Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Mihika Mula and Maddie Levy
We had a great week of butterfly and Nitro at the Races, but I have to give it to Mihika for one tiny little detail–BUBBLES! For months, I have reminded her to blow out her bubbles when taking a breath. This week, during freestyle warm-up, I looked over and happened to catch Mihika taking quick, low breaths with no puffy cheeks holding air in–without even being reminded. This girl has really improved not just in breathing, but all of her strokes. Mihika, I’m so proud of you I could bust!
Maddie has only been with Intro for a few weeks, but in that short time I’ve been very impressed with her swimming and positive attitude. Maddie and her mom asked about doing Nitro at the Races and I said ‘go for it’…not expecting her to sign up for four events including the 50 freestyle and 100 IM. She was a rock star and made it through everything, including that daunting IM! She has been a great addition to the group and the coaches are happy to have her here. Mihika and Maddie, keep being awesome! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Sreyas Chava and Blake Lawson
Whoa! If anyone deserves SOW it’s Sreyas! He has been extremely focused and driven over the last several weeks; I continually find myself asking Sreyas to demonstrate. During our Breaststroke March Madness, Sreyas continues to demonstrate how to be patient and swim with a tall bodyline during breaststroke. He, deservingly, is now the breaststroke king! In addition, his freestyle has continued to improve—low breathing, strong kick, and tall arms. This kid is on fire! Keep it up Sreyas and you’ll be on your way to Bronze in no time!
Blake has only been in Intro a few months, but has definitely stood out during this short amount of time. This past week, Blake and I took a little extra moment to understand how to push off the wall underwater in streamline. He did a pretty good job after some additional instruction, but his second attempt why he earned SOW. He didn’t quite nail the sink portion of our “sink-streamline-push”. Without any instruction from Coach Chuck or myself, Blake went back to the wall and tried again. That self-awareness and desire to improve is what coaches love to see. That quality is not only going to make Blake a great swimmer, but successful in anything he does. Awesome job Blake! —Coach Raven
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Grace Ornelas and Zachary Osborne
We had a great week working on our backstroke and the hard work paid off. Awesome job on your backstroke underwater streamlines, stroke count from the flags, either backstroke flip turns or backstroke finish. Awesome job last week. Very proud of the hard work. Thanks for being a part of the Nitro family and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Armaan Sahota
My man! Armaan. The biggest 10 year old you’ve ever seen. He has grown so fast in the pool (pun intended)! His freestyle and backstroke have always been his better strokes. Armaan quickly figured out he could muscle his way through butterfly. However, with breaststroke being more of a finesse stroke, he’s given special attention to it for about a year now; and, it has paid off big time! He dropped quite a bit of time in the meet last Saturday – the most being his breaststroke and IM (which relies heavily upon breaststroke). He took the advice from our very own Shaun Grieshop and was determined not to have a weak stroke! I have to say, it shows. This guy’s heart is as big as he is, too. At the very same meet last Saturday, he volunteered alongside Soren Murdock to help me line the kids up before their races. They were both naturals! Instead of resting their legs or playing cards with the other boys, they got to know the names of many of the kids, and guided several more through their first meet experience. I can’t thank you enough! You’ll both make great coaches someday 🙂 It’s been great having Armaan in TF but Silver awaits just around the corner. —Coach Jonny
Bronze
Cedar Park: Shreyas Kale
What an amazing week it has been for this guy, Shreyas! We have been working on perfect freestyle this week, meaning not breathing the first stroke off of breakouts and after flipturns. This is a difficult task that we are working on as most swimmers do not get too much practice in hypoxic training (swimming with fewer breaths) until they are older. My goal for these younger swimmers is to break habits early on so they do not swim with these habits later in their careers if they so choose. Shreyas nailed it this week! He has been working so hard and it shows in his flipturns! He has one of the fastest flipturns I have ever seen in a younger swimmer and he only gets better when he doesn’t take a breath on that first stroke off of the walls. I’m especially proud because he hasn’t even been in Bronze a full month yet! Yes, he certainly has natural talent but it is always refreshing to know that he only wants to get better and continues to make strides toward that in every practice with such an amazing attitude and thirst for more! Huge shout out to him as well for his FIRST PLACE finish in the 25 backstroke at the meet on Saturday! Keep crushing it, Shreyas. —Coach Makaylee
Bee Cave: Tobin Nguyen
