Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Jonathan Todd and Caeli Nguyen
These two have one major quality in common: they are hard workers! Jonathan has been working on improving his underwaters, and they’re getting better and better every week. He has gone from leaping over the top of the water to sinking down and pushing off under the water on every single wall. He probably deserves the ‘most enthusiastic’ award too–he is ALWAYS excited to be at practice! Caeli is a little more reserved, but no less enthusiastic about swimming. She’s always ready to start swimming, does all the little things right, and I can tell she’s engaged by the questions she asks. She was on fire this week too, with super fast kicks and solid strokes. Both these kids did a great job working on their body waves and butterfly arms this week–awesome swimming, you two! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Aditi Poornima Ananda
Aditi is a force to be reckoned with! This young lady has come a LONG way since joining Intro to Nitro. She has become a clear leader within her lane and in her group. Aditi always has a smile on her face and jumps in the pool ready to work. This past week she demonstrated some solid freestyle swimming particularly a strong kick with her catch-up freestyle. Her streamlines and underwater push-offs rock my socks off. While sometimes needing a quick reminder to lower her breath, she holds a tall bodyline throughout the stroke. Thank you Aditi for bringing joy and enthusiasm each day! You rock girlie! —Coach Raven
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Layne Jeffrey
AWESOME job this past week! We really worked hard on nailing our streamlines and you never gave up on reaching your goals and potential. You totally pushed yourself and the effort is acknowledged. Great job and thanks for being a part of the Nitro family and we’ll see you at the pool. Coach Stephen at Nitro Cedar Park. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Zaid Ahmed
Zaid is a boss. Let me set the scene for you. Coach Jonny has been noticing all week that swimmers who’ve missed practice are not watching the instructional videos. Huge mistake, right? He’s had to address this matter with each group at some point during review of each practice. One of the last practices of the week. Enter Zaid. He hastily walks straight up to Coach Jonny, looks him in the eye, and says, “Coach Jonny, I watched last week’s video on flip-turns many times because I wasn’t here.” Need I say more? This young man made my week. I couldn’t be more proud of Zaid and his dedication to himself, his loyalty to his teammates, and his integrity. He’s always respectful, always wanting to learn more, and never gives up. Ever. Good work. —Coach Jonny
Bronze
Cedar Park: Marshall Key
Outstanding effort this week from Marshall! Marshall is a swimmer who really understands the feel of the water, especially with his pull! For his butterfly this week, he demonstrated the great catch of his stroke, relaxed recovery out of the water, and my goodness did he have a sneaky low breathe. You couldn’t barely tell his face was out of the water! Bright things in the future for this young man, keep it up Marshall! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Matthew Seal
When an Intro Swimmer joins one of the Bronze Groups it can be a really big change. Bronze has a focus working mostly on 50s and the pace of each workout runs quite a bit faster, and as we progress through kicking, drills, and swims a young swimmer could get lost, but not Matthew, he simply asks to explain a little more, he doesn’t just push off the wall and go if he doesn’t understand, he likes to be on the same page. So many times I watch swimmers just push through and not know why we do a drill or what to focus on but that is exactly what Matthew asks to make clear. Every length he is learning how to become a better swimmer! His kick has been getting stronger, the timing better, and the racing more controlled. Sure he may still struggle with the increase in yards and workload but every day he improves and every day his desire impresses his coaches! Great Job Young Man! —Coach Chuck
Silver
Cedar Park: Mallory Johnson
Mallory competed this weekend in 2018 South Texas Short Course “B” Championship. She earned her first 11-12 B cut a few weekends ago and has been very dedicated to improving all the little aspects that add up to so much more this week in practice. All the small details can add up to very hydrodynamic swimming if implemented. Mallory’s turns have greatly improved and what I was most impressed with was her kicking power on the backstroke as she swam the event this weekend. She was moving! Great job, Mallory! —Coach Paige
Bee Cave: Miguel Gomez
Migel is a special swimmer. Not just because he can breathe every single stroke on butterfly, and still keep his rhythm… Not just because he listens, is well rounded in all his strokes, and works hard during practice… Not even just because he is practically Nitro Royalty, having virtually every one of his six siblings (I hope I’m getting that right!), don the nitro colors at some point. NO, there is something different about this boy.
Over the weekend, I was able to Coach Miguel at B Champs in San Antonio. Now Miguel has had many great swims in his long and lustrous 8 year old career, but this one brought a few new challenges all its own. In the face of those trying moments, he took that energy and responded, using the struggle as fuel to not only learn, but to get even stronger. Honestly, this alone was enough to award recognition, but that simply doesn’t compare to what happened next.
While there were many great moments over this weekend, there was one moment in particular that stuck with me – and it had nothing to do with swimming. I went up to Miguel a few heats before his race, checking in with some last minute words of encouragement, and the first thing he says after I finish is, “did you make sure to talk to Oliver too?!” Despite all the challenges he was going through, while his mind could have been focused on himself and what was in it for him… he was worried about his friend four lanes over.
It was in this moment, it all came back into perspective. We tend to get so wrapped up in goals, that we forget why we were ever doing a certain thing to begin with. We forget that there are others around us, who matter. That we care about. And it’s that spirit, that shines through Miguel, and influences everything do he does. He may seem like a lighthearted goof, but what separates him from the many who step up to the blocks – he cares. And that’s something, you can’t mistake, and you can’t fake. It’s no doubt, what gives him not only his strength, but his resilience. Keep on shining Miguel. —Coach Nick
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Pace Jung
Pace comes to Advanced Silver with some serious breaststroke skills and a power lifting background so it’s a blast to see her crush pull-ups (she’ll be up to ten in a row soon!). Each week she becomes more open to new challenges and technique adjustments as she starts to build an appetite for greater endurance and conditioning. Fortunately, her appetite to make those around her better is insatiable! Keep grinding, Pace! —Coach Bobby
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Roland Tegtmeier
After a week or so out of the pool with vacations, Roland is back to hitting the pool hard. I’ve seen a noticeable change in his focus, not getting distracted by some of the crazy boys we have in our group. With more focus, comes more determination, and the effort follows. Lots of speed in our kick sets, pushing boundaries on test sets, the whole thing. Great showing at B championships also, getting some major time improvements. Way to go Roland! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Olivia Brown
Olivia is a really special athlete. While she may like some strokes better than others, she does a great job improving on all skills across the board. The coaches have been super impressed with Olivia’s butterfly in particular, as she is finding her undulation patterns really well and isn’t afraid to get out of her comfort zone in challenging butterfly sets. This is one kiddo to keep an eye on. You’re the boss, Olivia! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Alice Stockli
Alice’s love for life and swimming is pretty evident each day she steps on the pool deck. From her huge smile to her continued hard work in the water, she makes it easy for me to be her coach. I have loved her increase in desire to get better lately, and it has shown throughout her workouts! I am hoping to see her in some championship meets throughout the next few weeks, as I know she will ROCK the block (jokes)! Keep smiling, Alice. —Coach Allison