Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Samuel Joeung and Satyanandana Thallum
Gliding was the name of the game during breaststroke this week, and we had some great examples of it across the board! Sivani and Samuel in particular both rocked it. Sivani glided so far that she almost came to a standstill in between strokes, thus resulting in the fewest strokes by far across the pool. Samuel gave an excellent example of a legal breaststroke push-off with a long streamline and no flutter kicks, and immediately went into that smooth gliding breaststroke. Great job, you two! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Jake Young and Emilie Deaton
Two of my youngest (and smallest) Intro to Nitro swimmers, Jake and Emilie truly put in some hard work last week; they were persistent about understanding and mastering the breaststroke kick. Jake has been strengthening his kicks all summer—really focusing on stronger flutter kicks and putting it together with the arms. This past week, Jake got a feel for the breaststroke kick and is now an upcoming breaststroke swimmer! Emilie knows breaststroke is her kryptonite, but she doesn’t let it stop her from having fun. This past week she slowed the kick WAY down and was able to nail it. Thank you two for always walking in with a big smile and sharing your love for swimming with me! Keep it up Jake and Emilie! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Aiden Kennedy
With it being butterfly week, we went about the stroke a little differently to see if we could get some different results. Few people benefited more than Aiden. Aiden has struggled with the breathing timing and comfort on the butterfly, but this week I saw something click for him. He was getting the head up at the right time, and getting it back down at the right time without forcing it. This led to a smoother and overall cleaner butterfly. Way to go Aiden, keep up the hard work! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Nolan McDougall
Coaches are always looking for ways to make a connection so that swimmers experience a different feel in their stroke, sometimes with drills in the pool, or dry land work on the deck, but this week it was a combination of both. Nolan found a new feel, holding on to a piece of PVC pipe he learned how to stretch for a taller bodyline. This didn’t take much time, the whole group did it, but Nolan took the feel from the deck and introduced it into his freestyle in the pool. The change was dramatic! Coach Paige walking by the group motions towards Nolan and said, “Wow!”, that is a defining moment and turns a corner in this young man’s training. Great job Nolan keeping making those kinds of changes! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Olivia and Edward Bomba
The Bomba family has been swimming with Nitro for so many years with our program and myself. They are moving on to be great young adults and have been a pleasure to work with fine-tuning their technique in the pool. Thanks so much for being a part of the Nitro family and letting myself and the other coaches experience your progress. Have a great school year and we’re always here. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Caroline Regen
Caroline rocked it this week! Her chin stayed low in butterfly, and her breaststroke arms were phenomenal! It was one of those weeks as a swimmer where everything seems to fall into place. After this week, her butterfly and breaststroke have been transformed – it’s almost like she’s a new swimmer! I’m proud of Caroline and the hard work she’s put in this summer. I’m also honored that she loves the YouTube videos so much! To top it all off, Caroline is a respectful young lady who’s always trying to do extra work away from the pool to make herself a better swimmer. That will undoubtedly take her far in life! —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Nichole Wood and Samar Panag
Nichole Wood and Samar Panag worked hard last week as we covered backstroke. Both showed attention to detail as we focused on rotating from the hips while keeping the shoulders in line (no wiggling) and the head still. We also focused on hand entry, arm placement, and catching the water efficiently all of which they seemed to pick up on really well. Way to go both of you. Keep up the hard work! —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Ethan Dufresne
What a week for Ethan! We dialed it back a bit this week and did a lot of stroke work. Ethan used to struggle a bit with the timing of his butterfly, but this past week totally transformed his stroke. He figured out the early breath, which allows him to put his head down earlier, and now his butterfly looks great! He’s improved in all facets of his swimming, but the butterfly has been his biggest breakthrough yet! Really proud of the work he put in this week. Great job, Ethan! —Coach Peter
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Arnev Kheni
This young man has stepped up to several new things in our group. We recently had a freestyle challenge set where he excelled! I was very impressed with his effort and skill, especially as we look forward to the fall races. Congrats to Arnav! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Nicholas Wood
As we have hit off-season, he has started focusing on some smaller things in our strokes, while having a lot of fun. Nicholas has been great the last week focusing when he needs to, but also being a great teammate when we play games or do some relays. I’m excited to see how Nicholas grows in the coming season. Keep it up young man! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Kyan Allen
Kyan took some time off this summer to travel and we certainly missed him during that time. Now that he’s back, each practice is a little bit brighter. Sometimes it can be tough hopping back in the pool after a break, but Kyan hasn’t been afraid at all and isn’t missing any yards on the wall. I have no doubt he’ll bounce back and get even faster than he was in no time. Keep it up, Ky Guy! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Evelyn Fuselier
Way to go this week! I was able to work with Evelyn at the begging of this week, and boy did she stand out, even days later I recalled back to her effort and hard work put in. I saw the intensity in the water, as well as great stamina in her workouts. I look forward to seeing continued growth and effort! Bravo young lady. —Coach Allison