Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Kelly Garcia
Kelly had the WOW factor this week. She’s been working hard since day 1, and it’s paying off because both Coach Steve and I remarked to each other how great she looked this week. She rocked the warm-up, performed our floating drill flawlessly, and continued to shine with straight, fast butterfly arms over the water. Kelly is one of those swimmers who just seems happy to be at practice, and that makes the coaches happy to be there too. Great job this week, Kelly! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Arihaan Mishra
Breaststroke is the best stroke! And Arihaan rocked the best stroke! This week Arihaan really stood out with his ability to catch water with his breaststroke kick. In addition, he demonstrated excellent pull-breathe-kick pattern finishing with a tall patient glide. Arihaan has been steadily improving in all four strokes and is now a constant leader in his lane. This week he on fire during the freestyle kicking warm-up successfully holding a 50-second interval and maintaining a white-water kick. Thank you for always having a smile on your face and working hard! Keep it up Arihaan! —Coach Raven
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Meghna Chalasani and Weston Berglund
Awesome job last week working on your body position for freestyle. Proper head position and proper arm and body balancing position. Meghan you rocked it this past week and applying all the drill work and incorporating it into your freestyle swim. Long and graceful rather than short and messy. Weston you have a high school swim team tryout coming up and one of the requirements is 100 freestyle on an interval of 1:30.00. You swam six 100’s and made all of them except for one at 1:32.00. That’s why your one of the swimmers of the week. Hard work pays off. Keep focused the both of you. Great job you two this past week and thanks for being a part of the Nitro family and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Jimin Lee
Jimin is the sweetest heart you’d ever meet. Always early for practice and ready to rock it! She loves swimming breaststroke and anything breaststroke related. I love her streamlines, flipturns, and positive attitude. Jimin is somehow in a group of all boys; but, she is a phenomenal teammate! She always scoots out of the way when she finishes. Her drills are always crisp and clean because she pays close attention to the videos. This week, she nailed Hand-Lead Claw on the first try which is unheard of! So proud of Jimin and love being around her. She’s polite and super, super sweet! —Coach Jonny
Bronze
Cedar Park: Caeli Nguyen & Samuel Joung
These guys ROCKED it at our high elbow freestyle drill this week. I was extremely impressed by how long they were holding those elbows high in the sky. The quick breath they were both using is exactly what an exemplary freestyle we all desire should look like. Not only are Samuel and Caeli great at freestyle, their technique in all of the other strokes are beautiful too. I am so proud at how hard they have been working! Samuel, thank you for doing the 100’s this week with ease and an eagerness to do so. Caeli, thank you for believing in yourself this week, that you CAN do anything you put your mind to and that you are so capable. I cannot wait to see what their future holds!
Remarkable job you two, keep it up, and GO NITRO! —Coach Makaylee
Bee Cave: Marcus Fong
Marcus has steadily been improving, the kick is stronger and moving with more flexibility, his stroke count is getting lower, and I see him making more adjustments to body line as well as streamline. I like the fact that Marcus takes initiative as a lane leader and works very hard to work with the leaders of the group. Marcus shows great heart when he races or when the stopwatch comes out, I like that he does his very best no matter what stroke or distance the group is training. Great job young man! —Coach Chuck
Silver
Cedar Park: Rhea Ramaiah
This young lady has been a joy to get to know this season – and owns a smile that lights up the pool deck! She has really improved her endurance and skills since being in the group. I also really love that she is becoming more confident in the group as a leader. Keep it up, Rhea! —Coach Paige
Bee Cave: Hali Karimi
10x100s @ 1:50… No problem for Hali. Now.. If you asked me if I could have predicted this moment three months ago, I’d have pointed to one familiar phrase—
“OFF THE BOTTOM!… Hali!… Off the Bottom!”….. As you may have concluded, YES, when Hali first joined the group, she had herself a chronic case of “jump off the bottom-Itis”. And it was contagious. One swimmer would see it. Then another. Then Another. Before you knew it, we had a bunch of little dolphins, popping off the bottom of the pool. You’ll be pleased to know, that she has since, outgrown this treacherous condition. But, for better, or for slightly less better, it is powerful to realize the impact that just one swimmer can have on the entire group. When it goes in the wrong direction, you see… interesting results. When things go right however, you get special moments. This week was one of those special weeks. Hali started strong, and finished stronger. Great focus, great effort. She excelled during the stroke count Freestyle and BR drill work, and then capped it off by dominating the Freestyle Challenge set! She even had other coaches taking notice! So yeah, great week.
I suppose to really appreciate how great this performance was, it’s important to highlight the power of growth. Now, Hali was already a talented swimmer, but it seems every week, I have watched her get better. Thinking back on it, it seems like some Tv show montage, where one day, she was in the back of the lane. The next, she was going third. Then Second. Then finally, she is out in front, and having no trouble pushing the pace. And when you combine these two ideas, growth and influence, it’s no trouble to see the positive ripple effect it can have.. On EVERYONE.. How one person, getting better, can make others around them better in the process. And although there are many types, I believe, this is what they fundamentally call – a Leader. Leaders are able to bring out the best in others, to inspire to act, to create something special. Behind her hard work, her great attitude, and consistent smile, I believe Hali has done, just that. And I don’t see her slowing down any time soon. Great Job Hali. Keep it up! —Coach Nick
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Kaylee Wilson
Kaylee had a breakout set last Saturday (8 x 50 @ 50 holding 40 or better!) and has been steadily grinding away for sometime now. Three things stand out. One. When she was concerned she wasn’t strong enough she asked for additional work outside the pool that could help develop the upper body strength needed to compete at higher levels. She has consistently done these exercises and it shows. Two. She pushes herself in the little things: underwater angles, hand entry, timing of the breakout, ready position, where her hand hits on the wall. Three. Even if she is having an off day, she finds a way to smile and encourage her lane mates. Being good at number three is what it is all about. Keep grinding Kaylee and dream big, Kaylee! —Coach Bobby
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Gannon Flynn
Gannon has always been a vocal guy in the pool, but recently is seems like he is using that more to motivate his teammates. Gannon always wants to be the leader, and he will push himself to stay in that position. He has done a great job focusing in on the freestyle, with some reminders from the coaches, and getting back to the longer stroke. Gannon also gets extra points for looking so stylish at the Nitros Award ceremony. Keep up the awesome work, Gannon! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Meredith Wolfe
Meredith swims like a champ, but where she has been really standing out lately is in dryland. She’s among the strongest kiddos in the group and doesn’t ever allow herself to get even the least bit sloppy in her movements… so we need her to put on a clinic for our National athletes. Meredith can also hang on the bars for as long as you’re willing to hang out on deck, so keep note of this kiddo – MereWolfe is a killer no matter how full the moon is. —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Gabby Fowler
Gabby you have sincerely impressed me this week. I always knew you were a great racer and had a heart of gold, but the commitment and dedication to getting better really shown through this week. I am so proud to be able to coach and watch you as you continue to iron out who you are as a swimmer. I have no doubt that you will continue to get stronger in your strokes and show everyone what you are made of! Now, lets get to racing :-). —Coach Allison