Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park:Safa Maredia– Safa has been a wealth of knowledge recently, knowing all the answers to questions during practice. She has been tuning in at a higher level during set instructions and in turn her swimming is improving greatly. Safa is learning from her good listening skills and also from her attention to demonstrations during practice. If she has a question she is ready to ask and learn. This has helped not only her but also her teammates who may be too shy to raise their hand. Thank you Safa for doing a great deed for your teammate and being so FANTASTIC at practice!
Bee Cave:Nitro at the Races swimmers– This week I want to Congratulate all of the swimmers that challenged themselves to swim at the swim meet this weekend. Especially those that competed in the longer races. Great job all, you should be proud of yourselves!
Bronze
Cedar Park:Druv Pant– Druv is full of energy in the water and always eager to prove himself. No matter what the set is Druv gives it 100%. Having all that energy it is sometimes a challenge to slow it down and work on the fine tuning of things, but this week Druv has put in the focus to details. He is paying more attention to his coaches and watching the clock so he knows exactly what he needs to be doing for each swim. Keep up the great work Druv!
Bee Cave:Friday night Nitro at the Races Swimmers– All the bronzers that swam on Friday night did great! We had so many cheerleaders and happy faces it was hard to have a bad swim. It was very exciting to have so many swimmers come up and say “I dropped more time!” I’m very proud of all the swimmers, from every group. And a special recognition for those swimmers who came to practice Friday before the meet, and Saturday if they swam on Friday.
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park:Michelle Taylor & Anoop Rachakonda– Michelle really worked on her flip turns this past week. She was having some difficulty with water going up her nose, but eventually got her turn down. Anoop is always at practice with great enthusiasm and encouragement for the other swimmers. His technique is coming along very well. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO, and we’ll see you at the pool.
Bee Cave:Elle Tracy– Elle really put on her game face in the pool this week. Her determination to perfect all the skill sets this week has the coaches noticing her drastic improvement. Elle is enjoying her time in the water with a huge smile on her face. She accepts feedback in a positive manner by doing what she is asked. Keep up the great work Elle!
Silver
Cedar Park:Rebecca Isaac– Rebecca has always been a good listener and very respectful to her coaches and fellow lane mates. But the past few weeks we have noticed she has been really pushing herself and a fire has sparked up getting her to move up in lane position and really begin to grow as a swimmer as well as an athlete.
Bee Cave:Steven Laflamme– This last week everything really started to come together for Steven, the changes he has made to his breaststroke show how hard he has been working on the pace and feel of the stroke, but most impressive is how relaxed the stroke looks with his head in exactly the right position. He also took that same head position, put it to work on his butterfly and WOW what a nice looking butterfly! I can’t wait to see that stroke in a meet. Great work Steven!!
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park:Jordan Gould– Jordan’s done a great job working on fixing details-which will help all of his strokes in the long run. Keep up the good work!!
Bee Cave:John Leeds– I said before, effort alone is not enough to achieve Swimmer of the Week in Advance Silver. But when you have an already great attitude, the capacity to listen, understand and put into action the directions of the coach and an outstanding individual achievement in a set, well, it’s a little tough not to give the Swimmer of the Week to John Leeds. Thursday night, amidst a slew of outstanding performances, John took up the challenge of a “make-it” set where he was tasked with doing as many 75’s as he could on a certain interval. John made the first one by four seconds. Then he made the second one by… four seconds. And the third. He kept on making them with only four seconds rest time and time again until I eventually stopped him with the rest the group at over sixteen 75s. Keep up the great work John!
Gold
Cedar Park: Gregory Raper– Gregory has done exactly what was expected of him this week and that was to be a leader. Great job Gregory keep working hard!!
Bee Cave:Jake Hansen – Jake has a quiet work effort, on any given day you will find him doing his best, making small adjustments, longer tighter pushoffs, quicker arm recoveries, all the while getting faster and faster. You always try to challenge the swimmer, get them to move out of their comfort zone, and this week Jake did just that by moving to the lead during some of the tougher sets, Coach Adrian even exclaimed “check out Jake, stepping up and racing!” It’s great to see the desire Jake has for swimming push him to a new level! Long course is going to be a break through time for Jake. Way to work it Jake!
