Swimmer of the Month for November 2016
Cedar Park
Sectional Development: Ben Offereins
Ben was a returning swimmer to Nitro this fall, swimming for Nitro two years ago before moving to Austria for two years! When he came back to swim with Sectional Development he immediately became a stand out hard worker in the group. Ben has come to Coach Alex and myself on multiple occasions looking for the all key advice on how to make “X” better. X is essentially all four strokes and every aspect of each stroke. His eagerness to learn is evident and he has done an exceptional job putting his learnings into practice. He has secured life time bests in nearly every event so far this season and has already earned a well deserved spot to STAGS in March. Keep up the good work Ben! —Coach Dan
Senior: Nicole Sprencel
Nicole comes to practice with the attitude of getting better every time she is there. She spends countless workouts improving her techniques and strokes, and always does it with a smile. You can always count on Nicole to come to workout with the idea that she is going to swim fast and she is going to find a way to get better. She can often be found laughing and lifting up her teammates during a workout. Without a doubt she is an incredibly hard worker and it shows everyday. Thanks for your membership with Nitro and the Senior group Nicole! —Coach Dan
TAGS 2: Oliver Rowe
Oliver Rowe did an amazing job representing NITRO at the COR meet. Not only was he stellar in his performance but also in the way he conducted himself before and after each race. Win or lose, Oliver is always quick to extend a hand and congratulate his competitors, can be found on the sideline cheering loudly for his team mates and constantly seeking constructive tips for improvement from his coaches. Way to go Oliver! Keep up the good work! —Coach Daniel
TAGS 1: Ana Fleming
Ana has done a phenomenal job on a daily basis, and this weekend it really paid off for her. Ana achieved new TAGS cuts in the 50 Free and 100 Fly as well as getting really close in the 100 Breast. Very proud of her hard work and success. Keep it up and continue the success you are having. —Coach Flo
National Development: Grey Player and Vincent Ribeiro
Early on in the season Grey had his appendix taken out. He was out for the minimum of 6 weeks healing and getting some strength back after the surgery. I have been so impressed with not only his leadership, but his determination over the last month and a half that it was no surprise at how well he swam at COR. Keep doing the right things and working hard in practice!
Vincent has been putting in the extra time to make changes and fine tune his racing. I’ve been very impressed with his attitude and willingness to find that “next thing” on a daily basis to challenge him. Keep working hard, and remember to enjoy the process! —Coach Jeremy
Bee Cave
HS/MS Training: Shirish Pandam
Shirish had a great month of training. He’s easily one of the most improved swimmers I’ve seen since he joined the group. I have been especially impressed with his progression in freestyle and butterfly. Coach Raven and I didn’t only notice the improvement in his strokes but his strength and endurance as well. He’s come such a long way since his days in T&F with me, and I’m excited to continue to see his growth as a swimmer. Great job, Shirish! —Coach Peter
Senior: Andre Taylor Montero
Andre has done a great job adjusting to the longer workouts, he proves to me every practice his desire to improve. On any given day he may find himself training with different swimmers and Andre does a great job quickly finding his position in any lane. Like any swimmer who moves to a higher level of effort Andre pushes so hard to make intervals sometimes I have to remind him of the changes we are working on to improve his strokes, and every time he adjusts I get a glimpse of the future of Nitro Swimming. This young man loves to race and he and I work to keep his control and length when the fatigue starts to hit. His latest improvement on his butterfly breathing makes me excited about some IM races! Great work young man! —Coach Chuck
TAGS 2: Kira Baker
Something new I learned about Kira recently, she doesn’t love swim meets. “No worries” I thought, lets get her to LOVE swim meets. We went into COR this weekend, and Kira went about her typical weekend of racing. Had some time drops and overall strokes were looking good. Then came Sunday. Kira had a 3 event line up, 50 Fly was up, lane 1, I watched the swim, looked at my watch, looked at the board 29.2… “Is this for real” came to my mind. She was entered with a 30.10. She made finals! I had her visualize her race before hand and she came up with a TAGS cut. I asked her if she knew what this meant, she could do it! Sure enough, 30 minutes later, Kira raced her way to her first ever TAGS cut. While TAGS cuts are a huge accomplishment, it was the sheer giddiness of Kira after her race that gave me chills and made me the happiest of the weekend. Cheers Kira- lets go get some more TAGS times 🙂 —Coach Allison