Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park:Douglas Townsend– Douglas made butterfly look easy this Saturday for Intro, inspiring his teammates to get it down. Always smiling and bringing up the intensity of the group Douglas is a lot of fun to coach.
Bee Cave:Intro to Nitro Group #1– On any given week some practices go better than others. But this group consistently pushes each other to be the best, to be faster, to know every answer. This group as a whole listens well with a focus that I rarely see with the other groups. Keep up the great work, kiddos!
Bronze
Cedar Park: Matisse Cohen-Hadria– Matisse did a great job with her butterfly technique this week, so well that she demonstrated to the entire group. She really listened and understood what the coaches were telling her and she has found a natural rhythm to her butterfly. Keep up the hard work!
Bee Cave:Olivia Gerhart– Olivia really impressed the coaches this week every single practice. She has been leading her lane and shown a positive attitude while doing so. We are happy to give Olivia this recognition for all of her hard work. She has the best flip turns and streamlines of the entire Bronze group. Keep up the excellent work, Olivia!
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park:Elise Kadison & Aidan Byrd – These two athletes have stepped up their game this past week. Elise looked really efficient in the pool. Things such as streamlines and flip turns are becoming automatic. We really noticed good technique with Aidan for the past few workouts. He’s looking much smoother in the pool and grabbing the water at the correct points. Great job you two, thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool.
Bee Cave:Addison Todd, Emma & Kylie Dinwiddie– This trio came to Nitro with a huge amount of energy. These three young ladies have all made giant strides of improvement in all of their strokes. It was evident during our tough IM week. I have no doubt in my mind that they are going to be an important asset to their respective summer league teams. Keep up the great work ladies.
Silver
Cedar Park:Elizabeth Stephen– I remember when Elizabeth started Silver. Her technique was good but she was what I would call a casual swimmer. Going through the motions but not really shining. For the past month she has been a very “shiny” swimmer, leading her lane and making the intervals with plenty of rest. Pushing yourself is the key to improving in any sport and she has just broken the surface what her limits truly are. Keep on pushing Elizabeth!!!!!
Bee Cave:Sam Smith– Sam has really turned it on the last few days, when both coach Adrian & coach Scott came up to me and said have you seen Sam Smith, “Yes I have!” he has filled the gap left by two swimmers that were moved to Advanced Silver, he now leads his lane and the group, but he’s doing it the right way, focus, patience, intensity, good turns, great streamlines, and I’ve never seen him have more fun! What a great job!
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park:Graciela Uriegas– Gracie had a great swim in her 100 backstroke at the BB meet, but was disqualified. Even though she was disappointed, she did a fantastic job of coming back the next day and swimming just as fast and making the necessary corrections in her race. The reward was an ‘A’ time in her 50 backstroke and a big smile on her face! Great job Gracie-and great job keeping a positive attitude all weekend!
Bee Cave:
Gold
Cedar Park: Melissa Horton– Melissa, one of our many multisport athletes has struggled through some tough times recently with various minor injuries from playing basketball for her school, but this week she found some of her stride again looking like a champ in practice. We had some tough sets this week and Melissa brought back some of her confidence to the pool. Glad to see it, keep up the hard work!!!
Bee Cave:Connor Jones– Connor has done a great job working on his butterfly this last week, his focus and work on the longer events like the 200 butterfly and 500 free have impressed his coaches, anytime the swimmer chooses to train for these kind of events on their own at age 11 it makes you smile, and when that swimmer breaks through his time goal and does it with a smile, you just have to cheer him on. Keep doing it right Connor.
Swimmer of the Month for January:
Cedar Park
High School Training:Aditya Tewari– Aditya is High School Training Swimmer of the Month! Aditya’s constantly asking for more and finding new ways to pushing himself and his teammates! Learning how to turn each practice into a stepping stone towards his goals is exciting to see. Keep up the excellent training Aditya!
TAGS 2:Summer Fullwood– Summer has made great improvements in her swimming over the last few months. She also has exemplified being a great teammate. At one of the UT meets, a NITRO swimmer was visibly upset with a swim. Without missing a beat, Summer was the first person to console the swimmer on the performance. It was great to see her step up and be a great team mate.
TAGS 1:Michaela Jonsson– One of Michaela’s goals this season was to make an NCSA Junior cut. She went down to the Gulf Swimming Short Course Open to swim the 200 Breast, she had a good swim in the morning and then in the finals made her cut. Great job in taking care of business, Michaela.
Senior:Hannah Palacios– Hannah has been consistent with attendance and shown great improvement in her confidence in swim meets. She trains hard pushing herself and the others in her lane. Hannah had a really great BB Championship she made several A cuts and looked strong and confident in her swims while doing so.
Sectional:Katie Nichols– Katie had a great meet at the Woodlands meet in Houston. She had significant drops in three strokes and a 8 second drop in her 400 IM on the last day. She came back from that meet and has worked even harder to demonstrate she is not satisfied.
Bee Cave
High School Training:Hadley McCormick– Hadley earned this award through her consistent work ethic and drive. She continually gives me 100% effort along with a focus to detail that is rarely seen. Congrats Hadley!
TAGS:Camille Sweeney – Camille has made her way back to the chlorinated water and we couldn’t be happier to see her back! Coming back is hard on both the mind and body as a swimmer makes her way back to the sport. Camille has been training consistently and working on her technique. Stay patient and keep up the great work Camille!
Senior:Savannah Handy & Carson Newman– These young ladies have lit a fire in the year 2013 and have been on a roll all month long! With Carson missing nearly all of winter training for vacation, she really stepped up and gained her mojo back in the pool. What really topped off this month was me showing up to the final session of BB Champs in San Antonio and having Coach Chuck relay the message that when Carson swam her 200 freestyle an official noted that her mechanics were text book. Savannah has been on a roll since B Champs in Belton. She shook off a rough few races but really capped it off with a huge drop in her 500 Freestyle, she commented that she didn’t know she could go that fast. It’s amazing what self-confidence can do for you. The magic didn’t stop there, I was informed that at her high school district meet she dropped huge in her 200 and 500 freestyle. Not to mention she took 1st and 2nd at the meet. I am very proud of you two young ladies. Keep up the great work and I’ll see y’all on deck.
Sectional:Danielle LeBleu – Congrats to Danielle who started off the New Year with her first 13-14 TAGS Cut in the 400 I.M. Danielle had a strong training camp and it showed with her breakout performances at the UT New Year’s Classic. Her exceptional swims have led to continued progress in her training ever since. Awesome job Danielle and Congrats!
National Group Swimmer of the Month for January:Christina Jonsson – Christina has had a super month of January from a strong UT NYC meet including a lifetime best 200 breast (2:17.2) and 400 IM (4:23.2) to a very strong Olympic Training Center Camp in Colorado Springs. CJ is a group leader both vocally and by example and is setting up for a very strong Junior Nationals in March! Congrats CJ and keep it up!