Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Ramona Hannan
Ramona has worked so hard over the last few months and her hard work has not gone unnoticed. Over the past few months Ramona has worked hard on her freestyle kicks and this week she got to race her teammates while kicking. This week Intro worked on Freestyle. The main emphasis was working on getting a quick breath to the side. Ramona did a great job with her breathing and having tall arms while swimming. Great job this week Ramona, keep it up! —Coach Hannah
Bee Cave: Ella Claiborne and Greyson McLaughlin
Intro focused on backstroke this past week. Ella and Greyson both stood out to the coaches and have made great improvements. Ella demonstrated great underwaters and a strong flutter kick on her back. She also worked hard to demonstrate good shoulder rotation and tall arm strokes. Greyson has come a long way since joining Intro. He effortlessly streamline kicks on his back (reminds me an otter cruising through the water). Each week he gets a little more confident with his underwater streamline pushoffs. Both kiddos have an affinity for the water. Way to go Ella and Greyson, keep it up! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Nora Doughty
Bronze tackled butterfly this week, and nobody made bigger improvements than Nora. She started off the week with a few things to fix, like getting the timing right and not breathing to high. After a week of hard work, though, Nora showed me a butterfly that would rival the older kids! Great body wave, powerful kicks, and perfect timing. It was a thing of beauty! Nora’s “always ready to swim” attitude will get her far. Keep it up Nora! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Alex Hurd
Some weeks singling out only one swimmer can be difficult, there are always several chargers, however this week Alex just exploded! I can truly say Alex became a racing force this week, whether it was kicking, underwaters, straight up swim, 25, 50, or even 100 he was clearly huffing and puffing. The most exciting event for a coach is when a swimmer makes a break through in the most difficult of areas, the pain they need to endure when racing. Alex was racing harder by the end of practice than when it started, he was also inspiring several others in the group to push after him! Alex Hurd is becoming a great racer! Well done young man! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Tasneem Fatima and Lleydon Nguyen
Both really excelled this past week with our breaststroke drills and kick set. Awesome job with the clean and smooth glide in between each stroke. Excellent job on the 10×25 kick set as well. We’ve been doing this set since the fall and you guys have always leaded your lane. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Sydney Wyrzkowski
Sydney is a trooper. She’s been sick for a couple months now, wrestling with pneumonia and mono and flu viruses. Basically the perfect storm. Anyhow, she returned to practice on Monday and stayed for about 30 minutes. The most impressive part was that she somehow got better! She even won streamline champion! When she returned on Wednesday, I think I saw a smile on her face while I explained our new concept. Sources can’t confirm…but I’m 99% sure I saw one 🙂 Sydney still hasn’t been able to complete a full practice with us since her return, but I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of her, which makes me happy! Sydney is pretty great. —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Sharvi Joshi
Sharvi rocked it this week! She did a fantastic job tackling freestyle and concentrating on making her stroke longer in the water. She also helped some new swimmers by welcoming them to the team and encouraging them through a few tougher sets. What a fantastic way to be a team player in a sport that can sometimes make one feel isolated. Sharvi has improved a ton this season, becoming more focused on the details of her stroke. I can’t wait to see what she does this summer. Way to go girl! —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Arohi Majmudar
We took the time to focus on one stroke per practice this week, Arohi did an exceptional job on breaststroke day. We focused on a fast and aggressive recovery, using the splash drill to emphasize this idea, and Arohi did such a great job making sure there was no pause between the in-sweep and recovery. So much so, that I had her demonstrate for the group. I love seeing lightning fast hands on the breaststroke, as they are so important when developing a good strike phase/lunge forward. Aside from her excellent understanding of this concept, Arohi is a joy to have in practice. She brings a great energy to the group and brings a smile to everybody’s face including mine. Well done, Arohi! —Coach Peter
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Hia Mitra
As our long course season begins we are working on developing our leg strength, which has included several kick challenges! Hia has impressed everyone with her speediness and endurance. Additionally, she is becoming a leader in the pool with her attitude and performance. I am excited to see where Hia goes by the end of the season! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Raymond Wang
Raymond has always been a great breaststroker, but it was his work on butterfly this week that earned him this title. He worked hard to feel the hinge at the hips, press through the chest, and put it together for a smooth and fast fly. Raymond is always a hard worker who holds the group accountable for what they are doing. Way to go Raymond. —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Akriti Mandal
Akriti is wildly talented and naturally fast, although there is a big road ahead of her in terms of learning how to control her strokes. Last week we made a breakthrough on her backstroke and she swam long, tall, and, most importantly, deliberately. Akriti always shows a desire to improve, and it’s exciting to see her start to control her movements. I can’t wait to see you improve on your butterfly this week! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Alice Stockli
Alice, you’re such a cool girl! So blissfully happy and you have brought so much excitement to our Gold group in the past few months. Alice earned SOW this week because of her work ethic and her dedication to her underwaters is impeccable. She has taken her swimming to the next level in the past few months and I am super excited to continue to watch her train throughout the summer! —Coach Allison
Thanks for being a part of Nitro, and we’ll see you at the pool! Coach Mike.