Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Jennavee Jensen – Last week was a big week for Jennavee. Not only is she a loyal demonstrator of the specific skills we are teaching, but she finally decided to go WITHOUT the comfort of the swim shirt to which she was attached from the beginning! Big milestone for her. Way to go! – Coach Mike
Bee Cave: Shaun Woertink. Shaun has done an excellent job the past couple weeks. His swimming has improved by quite a bit. However, what I am most impressed with is what he does outside of the pool. Shaun makes an effort to make the other swimmers feel welcome. He cares about the them. He tells them good job when they do well, and quietly reminds them what they are supposed to be doing if someone forgets. Everyday after practice he makes a point to come up to me and thank me for coaching him. Thanks for being a team player Shaun! Keep it up! Coach Sarah
Bronze
Cedar Park: Morgan Hatfield – When I began coaching the Bronze group, Morgan was already a great swimmer, but a little bit shy. Over the course of the past couple of months, she has come out of her shell, showing her awesome personality. Before the UT meet a few weeks ago, she was nervous to be at a big meet, not sitting with her parents, but she rocked the house with some really fast swims! Fast forward to this past week, and she was perfecting her backstroke to breaststroke turns with ease. It was very impressive. Keep up the great work Morgan! – Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Ava Katacic – I’m excited to be able to recognize a swimmer from Bronze this week. Ava brings so much energy and positivity to the Bronze group! She’s competed in the last two meets at Nitro (Spooky Sprints and Nitro at the Races) and did a wonderful job! She works hard and is a joy to be around. Coach Chuck, the lead coach of Bronze, doesn’t often get to see the Bronze #3 group that I coach, so I’m thrilled to recognize one of the many swimmers in that group that deserve SOW! Amazing job these past few weeks, Ava! – Coach Peter
Technique & Fitness
Cedar Park: Kenedy Chauvette & Phil Tran – Both of these Nitro athletes really excelled in our diving sessions this past week. It can be somewhat intimidating getting up on a diving block and having to launch yourself head first into a pool. They really impressed us with their ability to set a goal and aim to achieve it. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. – Coach Steve
Bee Cave: Mari Johnson – Mari only recently joined the Nitro family, but has already become someone the other TF swimmers can look to for leadership and guidance. The focus this week was freestyle, specifically elongating our strokes. Mari showed great focus and skill during the drills and did an amazing job overall. I’m excited to continue to see her improve as a swimmer! Wonderful job this week, Mari! – Coach Peter
Silver
Cedar Park: Nidhi Hegde – Can not ask more from a silver swimmer. Hard worker, great attitude, endlessly reliable, and always ready for a challenge. Now, the only thing Nidhi likes more than a challenge, is fully understanding every part of a set. As the swimmers make their way back to the lanes, you can typically catch her hanging behind, ready to ask a question or two. Now, don’t confuse this with confusion, as she is making sure she is going to be accomplishing every part of what is on the board. As soon as she turns over every stone and is comfortable with the set – watch out! Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and silver is much better having one like Nidhi. Thanks for your hard work Nidhi, it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Keep it up! – Coach Nick
Bee Cave: Elias Gonzalez – We were working turns, the group was doing there best to work their speed and distance off the walls and then Elias came in and hit as close to a perfect turn as you will find in a Silver practice, Coach Peter and I remarked exactly at the same time “WOW!!”, “Did you see that?!” I tell you there we’re two proud coaches standing there watching as Elias did again and again! A very big breakthrough! Streamlines and turns, turns and streamlines, we say it over and over, but when a swimmer finally figures it out it is so great to watch! I can’t wait to see Elias’ new turn in action in his next meet. Great job young man, that was a very big step forward this week, keep it going! – Coach Chuck
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park: Marin Filipowicz – Advanced Silver has been doing a lot of work on an advanced crossover turn this week. It’s a very difficult skill to understand, let alone perform. Marin had a particularly hard time learning how to do it, but she stuck to her guns and kept trying. After three days of learning, experimenting, and downright determination, Marin learned how to do it correctly. This is the kind of spirit that breeds success. Keep fighting hard, Marin! – Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Grant Rivera – As a swimmer we always encounter obstacles along the way, when it takes us longer to master something new. The important thing is to always keep trying. Grant, you are an example of this, you always find a way to make it work. Because you let nothing stop you, because you give your best to always keep up and get the job done, you are Swimmer of the Week. Keep it up Grant…FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!! SI SI SI!! – Coach Felix
Gold
Cedar Park: Megan Cornwell – Megan had a fantastic week working on getting the crossover turn down and working really hard in practice. I was very impressed on Saturday when we reviewed the crossover turn and saw the hard work that she had put in through the week. – Coach Jeremy
Bee Cave: Sasha Dauletau – Sasha has had a great past few weeks. She was a bit under the weather for our last meet and wasn’t able to compete. However, the next week she showed up ready to go, and feeling much better. You could tell each stroke in the water had purpose and she did a wonderful job of giving the effort I look for each day in practice. I am hoping to see her race very soon, because I know very good things will come from all of her hard work and dedication I have been seeing. – Coach Allison