Swimmer of the Month for March, 2013:
Cedar Park
High School Training:Kristina Troyanski– Kristina is one of a kind; hard worker, focused and disciplined, great friend and teammate, and just a lot of fun to coach. With goals bigger than most kids her age Kristina can teach us all a thing or two about putting your mind to things and achieving your goals. She started swimming with Nitro a year ago give or take a few months. Her reason for coming was not to get to the State swim meet or Sectionals, it was for Pentathlon training. She has come a long way in a short time due to her strong self-discipline and keeping her mind focused. It is always exciting to hear about her competitions from around the world and know that she is part of the Nitro Nation. We are all honored to have her in the pool and bringing us all closer together. Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin’ alive!
TAGS 2: Ashlyn Carroll – Great improvements for Ashlyn at the TAGS meet, really doing a great job with her speed and ability to race. Now she has moved into the next stage of her swimming career and has moved to the TAGS 1 group. We wish her good luck and lots of future success.
TAGS 1: Josh Artmann. During TAGS Josh was shooting for his first NCSA Junior National cut. He had some great swims but was just off the cut in his 100 back. His best event and best opportunity to make his cut in the 200 Back was the final day of aTAGS. He was putting a lot of pressure on himself and swam a great 200 back in the prelims, but did not make the cut. He was a little down as he came back for finals and I was not sure from a mental perspective that he was going to be able to get back into the game and make the cut at night. That night he went for it from the start and had a great swim and made the NCSA Junior cut by almost a second.
Senior:It’s tough to pick a Swimmer of the Month for Senior, but the following swimmers have been absolutely awesome at practice for the last two weeks. They are helping to raise the bar for the group, and lead us forward. I am looking forward to seeing them blossom this summer! Garrett Mott, Christian McConnell, Camden Lemond and Jacob Gwin. Well done gentlemen!!!
Sectional:Christian Carroll– Christian has been doing an excellent job stepping up and leading many sets this month. He is a very talented kicker but that hasn’t stopped him from challenging himself and seeing not just if he can make intervals, but seeing how low he can get under. He is sure to be one of the training leaders this coming month of hard work.
Bee Cave
High School Training:Not Available
TAGS:Ian Brann, Nathaniel Hartman & Andrew Pickard – These boys swam out of their swam suits at the TAGS Championships! Contributing mightily to the Nitro victory, these boys stepped up both individually and on relays. All 3 are just beginning to scratch the surface of their respective talents. Way to go boys!
Senior:Tristan Cole– Tristan has really established himself as a serious work horse in the group. He doesn’t ever ask to get out during practice and gives 100% while in the pool week in and week out. He has stepped up his training to a whole new level. His constant determination to make every single set has the coaches noticing his hard work. It surely is paying off in the pool. With all of his hard work he is due for reward in this exciting long course season. Keep up the work Tristan, big things are in store for you.
Sectional:Mason Tenney – Mason concluded his successful season competing at the NCSA Junior National Championships in Orlando. Mason swam the full complement of events at his first National competition. In addition, Mason swam the butterfly leg (49.9) of the Nitro Men’s 400 Medley Relay which placed 8th! Best times in 4 of his 5 relay splits as well as the 400 IM and 500 Free, Mason proved he is among the top 15-16 year boys in the country. Congrats Mason!
National Group Swimmer of the Month for March – William Licon– William capped an incredible short course season by rewriting the Nitro record book, both individually as well as helping the men set all 5 relay records at Junior Nationals in Orlando. William also set three South Texas records in the 50 breast 25.78, 200 breast 1:56.00 and the 400 im with a 3:47.75. All of those were team records as well and then he also set team records in the 100 breast 54.78 and 200 im 1:46.24. William saved his best swim for last and it shows what a great team guy he is as he split 53. 71 100 breast on the men’s 400 MR. William also finished 6th overall in points scored at the meet. Great way to wrap up his senior year SCY and now William heads to the National Junior Team Training Camp at the Olympic Training Center this week to help kick off his LCM season with the best in the nation! Great job William!