Tobin had a great week, he has done just a fantastic job working on the timing of his butterfly, the head position is low he takes the breath quick and smooth, the arm recovery is straight and tall. The first half of his IM is getting stronger and stronger, the length of stroke is the biggest change, he has taken his love of racing and gained control. I can’t wait to see Tobin swim the IM in a meet as soon as possible. Great Job Young Man! —Coach Chuck
Silver
Cedar Park: Avni Sabnis
Although Avni is techinically the Silver Swimmer of the Week, if I could I would name her the swimmer of the Month! I have been so very impressed with her attitude every day at practice. She is consistently self-evaluating herself in how she is doing and also asking the coaches – I can truly see the improvement in the Butterfly and Freestyle. These actions are helping her develop in so many ways. I am proud to coach this young lady! —Coach Paige
Bee Cave: Cosimo De Santis
If you look up the name Cosimo, you’ll find it has multiple meanings. Some trace it back to the cosmos, the vast stretch of the universe, encompassing all that is. Others, link it back to a greek word, meaning “order”. Now, there are a few other definitions mixed in, but I find both of these meanings, the perfect launching point. It’s fitting because, no matter how endless and random the situation, Cosimo De Santis, always seems to be doing the RIGHT thing, at the RIGHT time. Whether it’s being among the first in the water, or letting me know he won’t be there for the next practice, (as to give sir “Eggward Eggington the II” back, so that he could be handed to the next swimmer), he just does it by the book. He always has a great attitude, never complains about a set, he is always ready to work and listen, he is just as consistent as consistent gets. And I know he shouldn’t at this point, but he continually surprises me. Whether it’s what he does during a certain challenge set, or busting out some beastly cannonball, he continues to expand the bar. So, in every way, he lives up to his name – The possibility of all, yet ordered in a fashion.
But the his true gift, seems to be his ability, not simply continue things, but to build upon them. The past few weeks, we have been making a couple adjustments to his butterfly. After a few practices of wrestling with the repetitions, it was exciting to see the change take hold during a longer set.. It was at that point, I knew it was going to stay. A victory, built upon, so many other, smaller victories along the way. But that’s how it works, isn’t it? So many times, we look for the explosion, the ignition that launches the rocket, the one that produces the big spectacle. Most often however, the route to success, isn’t achieved through overnight chances, those one off choices that lead to victory.. Most often, they are the product of dedication and consistency.. and those little things, they lead to momentum. Every day, you do, just a little more. You add, just a little to the pile. And like gravity, things begin to attract, and eventually, they roll. Although Cosimo isn’t the loudest of individuals, if actions do speak louder than words, then Cosimo is amongst the loudest in the galaxy… Because, This young man, isn’t a one time thing. No, he IS MOMENTUM. He has been gaining speed, ever since he stepped onto the pool deck. And from the looks of it, he isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Great Job Cosimo! —Coach Nick
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Miguel Gomez
Miguel is one of an amazingly solid handful of boys who recently moved over from Silver and are HUNGRY. He does the little things right and when asked to make adjustments will attack the minutiae of each movement with grace and poise. It’s fun to see the improvements already being made and we’re just getting started. Dream big, Miguel! —Coach Bobby
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Sophia Carey
When Sophia first joined Gold, she was a great technical swimmer, but struggled with the intensity of some of our sets. I’m not sure what changed, but Sophia has turned a corner. You can now catch her leading her lane, kicking some serious tail through our tough sets. There is no more quit, no more giving up, and I couldn’t be happier. Sophia is also very eager to learn, asking every practice how she can get better. If she keeps up this work rate, there are big things on the horizon. Way to go Sophia! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Nora Doughty
When starting a new season, it’s the perfect time to check up on fundamentals. We spent this past week hammering out our 5 fundamentals – ready positions, streamlines, underwaters, hypoxic breakouts, and finishes. After finishing a daily set, the swimmers were asked if anyone felt like they could have done better. Instead of lying or hiding, Nora admitted she could have done better with her breathing, so we gave her a shot to be a hero. Nora was one of our swimmers who volunteered to do an extra 50 and she nailed it! You’re awesome, Nora! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Lola Maciarz
Lola, new to Gold group this week, but man oh man is she already acting like a veteran! Once again I am amazed at how tall such a petite young lady can make herself look in the water. I had her demonstrate her amazing underwaters Friday, because of her natural talent she is able to push off the wall with such strength and power and makes it look easy. I would love to have every kiddo attack their walls like Lola has this week and impressed me so very much. Keep working hard miss Lola!! —Coach Allison