Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park:Manasi Chande– She has been quietly working on all of her strokes, as well as her flip turns. When we did breaststroke this past week, she absolutely shone! All of the coaches noticed how great it looked. Well done Manasi!
Bee Cave:Molly Tyree– Molly was fantastic this week. This week we worked on rotation for back and freestyle, and she looked really good in the water. Molly really enjoys being the water and will give me her all and try her best every day. Keep up the great work.
Bronze
Cedar Park:Lille Yocum– “Gracie” is new to the Swim Team, and has had some trouble figuring out flip turns. She would not flip all the way under, flip to far from the wall, way to close to the wall, and she was frustrated. But, Gracie tried and tried and did not give up, she was determined to beat this thing called a “flip turn”. Well I am proud to say…. Gracie you did it!!!! All that hard work pays off… you keep it up Miss Gracie there is no obstacle you cannot beat.
Bee Cave: Mark Rivera– Kids fins fall off all the time in my Bronze group mid-pool. Other swimmers will see them on the bottom, run into them and then comment about it when they get to the wall. Mark, however, saw it, stopped and then brought it to the wall with him. I believe this shows early signs of great character. Doing what’s right when not asked to. Thank you for being a great example for the group!
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park:All of you that nailed your backstroke underwater streamline!– You guys were AWESOME in the pool this past week. Blowing bubbles out your noses and tight, tight streamlines. Great job you guys you deserve it. Thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool.
Bee Cave:Sophia Luo– Sophie has just started with Nitro within the last month and she is getting better every practice. This week we focused on backstroke and she was very strong in the water. When she first started she would say she is tired, but this week she didn’t say anything and I was very proud of her for staying in the water and being active in practice.
Silver
Cedar Park:All Belton meet participants– From the number of heat winners, newly achieved BB times, and all around great swims it was too hard to narrow down just one or two swimmers when so many had standout performances. The coaches are very happy with the performances overall, great technique and turn improvements over the course of the season were on full display. Great preview of things to come for short course season!
Bee Cave:Nina Velacheri– A terrific week for Nina, we did a lot of butterfly work and the challenge was put on the kick, the group went looking for some new pain to experience, and when the legs were burning, Nina had that break through moment, clearly tired, very red face, breathing out of the mouth very hard, but put her head down and pressed it just a little bit harder! Not only her butterfly shows improvement for the increased effort, but the other strokes as well, and when other coaches point out how hard that swimmer is working, what can you say “Swimmer of the Week!” Great Job Nina.
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park: Katie Strauss– Since her recent move to the group, Katie has worked hard to correct her technique, improve her endurance and move up in the group. A few months ago she was hiding in the back of her lane; as most swimmers do in a new group. Recently, Katie has been leading her lane and pushing herself and teammates through challenge sets. Way to go Katie!
Bee Cave: Ian Cullicott– Ian distinguishes himself on a daily basis making it difficult to see when he is going above and beyond (even for him). From a training stand point, Ian has one of the best attitudes I’ve seen in a young man. Nothing is ever a problem, merely a challenge to be met or a puzzle to be solved. In a week where the group had both a challenge set with a lot of math (figuring out times on a broken 200 on the fly can be distracting) and began learning the use of a new piece of equipment (the snorkel), Ian was excited about giving his all. What makes Ian so great is that this is not a onetime deal. His consistent focus and desire to improve him are what really make him such a strong contributor to the group. Keep up the great work Ian!
Gold
Cedar Park: All the TAGS participants– We have a small group from GOLD going to TAGS this week and they have been doing a great job getting themselves prepared for this meet really looking forward to some really fast swimming.
Bee Cave:Jackson Rabb– The end of a season can be a difficult time, in a single group you may find three different workouts going on, everyone striding to their last meet of the season, so when you come back from a vacation where do you fit in? You look at the practice, find your place, and go, not the right lane, move, repeat not quite fast enough, move again, ahh this one is just right! Jackson doing what he has done all season, swimming so fast and hard you have to notice his color, no that’s not sunburn, just good hard work finishing the third set of some very fast swimming! Good to have you back Jackson, I get a nod, how do you feel? Two nods! The effort spoke volumes!!