Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Vaibhav Viswanathan
Vaibhav is such a hard worker who really likes the understand swimming. Vaibhav has shown his coaches that he is getting stronger and more confident in the water. This past week Intro did a lot of kicking and backstroke. Vaibhav lead his lane during the kicks and almost always being one of the first kids to the wall. He also did a great job of having his thumb come out of the water and have his pinky go into the water first for his backstroke arms. Not to mention he worked super hard on breaststroke the two weeks before. Keep up the great work Vaibhav! —Coach Hannah
Bee Cave: Grace Wargo
Grace has come a long way since joining Intro this past fall. She has perfected her underwater streamline push-offs and—while breaststroke is her favorite—her flutter kick gets stronger each week. Grace is always full of energy and excited to swim. Her positive attitude and hard work is evident in her progress. This week Grace led the group with her streamlines and breaking out with a breath on the side, then maintaining a tall bodyline during freestyle. Thank you Grace for all your hard work and sharing your big smile! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Julia Eun
Julia is an awesome kid to have in the bronze group. She is always happy, ready to swim her best, and is very polite! Julia caught my eye the last few weeks with some great streamlines and a smooth freestyle. Julia is also really good at doing the little things right, like no breathing in the red zone! Keep it up Julia! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Shaun Woertink
Shaun is a very dedicated young swimmer, in a week where we did a lot of new and different drills, using medicine balls instead of kick boards, pull buoy with fins, he never let it change his focus. He pressed the legs as hard as he could and I always found him in a lead position by the end of the set. Shaun loves to race and when you approach every swim with that kind of intensity you will make big improvements every month. Keep up the Great Work Young Man! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Tiffany Sheridan and Chase Alaspa
Awesome job this week on your backstroke! Especially with your kicking and drill work. Excellent underwater streamlines on your back and keeping your form across the pool. Great hand placement in the water as well as head position. Keeping the head back and hips up is key and you guys mastered it. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Malaika Beg
Malaika is a blessing to our Saturday group. She always comes in with a smile, and leaves with a smile. Up until last Saturday, underwater backstroke push-offs were Malaika’s bane of existence. However, with a little extra motivation to win streamline champion, Malaika conquered her nemesis! When she pushed off the wall, my eyes grew large as I watched with amazement. I inhaled a deep breath of surprise when she was still underwater passed the flags. When she popped up almost halfway down the pool, she looked straight at me from in the water. I was overjoyed by the smile on her face as she yelled, “Did you see that?” I couldn’t be more proud of Malaika and this new milestone; and, I was proud to crown her streamline champion. —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Olivia Dang
Even though it was Spring Break Week Olivia showed up to work! As we covered breast stroke she worked on keeping the knees narrow through her kick and shooting the hands quickly over the surface of the water. On fly she kept her breath low to the water and her hips high throughout her stroke. She also did a stellar job when working on dives. Nice job, Olivia! I can’t wait to see what this next season holds for you. —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Sophia Tang
Sophia has quietly been leading the Silver #3 group for a long time now, and it is time that I recognized her efforts. She’s always incredibly focused and attentive in practice, and it shows in her swimming day in and day out. One area I think Sophia has really improved is her butterfly. She has a great rhythm and has really learned how to get the recovery arms nice and straight. Not sure how much longer I’ll be able to keep her in my group! Great job, Sophia! —Coach Peter
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Alexander Esslemont
This young man joined our team a few months ago quickly showing us a tremendous amount of raw talent, and has now spent the past 5 months working on his skills such as active streamline, transitions, clock work, turns and kicking. He is developing into a truly competitive athlete and racer. You will find him asking to swim his favorite stroke, fly, all day – every day! Great job, Alexander! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Alex Llorens
This past week, even though it was spring break, I was looking for those kids who were coming to practice and working hard on some of the sillier stuff we did; Alex was definitely one of them. She was a mainstay in the group all week, including our four square dryland! Alex’s strokes have come along nicely this season, and I can see her getting stronger each week. Way to go Alex! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Parker Huang
Parker has always been a great athlete in the water and at dryland, but this past week it’s been clear he’s a baller as well. We’ve been having some fun post-TAGS by playing extra four-square, and Parker showed up big time. He played with everyone from Gold II to ND and was knocking those teenagers out one by one. You better look out for this quick-hands kiddo! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Ian Urquiola
Ian has done a great job of making his transition back into the water after taking a month off over the holidays to travel and be with family. I am starting to see his endurance pick up, and overall he is starting to better his stroke technique. His commitment over spring break week was awesome, and I loved that he was able to make it this week for more one-on-one time with the coaches. —Coach Allison