Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Melissa (Mako) Miyashita and Katherine Whorton
It seems lately the CP Intro SOWs have had a trend of great attitudes, and I want to recognize this week’s swimmers for their attitude of bravery. I have to give a shoutout to all of our brand-new swimmers who showed up to Nitro at the Races–I was surprised and impressed to see the turnout! Katherine was one who only had three practices under her belt. Not only did she want to swim in the meet, but she decided to race from the diving block instead of the side! Mako is one of our more seasoned swimmers and a great one at that, but she’s a little hesitant to show off her skills. This week she finally agreed to demonstrate catch-up drill with fast kicks and big arms! I love seeing the fearlessness from both these girls, nice job! —Coach Lindsay
Bee Cave: Lyla Hellmund
With our new season only a month in, and new swimmers joining only two weeks ago, I already have some swimmers standing out. Among them is Lyla Hellmund. This young lady has proven that she is a hard worker and catches on quickly. When working on underwater streamline push-offs this past week, she was up for the challenge and worked to master the skill. I am excited to have Lyla in Intro this season. Keep up the hard work and you’ll do great things this season! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Kaylinn Mize
Wow, what a great week Kaylinn had at Nitro! Not only was I impressed with her freestyle work last week, Kaylinn went down to Bee Cave to compete at Nitro at the Races! I knew Kaylinn had some speed in her, but she definitely caught some eyes with her races. She had a beautiful 50 free, staying long and tall and fast, and then turned around for an even better 100 IM. I’m very impressed Kaylinn, keep it up! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Hope Rieder
You have to love when a young swimmer overcomes the fear of a new event, so many things to think about, can I make the distance, what if I forget how to do a turn, how fast should I start out, what if I get tired! What if you don’t! A lot of things to come to grip with when your six years old, and it is also hard when you have an older brother and sister who in your eyes always seem to have great races. Eight swimmers were in the same heat with Hope in her first ever 100 IM, after the first half a length about four swimmers were in front of her, going into the backstroke she increased her tempo and moved up on the leaders, during the breaststroke she only had one swimmers in front of her, the freestyle was a good race for home and she posted 2:00.00 for her first ever IM! What a great swim! This young lady is going to push every swimmer in Bronze to do better, Great Job Young Lady! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Hamza Qureshi
Hamza really stepped up to the plate this past week by leading his lane. He paid close attention to intervals without having to be reminded and worked hard to master ready position. In addition, Hamza held a tight streamline and really used his legs on his streamline push-offs off each wall. Good job Hamza! —Coach Shea
Bee Cave: Naman Mishra
Naman always works hard and does things well in practice. But this weekend, he crushed it at the swim meet! I’ve never seen his butterfly so powerful and controlled. His breaststroke has always been amazing; but, you know it’s special when the silver coach looks on and says, “Wow! That’s a really good breaststroke!” I’m so proud of Naman and all the hard work he’s put into this sport. He’s one of those swimmers that makes you look really good as a coach! He’s a quiet worker, but a fierce one nonetheless! I love working with this guy. —Coach Jonny
Silver
Cedar Park: Samuel Yang
Samuel is very new to Silver, and to the sport of competitive swimming. Because of this he has had to play catch up on a few different skills which the other swimmers have come in knowing since day one. Samuel doesn’t get frustrated when he doesn’t know something right off the bat, nor does he give up if he doesn’t get it on the first try. He is very dedicated when it comes to nailing a skill down, and is eager to learn and catch up to the other swimmers. It doesn’t hurt that Samuel has raw, natural talent when it comes to kicking and his understanding of body position in the water. But to have a swimmer who is determined like he is to learn and get better is invaluable. Nice job, Samuel! —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Nathan White
There’s so much I could say about Nathan, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll keep it to a paragraph. Or so.
Chapter 1 – A Hero Is Born
It began as it always had… with a pool and a dream. It was just another week of practices. Yet, when a young man walked upon the deck this mid September, everything changed. Ok ok, all poetics aside… When Nathan is in the water, I can be sure of two things: 1) He is giving it his all, and 2) He is getting better. Whether it’s doing a drill correctly, or pushing himself, you can expect him to be setting the bar, and then raising it. He is not only quick to embrace challenges, but is also the first to encourage others around him – Something I have caught him doing more than once. He once again set the tone during butterfly week, choosing numerous times to go without fins (even during out set of 100s!). As a lane mate, he constantly rises to occasions, and does it with a nod of the head, and a smile on his face. Couldn’t ask for more from a swimmer, or an emerging leader. You make Nitro better. and your hard work isn’t going unnoticed Nathan. Keep it up! —Coach Nick
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Caitlin Vandermeer
seems like this young lady is growing up before my eyes every week… transitioning into a serious swimmer. She runs almost all the intervals in practice (sometimes even vocally) and sets the example as a committed streamliner and listener. Caitlin is on track to make some big goals this season, and it has been a joy to guide her there. Great job! —Coach Paige
Gold I & II
CP Gold I: Aanya Singh
Last week, gold had a week really heavy on the kick. One of our newer girls, Aanya, stepped up to the occasion. She was leading her lane, not scared to push herself and others, and gave it her all. Aanya had a great showing on our kicking test set too, consistently holding times in the top of the group. She also had a great first day of learning crossover turns! Way to go Aanya, keep up the hard work! —Coach Adam
CP Gold II: Olivia Brown
Olivia is a great listener, a great swimmer, and most importantly, a great doer. Everything asked of her is not only understood, but Olivia tends to make those positive changes in her strokes first try 9 times out of 10. She is growing to be one of the most powerful kickers of the group and, in turn, a great leader by example. Keep driving, Olivia! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Owen Crowns
I honestly “couldn’t not” give Owen this honor this week. I am always amazed at how hard of a worker he is, but this past week he walked up to me while I was coaching a previous group and asked “Coach, what can I do before workout to make sure I am ready to go” I gave him a dryland routine and he walked over to the dryland area and started doing it immediately. The reason why I love this so much, is that Owen is the athlete that is willing to do so much to continue to grow and get better. Not only in the water, but setting goals and working towards those goals! You da man. —Coach Allison