Coach’s Note: 2/21/13

1.       Cedar Park’s front desk area will be some “re-arranging” for the next week or so as we continue to strive to improve our services. We may be moving some things around between now and then – wanted to give you a head’s up.

2.       Nitro Parent T-shirts — I received a few emails from parents who missed last night’s deadline. We’ve extended until tonight, 11:59PM CST – so far 61 t-shirts have been ordered. If you want one, follow the instructions here: They are available to order in both men’s cut and ladies cut, and available in black as well as white. Sizes will range from adult small all the way up to XXXL (that was requested – for some extra comfort).   Parents can order as many shirts as they want, you will just have to keep adding yourself as a “swimmer.”  There’s no way around asking for your full name and DOB, but you can use “*” or “-“ to omit the middle name and you can let your date of birth default to the day you order your shirt(s). The order component can be found by going to www.nitroswimming.com  (our team site) and clicking on events, each location (Bee Cave and Cedar Park) has their own setup.

3.       TAGS families (State meet qualifiers) – Corrine Marvin, one of our Swim Moms at Cedar Park, is coordinating the “TAGS Bags” effort this year – basically putting together some goodie bags for the kids heading to the Woodlands in a few weeks for the TAGS meet. If any Bee Cave parent(s) would like to help her handle the duties, let me know and I will forward onto Corrine. Thanks!

4.       Thanks for being a part of Nitro – See you at the pool! Coach Mike.

Great sportsmanship

This past Saturday night at the “A” Championships meet in San Antonio, a few of our 10 yr old boys were preparing for the 100 Freestyle – finals. The starter called the boys onto the blocks. He then gave the “Take your Mark” command. He held the boys for a little bit waiting for them to get settled. One of our boys lost his balance, held on for all he could, but “SPLASH!” He fell in. Embarrassed, nervous, shaken up, unsure what to do next, not knowing what was going to happen, he climbed out of the water and was waiting as the officials were discussing his “fate.” It was during this time that one of our older boys, Trent Jackson, part of our National Group, recognized that our 10 yr old needed a guiding hand, a calming influence, basically some good old fashioned support. Trent went over to our 10 yr old, reached out his hand, told him that everything was OK, it wasn’t the end of the world, and that he was there to help. Well, the officials ended up disqualifying our 10 yr old, but Trent Jackson made a difference – a HUGE difference in the life of a 10 yr old teammate. Well done Trent – THAT’S what we’re about. THAT’S a leader. I’m proud of you.

Another parent had a similar good sportsmanship story to share. I’ve included it right here:

I wanted to let you know that we had a similar experience with our 10 year old son this weekend. Clayton was upset with how he swam and Regan Barney came up to him and tried to cheer him up. At first he didn’t want any part of it, but she kept trying. She kept talking to him and asking him questions until she had him smiling. When she left he ran off with his friends happy again. She made a difference (something I couldn’t do no matter how many times I told him I was proud of him ).

 

Energy Drinks not for our kids

I had stopped for my morning chocolate milk last week after a swim and I couldn’t help but notice what the guy ahead of me was purchasing. On the counter was a jumbo can of Monster energy, a 5 hour Energy package, and to go for the trifecta, yup – he also threw in a pack of cigarettes! Nice that I’ll be paying for that guy’s health care, but that’s another topic for another time.  After he had left, I asked the person behind the counter how many of those 5 hour things they sell. She replied they can’t keep them in stock. Anyway – here’s another article on “energy” drinks. Parents —-Please read through this first, and be aware that a certain type of “assault” is mentioned at the half way point if you want to screen that part before your kids read it. Thanks for being a part of Nitro! See you at the pool. Coach Mike.

