Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Alannah Garza – This weeks swimmer of the week is Alannah Garza. Alannah is such a great listener and a hard worker. Intro worked a lot on freestyle kicking and freestyle breathing this past week. Alannah did such a fantastic job of keeping her kicks constant and remembering to have her arm up by her head when she took a quick breath. Great job this week Alannah, keep it up!! – Coach Hannah
Bee Cave: Hope Rieder – Hope is never short on enthusiasm and positive energy. Her hard work and patience has really paid off. She is continuously demonstrating for the class—especially with her underwater streamline push offs for all four strokes. Thank you, Hope, for being such a presence on the pool deck! – Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Andrew Yahin – Andrew has come a long way since we first came together in the Bronze group. He has fixed many little technique things, has focused more in practice, and it is paying off as I can see him getting stronger in the water. He is starting to challenge himself, even leading his lane every once in a while. This past week, he demonstrated a great body line and powerful kick while working on breaststroke. Awesome job Andrew! – Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Giselle Megens – Giselle has stepped out of the shadows, she has taken over the lead in one of the Bronze lanes and has done tremendous work. She is determined to bring a whole new effort to her training, it is great to see what a swimmer can do with just the right attitude and desire. Giselle’s growth is all about trust, trust in your ability, push past the pain and minor soreness, and a whole new world of swimming comes into view! Come and watch the Bronze group and you will see a new leading face in the group. Great Job Young Lady! – Coach Chuck
Technique & Fitness
Cedar Park: Nysa Singh & Llyedon Nguyen – Great job on helping with some of our new swimmers. Your backstroke to breaststroke turns were outstanding. Great form and body position especially on your backstroke. We really liked your hand entry on backstroke. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. – Coach Steve
Bee Cave: Ruby Jalufka – This is Ruby’s second time being SOW since joining Nitro back in February, and she definitely earned it this week. We did a good amount of butterfly work this week working on our rhythm and up kick. Ruby showed me the best butterfly arms I have ever seen out of a T&F swimmer during my time as the lead coach of the group. I was telling her and the rest of the group that my jaw literally dropped watching her swim fly. Her first SOW award came during a butterfly practice as well. I think we might have found her stroke! Excellent work, Ruby! – Coach Peter
Silver
Cedar Park: Aayushi Prasad – Aayushi worked really hard. She listened when we went over how important our under waters and streamline off the walls were and hit every single one. She also stepped her game up as we reviewed butterfly and even tried one full 100. She even agreed to try her first meet and is planning on going to the round rock unclassified in a couple of weeks. Keep up the hard work Aayushi! –Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Thijs Kortekaas and Valentina Ballariano – Thijs has made huge improvements over the course of the time he has spent in Silver group. He has become very focused and determined to get better at swimming. Lately he has been one of the strongest swimmers in his group, especially in Backstroke- he has been my demonstrator for Backstroke starts which he has quickly mastered. I’m excited for his future as a competitive swimmer, great work, Thijs! Valentina is an incredibly strong swimmer and always pushes herself as hard as she can. I was blown away by her Backstroke technique improvements and her stroke speed this week. I really appreciate her ability to do her best at practice, and her growth in the sport makes me so proud of her. Keep it up, Valentina! – Coach Lianne
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Alexander Balon – Alexander deserves the award this week. He not only gives 100% commitment to practice and therefore gets a little bit better every day, but he is teammate who encourages others and helps Advanced Silver get better in and out of the pool. I am looking forward to seeing Alexander and the rest of our group race at the Red v. Black Meet! I am predicting several personal bests. – Coach Paige
Gold
Cedar Park: GOLD I: Adrienne Nguyen – Adrienne first caught my eye with some great swims at Junior STAGS, and she has impressed in practice ever since. Always willing to lead her lane and not shy about going fast, Adrienne is a great example for the group. This week, she showed a lot of focus while we worked on our backstroke body position and rotation, putting it all together for some great speed sets. Keep it up Adrienne! – Coach Adam
Cedar Park: GOLD II: Annabelle Chang – Annabelle is the veteran that is already leading this Gold II group to success. What we coaches are most impressed with is how Annabelle is always willing to do whatever is asked of her, and usually with a smile on her face. She is a seasoned swimmer who knows how to work hard, and loves doing so. Keep up the hard work and I know you’ll have a knock-out season, Annabelle! – Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Michelle Taylor – I love Michelle’s wit and charm each day that she arrives on deck. She is friends with almost everyone, and has some of the most beautiful stroke technique I have seen in awhile. I talk to her about lighting the “fire in her belly” a bit more and wanting to get up and race, because once she does, she will be unstoppable. Michelle just turned 11 years old, and is continuing to show more and more maturity in the water. We have a meet in a few weeks, and I can’t wait to see what Michelle is capable of doing. I was even able to watch her race at one of her summer leagues this summer! Keep up that fire. – Coach Allison