Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Noah Sung and William (Joseph) Wied Jr.
We did a lot of somersaulting in the pool this week! Intro gave a fantastic effort, and just about everyone mastered the first step of flip turns. Some of us even put the whole thing together! Noah and Joseph both stood out for their flipping skills. If I remember right, the last time we worked on flip turns Noah was pretty nervous and may have had a couple tears. But this week he tackled them with a big smile on his face, and they looked awesome. Noah always comes in ready to find out what we’re doing and get to work. His enthusiasm is much appreciated! Joseph did such a great job of our freestyle flip drill that I got him to demonstrate. He’s been working hard to improve, and that has shown in the past few weeks. We’ll miss him in Intro but I know he’ll do awesome in TF! Nice job guys! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Emma Sciaraffia
I love watching kiddos develop into leaders; this happens even in the youngest of groups. Emma has really shown an interest in moving to Bronze the last few months and is working hard to get there. With her continuous hard work and positive attitude, Emma has really become a leader in her practices. Her underwaters keep getting a little further. Her butterfly arms keep getting a little longer. Her kick keeps getting a little faster. And everything else keeps getting stronger. I am proud of this young lady and her effort. Thank you for all your smiles and effort. Keep it up Emma! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Igor Borrqcini
Bronze continued their flip turn work this past week with backstroke flip turns! Backstroke flip turns take confidence, consistency, and speed, and Igor knocked them out of the park. He wasn’t scared of the wall, he trusted his stroke count, and came off the wall in a great streamline every time. He also made his backstroke look super smooth. Way to go Igor! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Tatum Green
The first thing you will notice about Tatum is every single time she leaves the wall is how focused her streamline is, great depth, good speed, the body line gives her a great start to every length. She has been the go to girl for demonstration after demonstration when I want the group to see that improvement sometimes means finding a way to swim less. I know she is going to make some big strides this season! Keep working those walls young lady, great job! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Chimnay Murthy
Chimnay has been swimming with Nitro for years and has always shown up to practice with the most positive attitude. Always smiling and willing to demonstrate when asked to. Awesome job this past week on the one arm freestyle drill. Thanks for being a part of the Nitro family and we will see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Sameer Agrawal
Sameer has really stepped up his game lately. Streamlines? Outstanding. Underwaters? Far and fast. Attention to detail? Unparalleled. What I appreciate most, however, is his dedication to memorizing all 10 concepts for every round. He’s one of those persons you know will be successful in life because he doesn’t just “get by.” Instead, Sameer always goes above and beyond what’s required of him. I admire that quality! —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Nora Doughty
Nora is a firecracker of a swimmer. She made huge improvements in her strokes and her overall athleticism over the summer and it was jaw dropping seeing her swim last week. After a fast practice of holding impressive times, I asked Nora if she would be willing to do one last race at the end of practice. Not only was she game, she busted out a :37.1 50 fly after all that fast swimming – really impressive for an 8 y/o! Way to go, Nora! —Coach Claire & Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Alexandra Bryant
Alexandra has been a strong and consistent swimmer, ever since I first started assisting with Silver. She shows up AND gives it her all, which is not easy to do day in and day out, week after week, month after month – but she does. This week however, she took it to a whole new level. I was blown away at her effort and focus: she pushed herself for perfection on the technical sets, and worked even harder on the swim and kick sets. At one point, she was the example, and the rest of the group was challenged to rise up to her Kick level (many responded positively). That’s just one example of how the entire pool just felt different with her there. The entire group got better just with her presence. Through her actions and drive, I can definitely see an emerging leader at Nitro. And with this sort of intensity and effort, I can only expect bigger and better things, from Alexandra. Great work, and keep it up! —Coach Nick
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Jake Rouse
week we have been working on shoulder rotation and extension with Freestyle and Backstroke and Jake has been rocking it. Jake has brought his stroke count down substantially and already has improved his practice times. The first meet he is sure to have a huge time drop! Way to go! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Isabella Kerstetter
While we transitioned to the new season and welcomed new swimmers to the group, Isabella was a great leader for our newer kids. She helped athletes understand the sets better, was always willing to demonstrate, and was pushing herself like I’ve never seen before. I’ve been especially impressed with Isabella’s improvement on kicking, being able to make intervals she never has before. Awesome job Isabella! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Sheamus Horton
Sheamus went on vacation last week and didn’t get back until this past Wednesday. Swimmers usually need some extra time to get re-acclimated to the water, but Sheamus was ready to fire on all cylinders on his first day back. His sculling has improved tremendously and his feel for the water is starting to become second nature, so this season will be a great one for him. Keep up the hard work, Sheamus! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Harry Wang
Wowza! is all I have to say as we begin the short course season. The skills Gold group is starting off with are top notch. Harry has stood out this week, as his speed and feel for the water just continue to get faster and better. Whether it is his fast approaches to the wall, or his faster flips turns, he is setting the bar very high for all other Gold groupers, and he will only continue to make the group better and better. Keep up the hard work Harry; you still have another full season as a 12 year old, and who knows what could happen! —Coach Allison