Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Claudia Castro Gautier – Claudia comes to practice every day with a smile on her face, ready to swim! She always works hard to do her best, and is eager to try each skill. Great job, Claudia! – Coach Jessie
Bee Cave: Maika Ognoskie – Maika did a really good job this week helping to lead the group with breaststroke. He was focused and diligent which really influenced the swimmers around him. – Coach Meghan
Bronze
Cedar Park: Arushi Harkawat – She has really established herself as a leader within the group. She does a fantastic job of knowing the sets and intervals they are on. During practice she was swimming second and helping her lane leader understand the intervals and leave on time. This type of peer leadership is one of the best attributes that the swimmers can have. Congratulations and keep up the good work. – Coach Travis
Bee Cave: Orion Maher – Orion has really stepped up this week with all the IM work we have been doing. His body waves’ have improved so much this week. He always gives it his all on every single set. Orion’s hard work is paying off big time. Great work this week! – Coach Adrian
Technique & Fitness
Cedar Park: Nell Yao & Sanjay Amirthraj – These two athletes have really been a great addition to the NITRO family. They have impressed us with their underwater on all strokes and really working their turns. In addition to that they are always willing to demonstrate and help with any assistance the coaches need with equipment (lane buddies) etc. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. – Coach Steve
Bee Cave: Isabelle Vo – Isabelle has been great in her TF group. She always has a smile on her face and laughs at my corny jokes. She is the hardest worker and is always trying to get better. Keep up the good work! – Coach Clay
Silver
Cedar Park: Aadhithya Kannan – Several months ago Aadhithya turned a corner so to speak, every practice he’s been coming in with a clear drive to improve whatever it is we are working on any given day. It’s been tremendous watching his improvement and desire to improve not just the strokes he’s always been strong at and enjoyed, but also those that haven’t been his strongest. Keep up the great work Addy! – Coach Dakota
Bee Cave: Harvey Li – Harvey has become a strong contender, I ask him to demonstrate turns, streamline underwater push offs, red zone race finishes, and all the while he is the go to guy, but most recently he has caught the eye of the other coaches as well, for his focus, the way he attacks a set, throws out a big kick when it’s called for, and just sets a higher standard for all the Silver Groups! Great stuff Harvey you give your coaches a reason to be proud! – Coach Chuck
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park: Jakob Zapata – Jakob is really growing as a swimmer. He works hard in the pool and often takes it on himself to ask how he can get better after practice. Jakob is also a great teammate, connecting with swimmers during practice—something that is often overlooked in the sport. Keep up the hard work, Jakob! – Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Colton Etheridge & Ka’inoa Lee – As an adolescent or teenage swimmer, it is easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves with our peers. A trap not because it is a bad thing to do, but rather, because it is so easy to have it mean more than it does. During these pivotal growth years so much is dependent upon our physical development that I consider competition only as a motivational tool and one which should be used only when beneficial and discarded when detrimental. Don’t get me wrong, there is a great deal we can learn from competition at this age like winning gracefully and, just as important, being able to let go of a bad performance to allow for a clean opportunity with the next swim. All that to say, so often the best person we can each compete with is ourselves. This happens at meets as well as every practice. This week, there are two people I want to highlight for different reasons: Colton because he pulled himself out of a pattern of lethargic practices to give me one of the best weeks I have ever see from him. And Ka’inoa because of his consistent and relentless desire, demonstrated through his actions, to improve. Ka’inoa wants to know, every day, “what is the focus?”, “what do I need to work on?” and “how can I make myself better today?” These two swimmers demonstrated their ability to leave what others were doing to those swimmers and focus on their own efforts. They were able to use competition when it served their needs and were able to leave it alone when the goals of the set changed. I’m very proud of both of them and can’t wait to see what they bring next week. Keep up the great work guys! – Coach Jeff
Gold
Cedar Park: Dan Vinnik – Many swimmers after a long championship meet will have a couple days that they mentally regroup. Dan did not need that. He came straight out of the meet with focus and more resolve toward his goals at TAGS. Can’t wait to see what comes next. Keep up the work and stay focused on your goals. – Coach Travis
Bee Cave: Andrew Osorio – Sometimes when you train second in your lane it seems that the lane leader is breaking the waves, doing all the work, pull you along, well the truth in the Gold Group is far from that, Andrew has been pushing the group every step of the way, he is the quiet individual who seizes opportunity every time it presents itself, racing to a timed 57.1 in the 100 free, nobody in the group does it better, his drive to become better and faster is only exceeded by his love to race! Andrew is making a breakthrough in a big way Gold may not hold him much longer! – Coach Chuck
Thanks for being a part of Nitro Swimming. See you at the pool! Coach Mike.