Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Lucy Gilbreath
Lucy is always having fun no matter what is going on. Lucy helped out some newcomers this week and showed them exactly what to do when they had questions. This week Intro worked on breaststroke and Lucy did a great job of having a great kick. She had a really great glide to end her breaststroke and did so all with a smile on her face. Great work this week Lucy, keep it up! —Coach Hannah
Bee Cave: Zoie Burgess
Zoie is one of those swimmers I am constantly asking to demonstrate because she is always focused and working hard to improve her skills. This week was no different with breaststroke. Zoie always pushes off in a tight streamline, and holds a tall glide. With breaststroke, she did a great job using that tall glide in between strokes. The previous weekend, Zoie competed in her first Nitro at the Races and swam well! She is truly a shining star in the water, and I look forward to her continual growth and achievements. Keep it up Zoie! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Tori Bates
Tori had a really good week of breaststroke work. First, she displayed great power through her kick, maintaining a nice long body line in the process. Tori’s pull was fast and strong, too, so much so that she demonstrated for the group. Tori finished off the week by showing off her dives, which she has improved greatly in the last couple of months. Way to go Tori! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Carolyn Grant
Carolyn has been doing a great job on her turns and underwaters, she has improved focus on her streamline work. She is racing better than ever, the hand speed over the water is greatly improved and her kick is the best. Every practice I see Carolyn’s confidence growing, little by little we work through the hard sticking points and she makes progress each workout. Her start is just starting to take shape and I believe we are going to see some great races very soon. Great job young lady! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Seyoung Lee and Daniel Vo
Awesome job on the breaststroke this past week. Excellent work on the glide between the kick and the pull. As well as the fast breaststroke pull. Not a huge pull. Quick and fast. In addition to that an awesome job with your positive attitudes. You really bring a great energy to the pool. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Drew Barczewski
Drew has impressed both me and Coach Nick a lot lately. In practice, Drew has shown strength and speed during our review time. When we learn new things, he picks them up very quickly. Drew has come a long way since he joined in September. When he was new, he had a hard time listening and paying attention because his lanemates distracted him. Now, he sets a good example for those very same kids by being the mature leader of his lane. I don’t know if Drew has ever missed a swim meet either – fantastic! His attendance is always steady and I think he has great things waiting for him around the corner. —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Aidan Albaugh
This week Aidan has really impressed me with his work ethic. As we covered backstroke I saw him striving to make sure every little detail of his stroke was correct. Thumb out, pinky in, rotating from the hips, keeping the head still, and constant kicking were all things he made sure were happening in his stroke. Aidan has also been working on a project for school in which he set a goal to make a specific time standard for his 50 free. Having the process oriented mind that he does, he came up with some short term steps to make this happen like perfect streamline off the block and wall, no breathing inside the red zone, fast underwater kicking, etc. He acknowledged what he needed to work on to get closer to this time, and asked for guidance where he was unsure. Aidan you’re incredibly mature for your age, and have such a great work ethic. You’re a rockstar and make the Silver group so much better. Keep working hard and it will pay off. —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Natalie Yung
Our focus this week was our flip turns and open turns, and Natalie absolutely crushed it. I had her demonstrate the superman float to open turn drill, and it was easily the best demonstration of the drill I’ve seen in Silver. She kept her body low in the water, really used her core to drive her legs up, and overall looked very refined in her open turn. She works incredibly hard in practice and is a joy to coach. Great job, Natalie! —Coach Peter
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Lilian You
Lilian You is our Advanced Silver Swimmer of the Week! This young lady comes prepared to practice every day – by asking ahead of time what is the main focus & by having her gear on. Lilian is also extremely patient with herself & with others, which is important as she navigates into competitive swimming and training. These wise choices will take her far in the sport of swimming! Go Lilly! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Tatyana Volobouev
This week, leading up to STAGS, Tatyana seemed more focused than ever in her preparation. She was making all the right changes, and you could see her getting faster and more aggressive as the week lead on. It culminated with Tatyana going life time bests in her events at STAGS, ending a great season for her. Keep up that intensity, Tatyana!
Extra shout-out to all the other Gold swimmers who competed at STAGS – Jeremy Kelly, Minji Kim, Chloe Wilkins, Helen Singletary, Franziska Buckel, and Maddie Davis. All in all a great outing, you represented the group and Nitro really well. Best of luck to those moving on to TAGS next weekend! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Niko Kundivich
Niko is one athletic kiddo! Niko is one of the most consistent hard workers I’ve coached. He doesn’t seem to have any bad days, and if he does, he doesn’t let it impact his practice. Niko is a blast to coach and all his hard work certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. We can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish this coming LCM season, Niko! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Auggie Sefcik
Auggie received this award a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t pass up the maturity and sportsmanship I was able to witness from Auggie this past weekend. He did an amazing job of putting himself in the position to compete at STAGS in his 50 Fly. Not only did he qualify to go to STAGS but he raced his heart out and qualified for finals. When it came time to race, Auggie prepared like a champ. While the race didn’t turn out exactly as hoped, he reflected on his race, and learned how to get better. However, I would also like to give a shout out to Issac Gwin, what a true team mate! He has never actually met Auggie but saw that one of his Nitro team mates was struggling and took time with him to talk it out and made everyone’s day better. Issac, I dont know if you will see this, but Auggie, his family, and I am so proud to say you are apart of Nitro as well! —Coach Allison