Swimmers of the Week for September 10th – 15th:
Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park:Ashley Arredondo – Ashley is new to Nitro and Intro, but you would never know watching her practice! She is always happy and excited for practices, ready to work hard and quick to catch on to new concepts and drills. Looking forward to another exciting week for Ashley in Intro! Keep up the fantastic work girl!
Bee Cave:Austin Chatterton– We are gifted in that we have the opportunity to work with awesome kids on a daily basis. Every one of them is unique in their own way. But every once in a while a youngster comes our way that redefines uniqueness. Austin is one of those kiddos. He literally makes us laugh with some of his commentary/replies. He loves life, and he is on a trajectory to greatness in whatever field he pursues when he gets older. We love his perspective!
Bronze
Cedar Park: Suravi Karpe– Suravi is always smiling at practice and so excited to work on new things this week she very successfully improved on her butterfly to the point she was the demonstrator for the rest of the group, we are very proud of Suravi and her accomplishments since joining the Bronze group not so long ago.
Bee Cave: Lane Elizondo- Lane has certainly stepped forward as one of the leader of Bronze #5. Always willing to give all he has, and willing to demonstrate whenever asked (and that is quite often). He has set the tone early for the group, and we are looking for some great things from Lane. Well done!
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park:Ethan Gonzalez & Ella Baldwin– Ella was part of our summer rec program, and has since joined NITRO. She is leading her lane, demonstrating for the group, and coming to practice with a great attitude. Ethan came to practice on Saturday, ready to work. He nailed his flip turns and streamlines. Leaving a more advanced swimmer. Great job you two, thanks for being a part of NITRO, and we’ll see you at the pool.
Bee Cave:Kate Hall– Kate has really stepped up her game in the pool this week. She has continued to improve her streamlines, kick, and freestyle as a whole. She continues to impress the coaches with her great attitude and performance in the pool. Keep up the great work Kate!
Silver
Cedar Park:Jack Shields– Jack came into Silver from TF where he was holding back a little bit, but this week and indeed since this season started he holds nothing back and leaves it all in the pool. Jack has a fantastic work ethic and great positive attitude. He has never grunted or sighed when hearing a difficult set, he always takes every hard set head on 100%. Such a great swimmer to coach, thank you Jack and keep up that intensity.
Bee Cave:Alicia White– Alicia has been with the silver group for a while now but since the end of the summer she has really stepped up her game. Alicia has been leading her lane and has proven to be a new leader in the group. We can always count on her to know exactly what we are doing and put her best effort in. The other swimmers in the group clearly take notice to her focus and it has been contagious. Keep up the great work Alicia!
Advanced Silver
Cedar Park:Sabrina Pitkanen– Sabrina has done a fantastic job leading her lane, clock reading and working on her underwater streamlines. Her motivation level is through the roof! Great job Sabrina!
Bee Cave: Derrin Ngo– Derrin put together a solid week and exemplified many of the actions and attitudes that make a strong Adv. Silver swimmer. He knew where he was in the set and what the interval was. He listened to the coaches and took stroke corrections and put them into place. On top of that, Derrin focused on doing the drills right not just on swimming fast. Keep up the good work Derrin!
Gold
Cedar Park: David Heckman & Melissa Horton– Melissa has had quite the start to her training this season already, working as hard as possible every day she is in the water. No matter how hard it gets Melissa will continue never giving up, it is an attitude towards training that brings her a lot of respect amongst her own teammates. David is another one of these trainers that is relentless in his pursuit of improvement, David has achieved Lifetime best swims in practice twice this past week. Very encouraging for his Short Course season. Good job to both swimmers!
Bee Cave:Ian Brann and Connor Jones– When Ian arrives onto the pool deck he has a huge smile on his face coming to practice. Ian continues to push this gold group by taking the lead in his lane. He had a phenomenal week in Gold. Great to see that smile, especially on our difficult sets this week. Keep up the great work Ian, big things are in store. The practice habits that aid the young swimmer in continued improvement are increased focus, being able to apply changes to their stroke mechanics as needed, willingness to try new things and being open to new challenges. This week Connor Jones made countless improvements to his body position and stroke techniques. Without being told, when the leaders of his lane were absent, and the start of the next set began he took over the lane lead without missing a single repeat. His attention to the coach’s instructions was also evident as he himself had to repeat the next set instructions to teammates, holding them accountable for their lack of focus. The little things that Connor works on every practice with consistency will translate into faster repeats and improved meet performances. Congratulations to Connor and Ian.