Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Trinity Storms – Trinity’s strokes & technique have been looking fantastic recently! This week we worked on flip turns & individual medleys, and Trinity really stood out because she was working hard in the water & paying attention on the wall. Then she got to apply all she’s been learning by competing in the Nitro at the Races meet on Saturday!! I’m really proud of you, Trinity! Great job! – Coach Jessie
Bee Cave: Sophia Keiper – Sophia always gives her all at practice. This week she did a great job with her butterfly and her diving. She made some major improvements and I am so proud of her! Keep it up Sophia! – Coach Meghan
Bronze
Cedar Park: Ella Baldwin – She has been a wonderful group leader. Always knows what the set and intervals is. To top off all of the hard work she has been doing in practice she had an amazing meet this weekend. Congratulations and keep up the great work. – Coach Travis
Bee Cave: Swetha Ayinala – Swetha has really stepped up her training the past two months. She has really improved on her mechanics and her kicking. Swetha had a great meet performance in Round Rock recently. She has been on my radar for quite sometime. She accepted the challenge of our test sets this week and really took over. Great job this week Swetha! – Coach Adrian
Technique & Fitness
Cedar Park: Makenna Bayer & Chimnay Pingale – These two swimmers really put out some great effort in practice this past week. Streamlines, pullouts and flip turns were especially impressive. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. – Coach Steve
Bee Cave: Ben Adams–Ben had a real break thru this week in terms of both confidence and enthusiasm. In working on streamline push offs for backstroke, he really improved on his distance underwater. He was also extremely enthusiastic after a first few practice dives, and eager to dive more (but our session was about to end). He also swam longer distances continuously, since we were set up for long course. Great job Ben! Bring that enthusiasm with you to every practice! Coach Linda
Silver
Cedar Park: Jana Erni – Jana has quietly and consistently gotten better for some time now, but last week it really started to shine through. Especially when we worked on breast stroke Jana did a great job of maintaining consistent hand speed, body position and great underwater pullouts. What’s been especially nice to see is that when given a challenge she’s come around from being in a negative mind frame of looking at something challenging as just being very hard, to approaching challenges as being opportunities to get better. Keep up the great work Jana! – Coach Dakota
Bee Cave: Robert Schaab – Robert is really improving on his speed and intensity into the walls, the end result is better faster turns, and faster turns mean longer streamlines! Swimming faster by swimming less and Robert has really started to embrace that idea. When you feel tired push harder into the wall which gets you another 5 to 6 feet farther past the flags, trying harder lessens the amount you swim each length and the simple idea we work on is just count your strokes, you don’t need to drop 4 seconds, you need to eliminate 5 strokes, and Roberts stroke count has dropped quite a few strokes this last month. Great job young man! – Coach Chuck
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park: Madeleine Nguyen – Maddie is a staple in the group. She is one of the anchors that is very consistent with her attendance as well as her effort. Her performance sets a very high standard for the group and it’s obvious to her teammates that she’s one of the shining examples of what listening, learning, and executing can do for athletes. We’re very happy with Maddie’s progress and we look forward to her meet performances this season. Great job, Maddie! – Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Alex Miller – Last time we did the 200 IM test set, Alex made the first 200 on 3:20 but couldn’t make the rest of them. In the interim I have seen a great deal of focus from Alex and determination expressed through his training. On Tuesday we tackled the set again to a greatly improved accomplishment. Alex made all four of the IMs which, together with Sean Kelly, made him one of two who were able to do so. It was not always pretty, but what made the swim extraordinary was his refusal to give up. As with all swimmers at this stage of his career, Alex’s strokes are still developing and I know that the 200 IM will become easier as his strokes become smoother. However, what he displayed in raw grit and determination is usually much harder to come by and will serve him well both in swimming and in life. Keep up the great work Alex! – Coach Jeff
Gold
Cedar Park: William Corona – He has been training very hard this last week. Constantly leading the group and pushing himself past what is comfortable. He seems to be very driven to achieve his goals for the season. Keep up the hard work and strive for your goals. – Coach Travis
Bee Cave: Avery Kalsu – I can’t count how many times Avery said I feel sick this week, it wasn’t a cold, not an illness of any kind, she was just working so hard her body was getting upset! We have worked so hard to get to this point, now she had to find a way for her mind to convince her body that it still could go faster, nothing seemed to work, the lungs were crying for air, the legs wanted to glide off the wall, the elbows just could not hold one more streamline, until her brain heard “break 2:25 on this 200 and your done!” the mind took over, legs and elbows back on line, lungs forcing the air, and a failing system found new life, she was off the wall and out in 1:09 then the legs really stepped up and she came back in 1:09 for a 2:18 200 freestyle, nothing too it!! Now how can you do that on command, no matter how you feel, your mind can tell your body it’s time to do a little bit more! I’m very proud of you Avery! – Coach Chuck