Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Emma LaDuc and Mckenzie McFerren
These two both deserve a ‘most improved’ award. They have been with me for a while, but in the past few weeks they have been standing out. Emma is a very coachable swimmer—she listens and tries her best to do exactly what is asked of her. If she’s confused, she asks. This has resulted in some great practices, especially this week during breaststroke! It seems appropriate to give Mckenzie this award since her birthday was last week. Not only me, but other coaches too have noticed just how far she’s come since joining Intro. Great kicking and streamlining, and a smile on her face at every practice. Nice job, Emma and Mckenzie! Y’all are two great people to coach! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Jameson Von Rosenberg
Jameson has made some outstanding improvements since joining Intro this fall. From his kicking strength to all the small details—streamlines underwater, low breathing, tall arms, flexed feet—this kiddo keeps getting stronger and more confident with each practice. Jameson also has an amazing attitude! He never gets discouraged even during breaststroke week (his kryptonite). Instead, Jameson tackles each skill as it comes along. He shows patience taking his time with each stroke and each drill; patience is quite an accomplishment for a seven-year-old boy. His hard work and stellar attitude make him a wonderful asset to Intro. Thank you Jameson for all your hard work. Keep it up buddy! —Coach Raven
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Jordan Beaty and Maximus Nguyen Awesome job this past week regarding your open and flip turns. In addition to that you really impressed us with your IM work. Nice job on your turns, starts and finishes. Jordan it’s great to see you back in the pool and Maximus it’s great to see you taking a leadership position in your lane. Great job you two this past week and thanks for being a part of the Nitro family and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Paritosh Paudel
Paritosh my man! This guy. Such a super kid. Very professional, extremely prepared, and always polite. I want a thousand Paritoshes please and thank you. This week we were working on the Individual Medley (IM) and Paritosh my man knocked it out of the park. IM week is valuable for coaches to see which swimmers will focus on their technique for all four strokes; or whether they just focus in on one or two; or none at all. Paritosh my man is always starting in his advanced ready position. He always streamlines tight off every wall. He flipturns when he’s supposed to without being reminded – every coach’s dream! I’m proud of this young man. Now to only get him to commit to twice a week 😉 —Coach Jonny
Bronze
Cedar Park: Pratik Gurijala
Pratik has not been in Bronze for very long and I think that is what impresses me the most about him. He shows he wants to improve, constantly listens to instruction, and acts on the advice given to him. We did IMs this week, specifically open turns, and boy has he surpassed his previous performance. I know he has achieved this because he listens. It may take him a while to implement, but he never gives up and is always willing to try something new. I love his smiling face and small exclamatory victories he has under his breath. He is more soft spoken than most, but I always know he is happy when he grows and learns something new. Great job this week on your turns, Pratik. With your dedication and willingness to learn, I know we can get them near perfect! Keep it up! —Coach Adam and Coach Makaylee
Bee Cave: Paul Gregson
When you have Coach Felix and I both point and give the “WOW!” you know that this Swimmer just jumped to the head of the class. Greyson changed his whole approach to holding his bodyline, the elbow was tight and straight, the ear tucked on his arm, head was perfectly still, and his kick just powered him along faster than either coach Felix and I had seen in the past. He is really grasping the idea that bodyline reduces drag and makes it easier to swim fast longer. The true test will come in his next meet but I would say that his 100 free & 100 back will see some pretty big time drops! Great Job Young Man! —Coach Chuck
Silver
Cedar Park: Noah Cruz
He has recently transitioned into our group and is a joy to work with. Noah has shown commitment and an eagerness to improve, being diligent to make changes quickly. Noah results at his first meet showed impressive time drops from practice. With just this one USA meet under his belt, he is very raw in experience but extremely hardworking and talented quick is a great combination. I can’t wait to see how the summer goes for him. Keep striving forward, Noah! —Coach Paige
Bee Cave: Elizaveta Pozhenko
…Aka Liza
More than once during practice, I’ll have to tell a coach on Deck “careful now, Liza’s going BEAST MODE”… And of course, she never ceases to show. Whether it’s a 25.. a 50. a 75.. a100, a 200, it doesn’t matter, pick a number.. doesn’t matter.. This girl, will go after it.. And it happened again during one of our Main IM sets this last week. A tale as old as time.. Liza, sees someone, and decides..”I’m gonna get em”. And she chases them down. and if she doesn’t get em that lap, she says.. “whew, that was close.. Next time. I’m gonna get em”. And just like that, she spotted some boys two lanes over, trying to pull away… Liza, made her move..And this time, she kept pushing, and pushing, until she had hopped out front of the entire group! wow.
