Nitro Swimmer of the Week for April 6th – 11th, 2015

Intro to Nitro 

Cedar Park: Jonathan Carriker – Jonathan is pretty new to Intro but has hit the ground running! His enthusiasm is contagious! Recently he tried diving for the first time and even though he was nervous, he was determined. By the end of practice he even tried a dive off the blocks! Great job, Jonathan! – Coach Jessie

Bee Cave: Ella Pollan – At a recent practice, during our warm up set, a male teammate of Ella’s was swimming without goggles, having a very tough time. I asked him where his goggles were, and he told me he’d forgotten them. With no prompting whatsoever, Ella Pollan raises her hand and tells me that she has an extra pair and would it be OK of she gets them for him. We work on teaching the kids the biggest compliment that we coaches can get when others speak about Nitro is that our kids are NICE. The second one is that they know how to race. We don’t want the kids to ever confuse what comes first. 1. Nice. 2. They know how to race. Way to go Ella! –Coach Mike & Coach Samantha (Sam).

Bronze

Cedar Park: Troy Davis – Troy not only had a great week of practice, but also had a great meet this weekend. He swam the 100 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breaststroke, and 50 Fly and was extremely successful at all 4 events. He did a great job with his underwater kicking and streamline and was also very positive the entire meet! Way to go Troy! – Coach Jeremy

Bee Cave: Brynn Keever – Brynn had a huge swim meet this weekend and it was a payoff of all the hard work she has been putting in during practice.  She is usually a very quite swimmer who just comes in and works hard everyday.  This weekend she achieved a B time in her 100 meter breaststroke.  It was a big accomplishment and I’m super excited for her.  Way to go Brynn!  Keep up all the hard work! – Coach Jared

Technique & Fitness

Cedar Park: Lauren Houston  & Zachary  Matthews – Lauren has really proved to be a leader.  Always willing to demonstrate for the group,  leading her lane and most importantly  wanting self improvement.  Great job on her racing technique  this past week.   Zachary  is fairly  new to our  team but  has already  showed leadership  skills. New racing swim suit, wanting to demonstrate  for the team and engaging the others to participate  in  a team environment  while competing.  Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. – Coach Stephen

Bee Cave: Nolan  Amblard – Nolan is our swimmer of the week, because he is our go to guy for the demonstrations of the butterfly stroke this week as he has a natural feel for the stroke as well as listening well when Coach Ian giving the instructions to the group.  Butterfly is not an easy stroke to learn and this week Nolan put his listening skills and his love for the butterfly stroke together, he was great in the water. We as Coaches loved it when our swimmers do well on the technique, especially the butterfly stroke. Coach Ian and I are extremely proud of you Nolan and thank you for being such a great listening this week. – Coach Tanner & Coach Ian

Silver

Cedar Park: Morgan Vopat – It’s not very often that I receive recommendations for swimmer of the week from other coaches, and even better other swimmers! This week Morgan is the swimmer of the week for absolutely crushing her first 200 Fr long course, as well as overcoming and fears or doubts she might have had. She dove into the water for her 200 Fr and seemingly swam a perfect race. We are always continuing to improve and test our own abilities as well as challenging those around us. Morgan has set the bar high, proud of you girl! – Coach Allison

Bee Cave: Julia Carter – Julia has been doing such a great job at practice, the freestyle has turned into a long strong leg driven stroke, she has worked so hard on the underwaters, and I can’t remember seeing better streamlines, she really focuses on the basics that we talk about every day. Saturday was a turning point, going to meet at UT can be very intimidating for the most accomplished swimmer, Julia did a great job of racing, she found an inner focus and trusted how hard she has been training and the strokes I saw were fast clean and strong, exactly the same focus and drive she gives every day in practice! Practice makes perfect but only if you work on it every day like Julia! Great Job! – Coach Chuck

Advanced Silver

Cedar Park: Francisca Levario & Rance Blancaflor – Francisca Levario is learning how to train like a bonafide athlete.  She was a little timid coming into the group, but she’s quickly adapting to the high expectations of Advanced Silver.  Francisca swam four events at the meet on Saturday with the goal of getting BB cuts.  Not only did she accomplish this goal, but she went above and beyond by achieving two A cuts as well.  Fantastic job applying what you’ve learned in practice, Frannie! Rance Blancaflor also competed in the TXLA meet.  Rance has lots of meet experience, so he was prepared to race his heart out on Saturday.  He gave it his all and left with his first LCM AA cut in the 100 breast—a very impressive feat for the first LCM meet in the season.  Rance’s performance is a great example of what positive thinking and willingness to give it your all can accomplish.  Keep it up, Rance! – Coach Alex

Bee Cave: Jeffery Gunawan – Jeffery this week you shined the brightest. You demonstrated how stylish your swimming is. Your Breaststroke and your underwater streamlines have improved tremendously and you continue to make awesome progress. As I always say to you guys, discipline and focus are our best allies. Keep it up Jeffery..#goodjob! FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS..SÍSÍSÍ!! – Coach Felix

Gold

Cedar Park: Dominic Barone – This week he really stepped up his training during practice. He has started to embrace being a leader within the group and wanting be the one that everyone else is chasing. This kind of passion and work ethic drives others to work harder. Keep up the great work that helps you and your teammates achieve your goals. – Coach Travis

Bee Cave:  Logan Mauck – If you come by a Gold workout at any time during practice you will hear Logan’s voice, she is always cheery, always asks a question, and is working through a large growth point in her development. This weekend however she was at the top of her game working the finishes of every race with big legs and a great RED ZONE push, the serious side of this young lady is fun to watch, I enjoy the lighthearted girl in practice but I love the serious racer that turns up at meets. When these two girls join up every day look out competition! Great Job young lady! Coach Chuck