Treat energy drinks the same as drugs; Fad creates boom in emergency room visits

Kevin Pho

The energy drink business is booming. Sales in the U.S. have hit more than   $10 billion, eclipsing categories such as iced tea or sports drinks. About 6   billion energy drinks were consumed nationwide in 2010, and it’s estimated   that 31% of teenagers drink them regularly.But the popularity of energy drinks is leading to serious health   consequences. A recent government survey estimated that the number of   emergency room visits related to consuming energy drinks doubled nationally   in the past four years.It’s no secret how energy drinks work: caffeine. Consider that just 2   ounces of a popular brand contains 207 mg of caffeine, which is almost as   much as six cans of Coca-Cola. It is more than double the recommended amount   of daily caffeine intake for teenagers, who are often targeted in advertising   campaigns. Roland Griffiths, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University,   rightly calls them “caffeine delivery systems.” Dietary supplements? Most energy drinks also contain herbal ingredients such as ginkgo, taurine   or milk thistle. Although scientific studies show that these additives have   little value, their presence allows energy drinks to be sold as dietary   supplements rather than drugs. It’s an important distinction. Supplements don’t have to disclose the   amounts of caffeine they contain, while over-the-counter drugs that contain   similar doses of caffeine do. So in the majority of cases, those who consume   energy drinks don’t know how much caffeine they’re ingesting. Energy drinks can lead to serious health problems, including palpitations,   rapid heart rates, dehydration, elevated blood pressures, or even heart   attacks. Their high caffeine content, along with “natural”   additives, can interact with prescription drugs. Worse, 56% of college   students report mixing energy drinks with alcohol, which studies show   increase the risk of committing or experiencing a sexual assault, riding with   a drunk driver, or becoming involved in an alcohol-related car accident. Deaths also reported According to the recent survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health   Services Administration, there were more than 20,000 emergency room visits   involving energy drinks in 2011, double the number from 2007. Last year, the   Food and Drug Administration received reports of 18 deaths and over 150   injuries that might have been associated with the drinks. These safety concerns require energy drinks to be more closely scrutinized.   Beverage manufacturers should clearly label the caffeine content. Adults   should limit their caffeine intake to about 500 mg per day (or about two tall   cups of Starbucks brewed coffee), less for teens and older patients and those   with heart or liver problems. Doctors need to do a better job screening for   and counseling those who consume high amounts of energy drinks. Finally, we   should consider the approach taken by our neighboring countries. Canada will soon cap energy drink caffeine content to 180 mg per can or   bottle, which, if instituted in the U.S., would require reformulation of a   substantial number of drinks. Mexico is seeking to ban the sales of energy   drinks to those younger than 18. Perhaps most effective would be to stop seeing energy drinks as beverages,   and instead view them as liquid stimulant drugs. Because that’s what they   really are. Kevin Pho, a primary care physician in Nashua, N.H., blogs at MedPage   Today’s KevinMD.com and is a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors.

Coach’s Note: 2/19/13 New T-shirt design

1.       Parent t-shirts are ready to order. The winning design was #15. We added some color and a few Nitro “N’s” to the shirt. Price is $11 per shirt. They are available to order in both men’s cut and ladies cut, and available in black as well as white. Sizes will range from adult small all the way up to XXXL (that was requested – for some extra comfort).   Parents can order as many shirts as they want, you will just have to keep adding yourself as a “swimmer.”  There’s no way around asking for your full name and DOB, but you can use “*” or “-“ to omit the middle name and you can let your date of birth default to the day you order your shirt(s). The order component can be found by going to www.nitroswimming.com  (our team site) and clicking on events, each location (Bee Cave and Cedar Park) has their own setup.  We’re going to make this a pretty quick turnaround – and will have the ordering open until 11:59PM CST Wednesday night, so basically two full days to order. Thanks!

Swimmer of the Week for February 4th – 9th, 2013

Intro to Nitro

Cedar Park:Akshata Badrayani– Akshata has made serious progress since she began in Intro.  Once timid and unsure, now she is fully confident of her stroke skill and knowledge.  Each week at practice she listens carefully for directions and opportunities to answer questions for coaches and teammates! She is a wonderful swimmer to have as part of Intro to Nitro!  Congratulations Akshata!!

Bee Cave: NOT AVAILABLE

Bronze

Cedar Park: Sloane Diamond– Sloane has done an amazing job this week listening to and directly working on improvements. Sloane is a great demonstrator to the group because when she understands a drill she makes it look pretty every time. Something to show off to all other swimmers.

Bee Cave:Peyton Hodakievic– Peyton has done a tremendous job with her work effort and positive attitude.  She is one of the tiniest in the group, but makes the biggest impression.  With moving forward and improving her stroke work, Peyton continues to impress the coaches with her giant smile at the end of each practice.  Keep working hard, you’re doing great!

Technique and Fitness

Cedar Park:Emily Anguiano & Tyler Gonzalez – Emily has really improved on her butterfly.  She also is paying attention to the clocks and her interval work.  She is all smiles and positive attitude. Tyler is fairly new to the T/F group.  He’s already leading his lane, following instructions and pushing himself.  Great job you two thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool.

Bee Cave:Sophie Beasley– Sophie put together a wonderful week at practice. Her focus for sixty minutes is the result of improvement from her in all areas. Sophie is becoming a leader in that group, keep up the great work.

