First night TAGS update

First night’s results – TAGS

I won’t have as much time in the next few nights to write up summaries of each night, but I have time right now!!

There are 75 teams represented, and 797 athletes competing.

Quite a good night for Nitro! Based on the psych sheet, we were supposed to be in third place after tonight’s events, but that didn’t quite happen as planned…

There were only 4 events this evening – the 800 freestyle (13-14 Girls and Boys) and the 13-14 800 Freestyle relays (Girls/Boys).

When tonight’s dust finally settled, Nitro is in first place after the first night of racing.

· Karling Hemstreet started things off by winning the 800 meter freestyle! Karling’s time of 9:09.87 was 10 seconds faster than the nearest competitor!

· The 13-14 girls 800 Freestyle relay of Regan Barney, Haley Krebsbach, Sutton Marvin, and Karling Hemstreet took first as well!

· Our “C” relay team of Michaela Jonsson, Haley Allen, Little Sister Olivia Allen, and Hannah Rowley scored with an 11th place finish.

· Rounding out the scoring was our “B” relay team of Emma Gogulski, Lillian Benwell, Danielle Lebleu, and Maggie Taylor with 14th place honors. Yes, all three relays scored points!!

Not to be outdone, the 13-14 guys stepped up big time! Winning their relay was the team of Ben Walker, Grant Thompson, Jared Chulavatr, and Josh Artmann — winning with a time of 8:17.25. I need to mention that the 2nd place time was turned in by the Woodlands out of the Houston area with an 8:17.34. Only 9 one hundredths of a second (.09) between the two relays!! Whew!

· Nitro’s “B” relay team of Dave Makhervaks, Adam Toler, Josh Winn, and Nick Milikich took a stellar 7th place.

· Our “C” relay team of JC Engel, Corban Rawls, Jacob Rosenkoetter, and Dylan Friesz took 14th. All three relays of our guys scored as well !

We’re off to a great start – let’s see if the momentum can carry over into the next four full days!! Go Nitro!!! Coach Mike.

Final note before TAGS

Parents/Athletes: I’ve attached a note below that was sent out to our TAGS swimmers, but wanted everyone to see it. The Texas Age Group Swimming Championships begin tonight, Wednesday, at the University of Texas. Everyone is encouraged and invited to come on down and cheer on the 4 time defending state champions, Nitro Swimming, as we seek to make it 5 in a row!! The Thursday, Friday, Sat and Sunday sessions all begin at 9:00AM (preliminaries) with 6:00PM finals. Be sure to wear something Nitro, and come down and see the fastest 14 and Under state meet in the country!!

Here’s the note to our families:

Hello TAGS Families —

I’m writing this a few hours before another TAGS meet kicks off. I wanted to share a few thoughts as we prepare to roll on down to UT to hopefully defend our TAGS team title for a 5th consecutive championship! This note has some fairly random thoughts, and they are in no particular order – some of my ramblings on a Wednesday afternoon…

Things to remember: We’re all ambassadors for youth sports – that includes us coaches, the swimmers on the deck, as well as our parents in the stands.

Not everything is going to go perfectly. It’s all part of the experience. A not so hot swim on a Friday has very little to do with what could be happening on Sunday. It’s a long meet, pace ourselves, and be up for every session.

Swimmers bounce back all of the time. Be sure to contribute to the environment that will give your athlete the best chance of being loose, relaxed, and happy – ready to go!

Let’s all be gracious in victory and humble in defeat. We support our home team of Nitro, but wish our competitors well.

Final relay combinations will be a game time decision for most of the relays, and many factors are taken into consideration.

Speaking of relays, we have a number of “relay only” swimmers, and they are a super important part of this meet to the team. I will get a list of these relay only swimmers and will acknowledge them on a future note. Our daytime relays are not only competing against the other daytime relays, but also competing against the 8 relays coming back to swim at night at finals! Every relay is important, and we’re strong in those!

Have fun, cheer for our Nitro athletes, and keep things light in the stands. Keep the chatter positive, do your best to avoid getting sucked into any negative talk. As Cal Ripken always says: “Be more like the Grandparent.” You may witness some less than respectable behavior from parents – don’t get dragged into it and keep your Nitro chins up!

Reminder – Parents and Athletes — Friday – Red Nitro Olympic tshirts. Bee Cave still has all sizes available in all three colors, Cedar Park has most still. Only $10 !!Saturday — White Nitro Olympic tshirts.Sunday – Blue Nitro Olympic tshirts. It would look great having our parents looking all Nitro’d up!

Last thing: We only have one rule for our athletes at Nitro meets – and we’ll extend that rule for our parents as well: “No One Sits Alone!” So stick together, cheer together, and make some new friends.

We’ve come a long way, and you are all a big reason for it!! But when it is all said and done, your athlete wants one thing more than anything else in the world: They want to know you are proud of them – regardless of how this meet or any other meet goes. In the big scheme of things, isn’t that more important? Keep that in mind. Go Nitro! Coach Mike