Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park:Cassia Depta, Kalen Griffin, Hanna Akita, Simone Koret, Grace Suh, Kavin Sridhar, & Katherine Votruba – I was working with these individuals on Friday, and I was very impressed with all of their side kicking skills. On their first try they had it down! They all had great form (shoulder out of the water, arms straight and still, body turned to the side, fast kicks). All of them were on par throughout the whole practice. Awesome job!! – Coach Kirsten
Bee Cave:Sydney Bell– This week we worked on Butterfly and Breaststroke and each person got better throughout the week, so kudos to all the Intro swimmers. However, Sydney did an amazing job improving throughout each practice. She really took everything the coaches said in corrected them. She was our leader this week in and out of the pool. I am very proud of you Sydney. Keep up the great work. – Coach Nikki
Bronze
Cedar Park:Nathan Early– Nathan has set the bar for what is expected in the Bronze group. I have never seen him at the back of the line and he always knows what the the group is supposed to be doing in the set. I look forward to seeing him continue to practice at this level and push the group to strive to be great. – I’m also very proud of the Bronze groupers that competed in this past weekend’s meet. Coach Travis
Bee Cave:Sierra Averill– Sierra has become a leader of the group over the last few weeks which is always fun to see. She is putting together all the skills we have worked on over the last few months and is really starting to shine. She is asked to demonstrate often and is a valuable asset to the group. Keep up the great work Sierra! – Coach Hannah
Technique & Fitness
Cedar Park:Laura Luu & Max Forbes- These two swimmers show up to practice ready to get the job done. They’re energetic, willing to demonstrate and have such a positive vibe. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we'll see you at the pool. – Coach Steve
Bee Cave: Brianna Carbajal– Brianna always shows up with her game face on. Before practice even starts she has her cap and goggles already on. This past week she really stepped up as a leader in the group. She always volunteers to demonstrate certain drills and encourages her lane mates. Great job this week Brianna! – Coach Adrian
Silver
Cedar Park:Bella Gamez– Bella is a recent addition to Silver and has already distinguished herself with a tremendous willingness to work hard. She’s been a great addition to the group and capped off a great week of practices with a number of great swims at the Aquatex meet over the weekend. Keep up the great work Bella! – Coach Dakota
Bee Cave:Morgan Rodriguez– The first meet of the new season and Morgan had a very good weekend time drops in every event she swam, but what impressed me most was the way she attached each turn. We have been working very hard on the underwater kicking, the streamline position, but Morgan has really taken to heart that what makes a good turn is how hard you press your race into the turn, she doesn’t slow down, the breathing is quick and at a minimum, the same way she approaches every turn in practice. I believe this is the start of a very good season for Morgan and we can expect to see some very good racing out of this eight year old. – Coach Chuck
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park: Kristina Vujosevic & Karsten Olsen– Both swimmers are prepared each day of practice with their equipment and water bottles. They transition quickly from dryland to swim. This helps them maximize their practice time. They both continue to work on improving technique in and out of the pool. They have both worked hard while adapting to the new equipment (snorkels / tempo trainers). – Coach Scott
Bee Cave: Alex Miller– Sometimes a single day or workout or even a single set can be so powerful. I talk to my swimmers about attitude. Attitude is the framework from which you construct how you go about a project. Every workout, every set is its own project with its own set of challenges and rewards. Alex has had a long time getting back to where he was at last spring. He was sick for a good month and, with a challenging schedule through the summer, his attendance made improvement a slow process. What I saw this week was the old Alex back in action. He took a set head-on and, if I can paraphrase Lincoln, he “[rose] with the occasion”. Alex opted for the faster interval for Wednesday’s Challenge Set which finished with 5 x 100 on 1:30. After making the first two by 2 or 3 seconds, Alex hit right on the 1:30 for the third. He caught his breath and left 3 second’s late and I thought, “man, what a great effort from Alex he is really back on the path.” Then, he set himself apart. He made the fourth one by 3 seconds (keep in mind he left 3 seconds late) and finished the last one with a couple of seconds still on the clock! Pulling yourself back into a set when you are on the brink of falling out is one of the greatest skills we can learn as swimmers. It is applicable to so much in life and speaks volumes of the swimmer’s character. I was really proud of Alex on Wednesday and, though there were several swimmers who stared down that challenge set, I wanted to highlight the mental fortitude Alex demonstrated as something to emulate. Keep up the great work Alex. – Coach Jeff
Gold
Cedar Park: Bryce Flynn & Emily Pumphret– Both of these swimmers had a fantastic swim meet this weekend at the Round Rock Unclassified dropping a ridiculous amount of time. Emily was shaving double digit seconds wise of every single swim she entered. Bryce was a shining example of listening to your coaches pays off. Bryce took to heart the words of the coaches and came and saw me before every race worked on the things I asked of him and before coming and talking to me post-race completed a cool-down. Could not ask for a swimmer to do more at a meet. Keep up the hard work! – Coach FLO
Bee Cave:Anna Karen Alonso– Anna Karen has been working hard but you could see her hard work really pay off last week during practice. To top it all off she got to see the results from that effort at the meet this last weekend by having big drops in all her events. Would also like to give kuddos to all the BC Gold kids that participated this last weekend at Aquatex, Coach Chuck and I were both very pleased with how the kids raced and are already looking forward to the UT meet! – Coach Hannah