Silver

Cedar Park:Raffe Andrewartha– Raffe recently had an injury to his ankle which kept him from being able to kick or do much swimming at all.  Before his injury he was a “go through the motions” swimmer; doing the sets but not to the best of his ability.  With an injured ankle he had to really push himself if he wanted to keep up with the rest of the group.  He is now injury free and has carried over the hard working attitude he was relying on and all week he has been towards the front of his lane.  Keep on pushing Raffe!

Bee Cave:Isabella Sites– Bella has been working so hard to improve her mechanics you might have missed the fact that when we swam 5 one hundreds on interval she held them all under 1:35, but better than that she made each 100 faster than the last finishing with a 1:27 just 2 seconds off her best 100 free time, That’s the kind of swimming that gets the coaches saying WOW.

Advanced Silver

Cedar Park:The swimmers that braved the elements this Saturday at the Last Chance meet!– Swimming through rain, wind and chilly temperatures, there were still swimmers posting best times and some new A times! This day was all about not letting external factors control your attitude and outcome. Nice job to all!

Bee Cave: Madella Ngo– Madella really stepped up this week.  She has a great deal of talent but frequently holds back in her lane.  Not this week. In one of our more challenging sets, Madella took the lead late in the set and continued to push through to the end.  Each swimmer has their own challenges to overcome and Madella really rose with the occasion to succeed and meet the potential of the set.  Well done Madella!

Gold

Cedar Park: Alyssa Grunloh– Alyssa has joined our team all of two months and has already had great success in the pool, this weekend she went to the Last Chance ‘A’ Qualifier and immediately went a AA time in the 200 Fly. Besides that she is constantly the source of many smiles at practice, even when she is upset with the coaches over the set she can’t help but make everyone laugh. She is a great addition to our GOLD group.

Bee Cave:Evan Margiotta– For quite some time Evan considered himself simply a breaststroker but as of late he has been challenging himself to explore other areas of training, this last week on some 50 breakthrough sets he was a standout in the Gold Group, but it’s his quiet work ethic that has been impressing myself and the other coaches.

Swimmer of the Week for January 28th – February 2nd

Intro to Nitro

Cedar Park:Douglas Townsend– Douglas made butterfly look easy this Saturday for Intro, inspiring his teammates to get it down.  Always smiling and bringing up the intensity of the group Douglas is a lot of fun to coach.

Bee Cave:Intro to Nitro Group #1– On any given week some practices go better than others. But this group consistently pushes each other to be the best, to be faster, to know every answer. This group as a whole listens well with a focus that I rarely see with the other groups. Keep up the great work, kiddos!

Bronze

Cedar Park: Matisse Cohen-Hadria– Matisse did a great job with her butterfly technique this week, so well that she demonstrated to the entire group. She really listened and understood what the coaches were telling her and she has found a natural rhythm to her butterfly. Keep up the hard work!

Bee Cave:Olivia Gerhart– Olivia really impressed the coaches this week every single practice.  She has been leading her lane and shown a positive attitude while doing so.  We are happy to give Olivia this recognition for all of her hard work.  She has the best flip turns and streamlines of the entire Bronze group.  Keep up the excellent work, Olivia!

Technique and Fitness

Cedar Park:Elise Kadison & Aidan Byrd – These two athletes have stepped up their game this past week.  Elise looked really efficient in the pool.  Things such as streamlines and flip turns are becoming automatic.  We really noticed  good technique with Aidan for the past few workouts.  He’s looking much smoother in the pool and grabbing the water at the correct points.  Great job you two, thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool.

Bee Cave:Addison Todd, Emma & Kylie Dinwiddie– This trio came to Nitro with a huge amount of energy. These three young ladies have all made giant strides of improvement in all of their strokes. It was evident during our tough IM week. I have no doubt in my mind that they are going to be an important asset to their respective summer league teams. Keep up the great work ladies.

Silver

Cedar Park:Elizabeth Stephen– I remember when Elizabeth started Silver. Her technique was good but she was what I would call a casual swimmer.  Going through the motions but not really shining.  For the past month she has been a very “shiny” swimmer, leading her lane and making the intervals with plenty of rest.  Pushing yourself is the key to improving in any sport and she has just broken the surface what her limits truly are. Keep on pushing Elizabeth!!!!!

Bee Cave:Sam Smith– Sam has really turned it on the last few days, when both coach Adrian & coach Scott came up to me and said have you seen Sam Smith, “Yes I have!” he has filled the gap left by two swimmers that were moved to Advanced Silver, he now leads his lane and the group, but he’s doing it the right way, focus, patience, intensity, good turns, great streamlines, and I’ve never seen him have more fun! What a great job!