Such a moment, could only be fully appreciated, when compared to her early days- where she could barely sit still, she was shaking so cold. I mean, of course, at the hint of “Breaststroke”, she’d light up like a christmas tree! But still, she’d have to fight. Over time, she’s gotten stronger, and I’ve been able to watch that same fight, begin to expand, and grow… her confidence, spreading and spilling into other areas…things she doesn’t like so much.. like perhaps.. Butterfly! (I can just feel her trying not to roll her eyes!) But what I realized, what separates Liza, more so than her spirit to push, is her willingness to get better. Each time she tries, she learns. Another step taken, just one step closer at mastering the new.. embracing the struggle… To where, the challenge, becomes a part of the fun. When we go to work, she is amongst the first who will make changes, and to take a chance. She’ll process it, and with a quick turn around, be ready for the next attempt. You can always tell, she is thinking. Always ready. Always getting better. And the best part is – she is always doing it, with a smile on her face. Everyone is special in their own way. But Liza is a fire.. Pure and Simple. And she makes everything around her warmer, and brighter. So in case you missed it, you can catch her shinning here at nitro, battling back the cold, one lap at a time.
Keep on blazing your trail Liza… And Don’t let LEO take that Kick Board! —Coach Nick
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Kyle Lee
Kyle has been diligently slowing things down, reworking his head position in freestyle, eradicating that errant breast kick in backstroke, and developing the strength to put together longer and long fly sets. He even tackled the 100 fly at 8. Not too shabby for being 8! He is an incredibly hard working and he is JUST getting started. Keep up the focus, Kyle! —Coach Bobby
Gold 1 & 2
Gold 1 CP: Kaden Alarcon
Kaden was one of the lucky Gold 1 swimmers selected to swim at TAGS in the relays, and man did he savor the moment. Kaden busted out fast times every time he hit the water, really adding some speed to his team. Kaden has found a competitive drive this past season, getting better and better with each meet. Look out for this guy over the summer, he is going to be a killer during long course! Keep it up Kaden! —Coach Adam
Gold 2 CP: TAGS athletes
With this past week having been TAGS week, Gold II’s SOW note is a tradition to recognize all of our TAGS swimmers. It was a hard-fought meet and Nitro found itself in a tide of victories – some small, and some absolutely incredible. Congratulations to:
Olivia Brown
Aidan Embestro
Kayla Gonzalez
Lyla Lusk
Nigel Nielsen
Ian Redmond
Buttercup Rowe
Victoria Vujosevic
Bonus shout-out to our relay-only swimmers. With relays earning double points, they are crucial to Nitro’s success in championship meets. Congratulations to:
Philippe Diaz
Parker Huang
Meredith Wolfe
Every single race matters and every single athlete matters even more. Thank you Gold II for giving it your all! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Melinda Dai
Melinda is receiving this note after a killer weekend at TAGS. Not only did she represent Nitro amazingly well, she reminded me of all the great friendships you make through the sport of swimming. Id like to give a a huge shout out to Lyla Lusk and Olivia Brown from our Gold group at Cedar Park, as they welcomed Melinda this weekend and made my heart smile! Melinda always had a huge smile on her face throughout the entire weekend and performed past expectations. Thank you to your family as well, for making the commitment to Nitro! Keep working hard and smiling big! —Coach Allison