Cedar Park
High School Training: Khanh Lai – She is consistently been a leader within this group since joining. You can always rely on her to take charge of her lane and guide them thorough the workout. She does this with a smile every day. Congratulations and keep up the great work. – Coach Travis
TAGS 2: Caroline Waiwaiole – Although she is new to the group I have been very impressed with the consistency of her work ethic. Everyday she is working to lead her lane and execute the drills and technique that we are working that day. Also I have been very impressed at her intensity she displays in her kick sets. I hope to see your work ethic continue throughout the season as you work toward your goals. Congratulations and keep up the great work. – Coach Travis
TAGS 1: Clayton Meyer – Clayton is uping his game! You can see a remarkable difference in how Clayton is approaching this new Short Course season. Having had a very good Long Course season this summer, and if you ask him he loves short course racing. The confidence is visible plus the excitement of high school swimming makes for one very committed swimmer. Very excited to see how this season will go. – Coach Flo
Sectional Development: Kaylie Pasquino – Kaylie Has had a tremendous month of August and has been very driven in practice. She ended Long Course season with a great meet at STAGS and is hungry for more improvement. Coach Dan has also noted that she has been working extremely hard on the details and coming to practice with a great attitude! Keep up the great work Kaylie!! – Coach Dan & Coach Jeremy
National Development: Rae Friesz – Rae has been coming to every practice eager to learn and working extremely hard on the details. We have been doing a lot of kicking and fine tuning our turns and underwater kicking and she has done a great job. I have been very impressed with her leadership not only verbally, but through action as well. Keep up the great work! – Coach Jeremy
Bee Cave
High School & Middle School Training: Michelle Chang – One of my goals when I see Michelle is to make her smile and laugh. She’s quiet, humble, and leads this group by example. Michelle could be SOM every month, but she earns it this month not only for her ability in the pool but her work outside of the pool. Michelle is a Junior at Lake Travis this year and is taking a rigorous course load including several AP classes. She also tells me she ice skates (but is too humble to admit how good she is). On top all of these things, the volunteers at the library on Fridays. This volunteer works overlaps practice, but she comes anyway even if she’s late. This one of the few reasons I’ll accept when a swimmer is late to practice. I’m proud to be Michelle’s coach, and I’m excited to see the things she’ll do this year. – Coach Peter
TAGS 2: Norah Cullicott – Another one of our technique wizards here at Nitro, Norah is such a hard worker, and is very good at thinking about what she is doing in the water, as well as what is asked of her. Norah still being on the younger side of 11 years old, has so much potential to continue to race a high level. My favorite part of Norah is her willingness to be a great team mate. If I ever asked her to stay and help a team mate, she wouldn’t think twice about it, as she loves working and helping to make everyone around her better as well. I am looking for more and more of that behavior everyday, so great job Miss Norah! – Coach Allison
TAGS 1: Tailyn Schaufleberger – Tailyn has become a leader quickly in our TAGS 1 practices. She is a TAGS qualifier and relay finalist. Tailyn, 13, is an IM’er with specialty in Breast and Free. She is always focused and hard working. Her positive attitude and smile is inspiring to her team mates and she always pushes herself and the group. Tailyn has a big 14 year old swimming year ahead! Keep it up. – Coach Felix & Coach Randy
Senior: Jaszmine DeFranco – Jaszmine has jumped into the Senior group with both feet, she never misses a workout, and the effort I’ve seen will turn into some great results in the upcoming meets. What I like about Jaszmine is how she has grown as a swimmer, one time calling herself a “breaststroker” she now feels the love and draw to the longer freestyle events. This increased awareness takes some time with most swimmers, learning to love the events you might not like so much, but they find that you are very competitive in those same events. Embracing things that you once found difficult or challenging is the way you become a well rounded swimmer. Jaszmine right now has become that driving force in the Senior group and how she has attacked the longer workout with the higher yardage is what sets her apart right now. Great Job Young Lady! – Coach Chuck
National Development: Steven LaFlamme – Steven showed all the traits of someone who wants to excel in the month of downtime. Steven took a very small break and was right back at it. He has been working hard on setting solid mechanics and regularly thinking about his technique. He has even went as far to bring his GoPro in to practice so he cod view his technique from over and underwater. Steven is a butterfly specialist working to accomplish the Sectional standards and beyond. He has behaved as a leader, gentleman and team player in all capacities. I look forward to watching Steven accomplish his goals this season. Keep it up Steven! – Coach Randy
National Group: Tanja Milanovic – Over the first two weeks of the season Tanja has injected energy and positivity into our workouts. She regularly says things to all of her teammates to keep them focused and positive. Some great leadership by Tanja! –Coach Elliott