Intro to Nitro
Cedar Park: Blake Mezger
Blake is always ready to go when practice starts. With a huge smile on his, he races his teammates during our kick set everyday. This week Intro worked on Individual Medley and Dives. Blake did an awesome job with his four strokes and really improved a lot on his dives this time around. Great job this week Blake, keep it up! —Coach Hannah
Bee Cave: Ella Mitchell and Kilian Welbourn
Ella and Kilian both swam at their first Nitro at the Races this weekend and did a fabulous job! Ella continuously excels during practice. She always pushes off the wall in a tight streamline crushing the underwaters. When given the opportunity to choose a stroke, Ella chose butterfly and showed me a Bronze-level fly. Kilian has only been in Intro a couple of months and was very nervous coming into the meet without her twin sister by her side, but she quickly found her confidence and became excited to race. Kilian has made major improvements since joining—particularly when kicking, ditching her fins during our warm-up kick set. Ella and Kilian are hard workers and truly love swimming. I love seeing such excitement and bright smiles on the faces of these young athletes. Keep up the hard work Ella and Kilian! Thank you for being shining stars! —Coach Raven
Bronze
Cedar Park: Rhea Ramaiah
What an awesome week Rhea had. First, she was extremely attentive during practices, making sure she was doing exactly what was asked on our flip-turn work. Then, Rhea went out and had some killer swims at Nitro at the Races. Not only did she swim fast at the meet, she made it all look smooth and easy. Keep it up Rhea, you’re doing awesome! —Coach Adam
Bee Cave: Emma Avramescu
Just a great week for Emma, working on butterfly is becoming one of her high points in the water, she looks much more relaxed with a lower head position, and the length of stroke has dramatically increased. The biggest change has come in the timing of her stroke, a straight-arm swing, thumbs down, and elbows finishing above her ears make for a very smooth long stroke. I believe this is going to be her most competitive stroke and cannot wait to see her swim her first 100 butterfly! Great job young lady! —Coach Chuck
Technique and Fitness
Cedar Park: Emily Jones and Daniel Vo
Awesome job this past week on your backstroke and swimming and kicking with a cup on your head!! Excellent body position and really understanding the way the head position really reflects the rest of your body movement. Great arm reach and hand placement. Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool. —Coach Stephen
Bee Cave: Kye McDonald
If you’re looking for a Kye replacement, good luck! He’s one of a kind. He always has something to say, and isn’t afraid to talk to anyone or take on new challenges. Although sometimes that has led us down some challenging roads, Kye really stepped up this past week. Kye focused all his energy on the skills and really shined. He pushed himself on the swim sets, kicked his heart out during the timed 75s, and then capped off the week with some very clean and powerful dives. This has been a solid week, and a great start to what I know will continue. In a world where you hear so often “my way or the highway”, we sometimes forget that every person’s journey is different, and for this young swimmer, he most certainly has done it all, the “Kye-way”. Keep it up man! And glad you’re at NITRO! —Coach Nick
Silver
Cedar Park: Tyler Yount
This week Tyler Yount from Silver #3 did an outstanding job of focusing on his bodyline during freestyle. Tyler is relatively new to competitive swimming, and already has a ton of natural talent. Since he’s got some serious upper body strength, his natural bent is to swim more so with his arms and head up than with his legs and head down. He’s also an incredibly hard worker who listens to his coaches and constantly strives to make positive changes. So within a few months he corrected his body position and is now a much stronger kicker. Tyler, you’re an awesome athlete with a heart of gold. Way to work! —Coach Claire
Bee Cave: Chicco Papi
Chicco has really grown to be one of the leaders of the Silver #2 group. He comes to practice with such a great attitude and is always ready to work. Out of all the things Chicco has improved on, I’m probably the most impressed with his improved focus. I used to have to get on Chicco occasionally for goofing around during practice, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve had to do that. I’ve been so happy with Chicco’s practices lately, choosing this week’s SOW was an easy decision. Great job, Chicco!—Coach Peter
Advanced Silver
Bee Cave: Hannah Seal
Hannah has recently joined Advanced Silver and has made a significant impact on our group. Hannah’s work on interval training, her kicking strength, and improved turns are going make her excel in her first ever Long Course season. The Red and Black meet was a great example of this. So glad she is part of Nitro! —Coach Paige
Gold 1 & 2
Gold 1 CP: Jessica Li
Jessica had made some huge strides in the last few months. In the pool, she has pushed herself harder than I’ve seen before – not just going fast, but paying close attention to the details of her stroke. Jessica has also been working really hard in dryland, getting away from some of the socializing to get the job done. Way to go Jessica, looking forward to a great long course season! —Coach Adam
Gold 2 CP: Kayla Gonzalez
Kayla caught the eye of multiple coaches last week with her clean strokes. Her backstroke is extremely tall and efficient, and she has done a fantastic job finding her butterfly timing. The group performed some time trials last week and Kayla absolutely dominated them. Way to go, Crash! —Coach Alex
Bee Cave: Jared Guerra
Jared had a stellar week! I was most impressed with his ability to finish out the week strong and show his teammates what dedication and commitment will get you. Saturday we did some racing at the end of practice, not only did Jared race spectacularly with his teammates, he ask afterwards if he could get on the block and race another time! I wasn’t going to tell him no! Every week of a swimmer’s workouts should be like the one that Jared had this past week. Keep it up Jared! —Coach Allison