Advanced Silver

Cedar Park:Graciela Uriegas– Gracie had a great swim in her 100 backstroke at the BB meet, but was disqualified. Even though she was disappointed, she did a fantastic job of coming back the next day and swimming just as fast and making the necessary corrections in her race. The reward was an ‘A’ time in her 50 backstroke and a big smile on her face! Great job Gracie-and great job keeping a positive attitude all weekend!

Bee Cave:

Gold

Cedar Park: Melissa Horton– Melissa, one of our many multisport athletes has struggled through some tough times recently with various minor injuries from playing basketball for her school, but this week she found some of her stride again looking like a champ in practice. We had some tough sets this week and Melissa brought back some of her confidence to the pool. Glad to see it, keep up the hard work!!!

Bee Cave:Connor Jones– Connor has done a great job working on his butterfly this last week, his focus and work on the longer events like the 200 butterfly and 500 free have impressed his coaches, anytime the swimmer chooses to train for these kind of events on their own at age 11 it makes you smile, and when that swimmer breaks through his time goal and does it with a smile, you just have to cheer him on. Keep doing it right Connor.

Swimmer of the Month for January:

Cedar Park

High School Training:Aditya Tewari– Aditya is High School Training Swimmer of the Month!  Aditya’s constantly asking for more and finding new ways to pushing himself and his teammates!  Learning how to turn each practice into a stepping stone towards his goals is exciting to see.  Keep up the excellent training Aditya!

TAGS 2:Summer Fullwood– Summer has made great improvements in her swimming over the last few months.  She also has exemplified being a great teammate.  At one of the UT meets, a NITRO swimmer was visibly upset with a swim.  Without missing a beat, Summer was the first person  to console the swimmer on the performance.  It was great to see her step up and be a great team mate.

TAGS 1:Michaela Jonsson– One of Michaela’s goals this season was to make an NCSA Junior cut. She went down to the Gulf Swimming Short Course Open to swim the 200 Breast, she had a good swim in the morning and then in the finals made her cut. Great job in taking care of business, Michaela.

Senior:Hannah Palacios– Hannah has been consistent with attendance and shown great improvement in her confidence in swim meets.   She trains hard pushing herself and the others in her lane. Hannah had a really great BB Championship she made several A cuts and looked strong and confident in her swims while doing so.

Sectional:Katie Nichols– Katie had a great meet at the Woodlands meet in Houston. She had significant drops in three strokes and a 8 second drop in her 400 IM on the last day. She came back from that meet and has worked even harder to demonstrate she is not satisfied.

Bee Cave

High School Training:Hadley McCormick– Hadley earned this award through her consistent work ethic and drive. She continually gives me 100% effort along with a focus to detail that is rarely seen. Congrats Hadley!

TAGS:Camille Sweeney – Camille has made her way back to the chlorinated water and we couldn’t be happier to see her back!  Coming back is hard on both the mind and body as a swimmer makes her way back to the sport.  Camille has been training consistently and working on her technique.  Stay patient and keep up the great work Camille!

Senior:Savannah Handy & Carson Newman– These young ladies have lit a fire in the year 2013 and have been on a roll all month long! With Carson missing nearly all of winter training for vacation, she really stepped up and gained her mojo back in the pool. What really topped off this month was me showing up to the final session of BB Champs in San Antonio and having Coach Chuck relay the message that when Carson swam her 200 freestyle an official noted that her mechanics were text book. Savannah has been on a roll since B Champs in Belton. She shook off a rough few races but really capped it off with a huge drop in her 500 Freestyle, she commented that she didn’t know she could go that fast. It’s amazing what self-confidence can do for you. The magic didn’t stop there, I was informed that at her high school district meet she dropped huge in her 200 and 500 freestyle. Not to mention she took 1st and 2nd at the meet. I am very proud of you two young ladies. Keep up the great work and I’ll see y’all on deck.

Sectional:Danielle LeBleu – Congrats to Danielle who started off the New Year with her first 13-14 TAGS Cut in the 400 I.M.  Danielle had a strong training camp and it showed with her breakout performances at the UT New Year’s Classic.  Her exceptional swims have led to continued progress in her training ever since.  Awesome job Danielle and Congrats!

 

National Group Swimmer of the Month for January:Christina Jonsson – Christina has had a super month of January from a strong UT NYC meet including a lifetime best 200 breast (2:17.2) and 400 IM (4:23.2) to a very strong Olympic Training Center Camp in Colorado Springs. CJ is a group leader both vocally and by example and is setting up for a very strong Junior Nationals in March! Congrats CJ and keep it up!