Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Jocelyn Jimenez
Jocelyn is just full of joy and her attitude is infectious. She always works really hard on having perfect streamlines every time she leaves the wall. This week Jocelyn showed some great leadership qualities while encouraging her teammates during relay races. Great work Jocelyn, keep it up! —Coach Hannah
Bee Cave: Reid Askins
Reid is a high energy, fun-loving kid! He joined just a few months ago, but his improvements are evident. Working on freestyle, Reid improved this head position and strong flutter kick this past week. He asks questions and wants feedback, and continues to learn to channel his energy into his swimming. Thank you Reid for sharing your love for the water with me! Keep it up kiddo! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Lily Wood
Lily earned the swimmer of the week this week with her hard work over the Thanksgiving break. Not only did Lily attend every practice, she put in some extra effort as we did some things a little differently. Then, going back a week, Lily was pumped about working on butterfly, even though it can be a tough stroke. She made the stroke look smooth and mastered the timing and rhythm. Keep it up Lily! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Cael Helm
I was lucky enough to be able to work with Bronze group 3 times over this past week, and each time Cael’s energy and excitement was contagious. He did a great job of listening to each set, leading his lane, and making it fun for all of his lane mates. He even waited to help the coaches pull tarps in the shallow end (with fins of course!) We appreciate the help, and can’t wait to see as Cael makes the moves through Nitro! —Coach Allison
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Dinah Harkin and Theo Johnson
Dinah did an awesome job with her freestyle this past week. Great work on your timing of your head position and timing of your breathing. Theo I was watching your diving with Coach Adam and a lot of improvement on your diving entry. Legs were straight and pointed toes. Excellent! Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Ryan Rudic
Ryan has a lot of natural talent. Body position in the water comes easy to him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone float so effortlessly on top of the water. Ryan also pays close attention to detail. If I ask him to fix something, it’s a guarantee he’ll improve it. My favorite thing about Ryan, though, is his character. He politely says hello and goodbye to me every practice. He’ll even thank me for doing my job! It’s a pleasure to be Ryan’s coach, and I see a bright future for this young man, both in and out of the pool. —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Ashley Park
It’s hard to commit to practice especially during holiday weeks, but that’s exactly what Ashley Park did this week. She showed up ready to work. Ashley does a great job of remembering to leave the wall with good under waters and has gotten much better at fast breakouts with no breathing off or into the wall. She also has a free style stroke that is smooth as silk. We’ve been working to try and get that head down for a better body line through the water, and I’m proud to say that Ashley has made strides in this area. She has a good feel for the water and knows what her body is supposed to do to make her stroke more efficient. Way to go, Ashley! —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Arnav Kheni
We did some butterfly work this week, and Arnav’s stroke looked great! The rhythm and timing, straight arm recovery, and the early, low, fast breath are all things a coach loves to see in butterfly, and Arnav does all of them. I’m impressed with not only Arnav’s progression in butterfly but his strokes in general. It has been great to see, and I look forward to seeing that continue. Great job, Arnav! —Coach Peter
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Lucius Chatham
Since joining Nitro this fall, Lucius has committed to attending multiple meets and practices. Due to this, he has truly improved his endurance, kicking, and most specifically his butterfly arm positioning. Lucius brings a positive, can-do attitude to our pool deck and I love seeing him improve. Great Work! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Thea Sims
As we hit the tough part of our training schedule, I am challenging the swimmers in new and tougher ways. This week, we did two particularly draining sets, both of which Thea excelled at. First, in the drop out set, Thea held a smooth freestyle through a long, grueling set. Then in the “Turducken” set ( a set, within a set, within a set), Thea pushed herself through some hard sprints and kick sets. I am excited to see how her added effort pays off. Keep up the hard work Thea! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Amy Park
Amy is one of the fastest kiddos in the group and I attribute that to one thing: effort. There are very few swimmers who put in the effort that Amy does, and I’m counting that across all groups at Nitro. Amy is healing from a small injury, but that hasn’t kept her out of the water. She understands that there’s always something to get better at, and if she can’t kick harder, she can definitely pull better. I see a very bright future for Amy and can’t wait for her to be 100% healthy again. Well done, Amy! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Zane Yacoub
Zane…what a cool name, I don’t think I have ever told you that. Zane has been in Gold group for the past few months, and has done a great job of making it his new home. At the beginning of the season I always believed that Zane was almost 13, when in reality he was only 10, turning 11. That shows how mature and responsible he is. For the past few weeks, he has been taking a picture everyday of our workout. I asked him what he was doing, and he told me he was keeping a journal of what we did, what worked well for him, and how much yardage we were doing. He’s continually showing me how mature, and invested he is in the sport. I am loving what I am seeing! —Coach Allison