Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Lucien Jubelin and Stella Estipona
Lucien and Stella are long overdue for this recognition! They’ve both been diligent workers at practice, and that sure did show this week. First, Lucien had a smooth freestyle with quick breath. Then we moved to diving, and he was a natural—did a great job keeping his head down and arms up in a streamline. Stella swam in her first ever meet, and although she may have been a little nervous, she didn’t show it. From her smooth dive to her finish, she looked like a pro and even conquered a 50! Way to go, Stella and Lucien! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Roshen Hedge, Stella Turrall, and Jameson Wilbourn
These three kiddos have made some seriously impressive improvements over the last month. Roshen has tuned it on and charged our warm-up kicking set. His freestyle and backstroke underwater push-offs continue to get to the flags. In addition, Roshen is the first to introduce himself to a new swimmers and say “good job” or “congratulations” to a teammate who demonstrated a skill. This week Roshen was encouraging some of our new divers. Stella and Jamey both swam at the October Nitro at the Races, and while they started off a bit nervous, they both overcame their nerves and shined! During the first race, Stella was nervous and her eyes were full of tears behind the block. Races two and three I saw a different girl; she was dancing and smiling behind the block waiting for her turn to race. Stella has also been shining during practice; she’s a great kicker and continues to impress me with her low breathing, low head position, and tall bodyline. Jamey also started the meet with nervous tears but finished strong. She has been giving 100% effort in practice working hard to lead her lane during our warm-up. I am proud of the little nugget, and her continuous effort and positive attitude are definitely translating into improvements in the water. Way to go Roshen, Stella, and Jameson! Keep up that positive attitude and hard work; I am truly proud of you three! —Coach Raven
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park:
—Coach Shea
Bee Cave: Krishna Hemkumar
Krishna became a man last week. When we took deeper lanes than usual, Krishna hesitated. Everyone remembers their first encounter with deeper water. You’re uncomfortable. Your imagination is irrational. It takes a lot of courage to overcome this fear! But Krishna didn’t take long. Within one practice he was having the best kick set of his life! Now this week he was laughing and smiling and crushing power pushoffs in even deeper lanes than last week. So proud of this young man. When boys face a fear, they turn around and hide. When men face a fear, they lean forward and charge. Krishna is a man. —Coach Jonny
Bronze
Cedar Park: Callen Smith
Callen has had an outstanding couple of weeks with the Bronze group. In practice, I’ve seen the effort level go up, especially on our kick sets. Callen also worked hard on his turns and flip turns, and you could tell when it came time to race. Callen put in great races at the TXLA meet, and the Nitro at the Races. I can always count on him to be at a meet ready to go. Keep it up Callen! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Danica Ryan
This young lady has been working so hard these past few weeks and when you see a swimmer enter the longer races consistently while make five and six second time drops you can’t help but smile. Danica has done a great job of working the back half of her races in practice, keeping her kick strong but not wasting the energy to soon, she shows great patience in letting other Swimmers be the rabbit and go out fast while she is the one pushing the legs in the end of the race that impresses me. I would really like to see her swim the 200 free or the 200 IM very soon! Great Job Young Lady! —Coach Chuck
Silver
Cedar Park: Tristan Chang
I challenged the swimmers this week to do a few things differently to improve their swimming, which he did whole-heartedly! In addition to Tristan’s commitment to developing his backstroke catch and shift, he came to practice early every day and was a great leader. He is extremely dedicated and he is starting to realize how capable he is in and out of the pool. Way to go, Tristan! —Coach Paige
Bee Cave: Ryan Chui
So often we consider special moments, these extreme blips, isolated eruptions of passion and performance. But the truth is, there is an equal amount of importance of the smaller moments, the moments between moments – Of being able to bring that same effort, over and over again, day in and day out, on a consistent basis. When I ponder the meaning of consistency, one swimmer comes into my mind – Ryan Chui. Ryan might not be the loudest in the group (Unless we are KICKING), but his presence is always known. In the water – he doesn’t have a lot of holes in his swimming game. Good technique in his strokes, great skills, every practice is pretty much a Ryan Clinic. But the thing that stands out to me, is no matter what we are doing, he does it RIGHT. If we are slowing things down and working a drill, he’ll be slowing it down, and doing that drill. If I say, breathing 5s, I know I don’t event have to check on him, he’ll be breathing 5s. It’s that same focused effort he gives, that has without a doubt aided him in his stroke efficiency, as well as his developing speed. Out of the water, Ryan leads by example. He is a good listener and has a great attitude. Although most hard sets are met with a collective gasp, and sentiments of bargaining, I have never once heard Ryan complain. He just nods, and with a look of determination, goes to work. Further, he is always on time, and usually among the first in the water, ready to go!
Now I must say this first – In swimming, there exists a lingering epidemic of “not wanting to get in the cold water”-itis. Believe me, it’s rampant and it’s contagious. I recall a practice recently, a few swimmers had gotten there a few minutes early, so I allowed them to break the water, and do a 100 ez. Ryan walked in, saw this, and within 60 seconds, was in the water, swimming. As a coach, I don’t like the saying “You can’t coach that”, because that seems to limit my role in the nature versus nurture battle royal. But I certainly did not set the fire in this young man, however I am thankful to be able to help guide it and be around it. Silver is without a doubt, a better group for your presence Ryan. Great job sir! And don’t let up! —Coach Nick
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Kaylee Wilson
of the quietest and hardest workers in the group. She also MADE SURE that I knew the “Don’t Mess” Cheer—yes, making me repeat back each refrain before allowing me to move on to the next! (Just in case you were wondering: there are three.) Her zest and dedication helped me understand what being a part of Nitro is all about and there is no greater honor than learning something from one of your swimmers. Keep with dreaming big, Kaylee. —Coach Bobby
Gold 1 & 2
Gold 1 CP: Akriti Mandal
Akriti is starting to get the hang of the Gold 1 group. She is starting to understand how hard she has to work, and it’s awesome. She is pushing herself, trying to challenge herself, and is paying much closer attention to her times. Akriti is also doing great things to tighten up her breaststroke kick and smooth out her backstroke. Way to go Akriti! —Coach Adam
Gold 2 CP: Nigel Nielsen
Nigel is always a hard worker and a juggernaut when it comes to effort. Lately, he’s been learning a lot about how sometimes things go perfectly right, but sometimes they don’t. Instead of dwelling on negatives, Nigel is learning how to use them to progress in both swimming and life. There aren’t many kids who work as hard as Nigel, and as long as he keeps growing in the mental side of the sport, I know he’s going to be an all-star. Keep it up, Nigel! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Logan Schaefer
Logan has had a great past few weeks, but this past week he really pushed himself past the brink. I loved his attention to detail in his strokes, and his overall positive attitude throughout practice. He asks detailed questions, and wants to continue to get better. His strokes have improved immensely within the past few months of him training at a high level, and I cant wait to continue to watch him race throughout the short course season. Keep paying attention to the details and you will continue to grow and get better and better! —Coach Allison