Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Clayton Coffman – Clayton came to each practice cheerful and ready to swim! Every correction was taken with a smile and eagerness to improve. His choice to listen to his coaches, and his determination in the water allowed him to refine his stroke and improve his swimming. Great job this week, Clayton! – Coach Jessie
Bee Cave: Preston Baker– he has stepped up and taken on a leadership role in his group. Always ready to work hard and help out his teammates. – Coach Meghan
Bronze
Cedar Park: Ruben Ribeiro & Pari Vachhani – Both swimmers have really excelled over the last week and a half during practice. They have jumped to the head of the lane, are making corrections in their technique, and have a great attitude about practices. It’s been great to watch them take off! Keep up the good work! – Coach Kristyn
Bee Cave: Maria Kristensen – Maria has been a rising leader in the bronze group for quite some time now. This past week she really stepped it up and was a great demonstrator with our backstroke drills. Her constant improvement in her under waters and streamlines has the coaches impressed. Great work this week Maria! – Coach Adrian
Technique & Fitness
Cedar Park: Charlee Swansegar & Andrew Flathmann – These two swimmers really had a great week. Their dives were pretty impressive. Tight streamlines WHILE IN THE AIR!! They both are leading their lanes and paying close attention to the little details. Clock watching; head down on free and fly, pullouts and of course Charlee’s fun facts of the day. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. – Coach Steve
Bee Cave: Amelie Gilmour – Amelie does an awesome job demonstrating her technique for the group and always has a positive demeanor when she’s in the pool. Amelie is a great lane leader, watching the clocks and great under waters. Great job Amelie! – Coach Clayton
Silver
Cedar Park: Jaylin Dubose – Jaylin has been a bright spot in every practice she’s been to ever since moving to Silver last summer. Always a smile on her face and quick to take corrections and maintain her technique. This week we had a particularly fast freestyle set meant to challenge the swimmers and while many did a great job in working hard and getting stronger, Jaylin maintained her tremendously positive personality throughout and made each 100 freestyle. Keep up the great work Jaylin! – Coach Dakota
Bee Cave: Ryan Herb – What does it take to make a breakthrough, how hard does one need to work, For Ryan is was simple, walk out on the deck with your crutches, have someone else carry your equipment, slide into the water and just start swimming. I asked him if he was OK to swim, sure I’m fine, today is a kick focus day, will your ankle be OK, sure no problem, if it starts to hurt let me know, I will be OK! Ryan kicked as hard if not harder then he ever has in practice, his teammates asked after practice was done, “how did you do that?”, “that was above and beyond!”, he got high fives from all his lane mates, that’s the kind of thing that makes you proud of your swimmers! The next day Ryan did it again! There is no stopping this young man! Great job Ryan! – Coach Chuck
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park: Ana Herceg – Ana is a sponge. She absorbs everything her coaches tell her and immediately applies that new information. This is a fantastic trait for an athlete, as evident in her performance in the STAGS meet this past weekend. Not only did Ana achieve her first (of multiple) TAGS cuts, she did it with her goggles around her neck! Ana is an amazing athlete and we look forward to her continued success in the future. Way to go, Ana! – Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Paxon Porter, John Leeds, Hadley McCormick and Macy Probst – It is frequently difficult to name just one Swimmer of the Week. There are so many opportunities found and so many successes realized that choosing just one makes me feel like I have left out all the other great moments it see. One example of that was offered by Sean Kelly. He was so focused at one point this week, that he couldn’t even hear somebody in the adjoining lane practically shouting his name to get his attention. His mind was so much on the next 15 seconds and what he wanted to do with that opportunity that everything else just disappeared. That’s showing up with a sense of purpose. That is laying the foundation for future success. The four people who do this day in and day out are Paxon Porter, John Leeds, Hadley McCormick and Macy Probst. They all had outstanding workouts this week and, more than that, bring that level of dedication, focus and purpose to every practice. This week I used the following analogy to talk about purpose: Two guys are on a basketball court. One randomly tosses a ball in the air and it happens to go in. The other takes careful aim, judges the distance and angle of the shot and releases. Even if it doesn’t go in, one of these guys has learned something and one hasn’t. The difference between these two is that one of them showed up with a sense of purpose. Without fail, every time these four swimmers step onto the pool deck they do so with a sense of purpose. Keep up the great work! – Coach Jeff
Gold
Cedar Park: Elise Johnson – While it is hard to single out one swimmer for the week after a phenomenal STAGS meet. I have to give congratulations to Elise for picking up her first TAGS cuts this weekend. Keep up the great work as we head forward into TAGS. – Coach Travis
Bee Cave: Anna Karen Alonso, Nicco Andros, Ian Cullicot, Jonathan Eastin, Deuce Harbour, Lane Elizondo, Brooke Jeffrey, Avery Kalsu, Lindsay Kayser, Arianna Lax, Daniel Li, Emily Mayer, Jasmine Park, Morgan Rodriguez, Kaley Rogers, CJ Suarez, Kylie VanderMeer, Logan Walker, William Wallace & Mason Wong – This was a long weekend and for many of our swimmers it was there first travel, prelims/finals meet. I saw more heart out of these kids and families than ever before and will mention a few of the amazing stories. These kids have gone from B times early in the season and have worked to A and TAGS cuts. Kylie only had her cut in the 50 Free on Sunday but came on Friday to swim relays and time trials. Many swimmers were hundredths of a second off TAGS cuts but I never saw any tears. Instead they hopped out of the water, congratulated their teammates and moved on. I would also like to mention the parents of these swimmers. The unconditional love and support shown was incomparable and I just want to let them know that they did a great job also. We all grew as a group this weekend and the ride was incredible! Great job to everyone! – Coach Hannah