Nitro Swimmers of the Week for December 3 – 8, 2012

Intro to Nitro

Cedar Park:Eric Dobriceanu– Eric has been making steady progress in Intro.  Watching the clock and learning about intervals has been easy for him.  Eric listens carefully and always gives 110% at practice.  Congratulations Eric, keep up the terrific work!

Bee Cave:Kayley Kish & Jayna Syrett– Both of these girls have been working so hard the last few weeks that I couldn’t just pick one of them. And their dedication has paid off because they are improving quickly. Both of them are my go to demonstrators of their groups. Jayna is always excited to get the next challenge and just happy to be in the water, while Kayley is a perfectionist in her drills, always wanting to do everything correctly. Keeps up the great work girls!

Bronze

Cedar Park: Bronze #4– Bronze #4 as a group has been firing on all cylinders for the past week, they listening well and executing all the drills and sets very well. Great understanding of the intervals as well. Congratulations to all the swimmers in Bronze #4.

Bee Cave:Daniella Alonso– Daniella has really pushed herself the last few weeks and proved herself at a recent meet.  The coaches are very proud of the progress she has made, and the beautiful butterfly she brings to practice!  Daniella has a positive attitude whenever she is at the pool and leaves with a bigger smile on her face than the one she came in with.  We are looking forward to a great season with Daniella.  Keep it up chica!

Technique and Fitness

Cedar Park:Ankita Rao & Brandon Hanen – Ankita has stepped up her game this past week.  She is pushing herself a bit more and it shows in better technique.  Her butterfly looks awesome.  Brandon swims on Friday afternoons and always comes in with a great positive attitude.  He really encourages the other swimmers.  He had some great dives this past week and his butterfly has vastly improved.  Great job you two, thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool.

Bee Cave:Davis Lee– Davis had an outstanding week in the pool. He absolutely thrived off of the difficult IM sets we had all week. His butterfly and freestyle are coming together nicely. Keep up the great work!

Silver

Cedar Park:Jacob Zapata– Jacob started this team swimming very timid, just going through the motions.  Since then he has steadily worked his way up to the front of his lane and keeps up with all lane leaders.  His work ethic has grown greatly and his meet times reflect it. Keep it up Jacob, we love seeing the competitive side of you shine in practice!

Bee Cave:Reece Anderson– Reece coming off of a great swim meet in Belton, really has shown his desire to improve his mechanics on turns, as well as working hard on the longer sets. It’s great to see a young swimmer get excited about training when he realizes the great results didn’t come out of thin air, he had to bust his hinnie every night, and the reward is smiles all around! Keep going Reece!

Advanced Silver

Cedar Park: Elise Johnson– Elise has been stepping her game up recently, and had a fantastic practice the other day when it was all distance events. It seems that we have found her new favorite event, the 500 free! Great job Elise, and keep up the good work.

Bee Cave:Madeline Menefee– I never have to question whether or not Madeline wants to be at practice.  Her attitude, focus and smiles tell me that.  However, as with all swimmers, some days are easier to be in the moment than others.  For Madeline, Saturday started off somewhat lackluster by her usual standards.  So why is she getting Swimmer of the Week?  It was her response to the realization that she was not focused on the set.  I simply pointed out that she wasn’t performing to her usual level and, without dropping a beat, she said, “you’re right”, and proceeded to change the direction of her workout.  It is this ability to acknowledge our current efforts and adapt to the challenges of the day that can be so powerful both in and out of the water.  Keep up the great work Madeline!

Gold

Cedar Park: Dylan Gonzalez & Cassandra Keating– Dylan had an amazing meet this weekend dropping time left and right, his hard work has finally clicked and produced an extremely successful meet. Cassandra has stepped up her training very much and has taken over the leadership in the late Gold group. Great Job to both Dylan and Cassandra, Keep up the hard work!!!

Bee Cave:Brian Li– Brian has really stepped up his training, Friday and Saturday Gold & Tags combined practice and Brian didn’t shy away from the challenge he jumped up and stayed with the TAGS swimmers both days, when I asked how tired he was, he could barely respond, but he came to the UT meet on Sunday and let his three races speak for themselves, finishing with no less than 3 National AAA times, the most exciting was the 100 free where he improved his time by 8.5 seconds. Great job Brian!!