving them. Excellent, Bruce! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Kai Guzman
At the beginning of this season, Kai suffered a foot injury that held him out of the pool for a month or so. Since his return, he has been swimming with great determination and focus, and it has paid off. Kai had an unbelievable outing at the TXLA meet this past weekend, earning best times in all his swims. Not only did he swim fast, but his strokes looked really good, as did his turns! Keep up the great work Kai! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Alex Jiampietro
Alex is fairly new to the group, but she’s already making waves. She has great fundamentals on her strokes, and what is most exciting are all the positive changes she’s made in a relatively short time. One thing that separates Gold II from other groups I’ve coached is how many more smiles I see on our swimmers’ faces—a trait definitely led by Alex. Way to go, sister! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Caleb Bui
Caleb walked into practice this past week (only once) and was very frustrated and didn’t want to be there. I looked at him and asked him what was up, he just “didn’t want to be here”. I gave him the typical pump up talk, but I left him with….You might not feel up to it right now, but I am going to ask you when we finish practice, if you feel better after it, and you were glad you came. By the last 20 minutes of practice, Caleb was all smiles and joking. I also ask his friend Jeffery to help me out, so shout out to him. But this goes out to all kiddos, there are always going to be days where its a struggle to get to practice, but I guarantee you that 9 times out of 10, when you leave that pool, you will be excited you came. —Coach Allison