Nitro Swimmer of the Week for December 28, 2015 to January 2, 2016

Intro to Nitro 

Cedar Park: Lauren Bai – Each practice Lauren works  on her underwater kicks, getting past the flags off every wall. On each set given she goes after it, stepping up and attacking it. Lastly, when it came to doing the 100 IM Lauren did a great job with open turns and having a legal stroke the whole way. Congratulations Lauren, and keep up the great work! – Coach Ben, Coach Darren, Coach Erik, Coach Nick & Coach Adam

Bee Cave: Claire Song, Varun Varshney & Haroon Sajid – Claire did a great job on her butterfly this week. She demonstrated for the class multiple times because of her attention to detail and speed. Varun swam all the way across the deep end by himself without fins. Varun has been scared of doing this, but he faced his fears and it was fun to watch!! Haroon Sajid always has a smile on his face. It is obvious he has a love for the sport as well as his fellow practice friends. He is actively engaged in whatever we are doing and this week it really impressed me. Well done all three of you!! Keep up the good work. – Coach Sarah

Bronze

Cedar Park: Esteban Martinez – Esteban was a familiar face at Nitro over the holidays, and he used that time in the pool to work his tail off. Some of the sets we did the past couple of weeks were really tough, but Esteban crushed them all. He strives to get better, always asking what he can work on. Keep up the great work Esteban! –Coach Adam

Bee Cave: Grace Jiang – This young lady has been putting in some great yards on breaststroke and butterfly, she is determined to make big improvements in those two strokes before her next meet, learning how to let her legs do the work and be patient with her arms is the hardest feeling to achieve. Grace is right on top of this feel and with just a few days to go before her next meet I believe she will impress us all! Great Job young lady – Coach Chuck

Technique & Fitness

Cedar Park: Kinsey White & Brian Chow – Both excelled this past week during our holiday schedule. Happy New Year to all of our NITRO families.  I hope we have another great year at the pool and much success  to all of our athletes! Kinsey had an excellent experience leading her lane and really showing endurance on our 6 x 100 yard freestyle  kick sets.  Way to really push yourself and your teammates.   Brian started off this week with some trepidation getting into the pool but ended up leaving practice energetic and totally smiling and bringing positive  vibes and energy to his practice session.  Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. – Coach Steve

Bee Cave: Maxim & Simon Tarabbia – Maxim and Simon are some of my most consistent swimmers when it comes to attendance. Nothing keeps these guys from coming to practice! As someone who has brothers, I know how competitive we can be. Maxim and Simon are no different, but do a great job to push each other to become better swimmers. They both clearly enjoy swimming and have been working hard since joining Nitro. Great job this week, guys! – Coach Peter

Silver

Cedar Park: Kai Pitkanen – During practice this past week, there were a few times I gave swimmers the option of challenging themselves, like not wearing fins for the butterfly set – Kai embraced and responded to every single one, pushing himself to the limit and past. With that kind of drive, it’s easy to get excited around, and I know it’s making the entire group better! Great job Kai. Keep it up! – Coach Nick

Bee Cave: Braydon Angie – This you man is a kicking machine and no Swimmer I’ve ever worked with has shown more heart when it comes to a challenge. Now in my fourth year coaching at Nitro I’ve always expressed the importance of leg development and kicking and to put that ideal to the test the Silver groups at Bee Cave do a 3 minute time kick for distance, a small few have made 7 lengths, I can count them on one hand, but this week Braydon made it his mission, to be the first to complete 8 lengths, 200 yards kicking in under 3 minutes, and it was quite a show, cheers and high fives from his teammates, and a finish where he completed the 200 in 2:57.80 seconds! Watch for this young Swimmer he has only begun to explore how good he can become. Great Job Braydon!! – Coach Chuck

Advanced Silver

Cedar Park: Kyleigh Fant – Kyleigh not only had awesome attendance over holiday training, but she also was among the hardest working.  We can always count on her to focus on the job at hand, whether it’s speed or technique.  Kyleigh’s crossover turns have been particularly impressive and I can’t wait to see them at a meet.  Well done, Ky! – Coach Alex

Bee Cave:

Gold

Cedar Park: Mater McCusker – This past week, Mater showed his toughness, giving his all in the New Year’s Eve knockout set. Mater thrives in long sets like these. As he improves his technique, he is becoming stronger and faster in the pool, especially in freestyle and backstroke! Way to go Mater! – Coach Adam

Bee Cave: Stefen Teeters – You can always could on Stephen to give you a good laugh and smile to start of practice. Stefen joined Gold group within the past few months, and ever since then has taken on a great leadership role in the group. He is consistently working hard, and I can’t wait to watch him race in the next few months. He is a youngster and has so much room to grow into his swimming. Bravo, Stephano!!! – Coach Allison