Quick One tonight — (4 points only and a Thank You)

1.       If you ordered a Holiday/Christmas Training Challenge T-shirt, they will be at the front desks of the swim centers by the time PM practices begin today (Thursday).  Be sure to stop by and pick yours up. They turned out great.

 

2.       Speaking of holidays, I was remiss at not mentioning the charity work that our own TAGS 1 group from Cedar Park did. Please read:

“Hi Mike,

After reading your note last night, I wanted to let you know about a service project the TAGS1 kids did for some families at Davis Elementary. They adopted 2 families who otherwise would not have been able to celebrate Christmas. Tracy Jonsson coordinated the effort, and Coach Greg was also involved and participated throughout the project. Please see the note below for more details.”

Jenny Daniels
Interim Principal – Will Davis Elementary
Here’s the note back from the Principal of Davis Elementary (by the way, Jenny is one of our Swim Moms) to another one of our Swim Moms, Tracy Jonsson:

From: Jennifer Daniels/AISD
Date: 01/10/2013 06:19AM
Subject: Thank You!

Thank you so much for thinking of Davis families and coordinating the Christmas service project with the TAGS1 kids. Thank you also for hosting the kids for the wrapping party. It was great to see how excited they were to prepare all the gifts to give to the children. We ended up giving each of the two families more than $125 in HEB gift cards, 4 trays of cookies and other Christmas goodies, and multiple gifts for each of the children. They were so appreciative of the gifts they received, and we couldn’t help but notice that the gifts we brought into each apartment were the only evidence of Christmas for these families. When I told the mother in one family that swimmers wanted to do this for them, it really touched her. She shared that she was a swimmer in high school and had competed at the state level. She went on to say that if she would have worked harder in school, she could’ve been given college scholarships, and would not have ended up in her current situation. It was pretty powerful to hear that. Thanks again for everything!
3.       I had previously mentioned a March 2^nd meet at Belton for the kids who didn’t participate in any of the Championship meets. That meet will not be taking place – they cancelled it. HOWEVER, WE will be hosting our own sanctioned meet on that same day, Saturday, March 2^nd, for any of our swimmers who have times “slower than a B time standard.” This will be an official, USA Swimming meet, with times being recorded into the USA Swimming database. Coach Kristyn is getting the meet set up online over the next few days, we’ll be submitting our application to get an official sanction for it, and it will be at our Bee Cave facility – 1:15PM warm up, 1:45 start time. Great beginner type meet for those with times that are not yet a B time standard for USA Swimming. More details to come.

4.       Mark your calendars – Saturday afternoon/evening – April 27^th, Nitro’s End of Season Get Together/Awards Ceremony/Wrap up. More details to come, but everyone will be invited to come celebrate with us as we look back on the past year of Nitro swimming, acknowledge some milestones, and highlight the special performances/some of the special people that make Nitro, well, Nitro. I will have more info to share as it becomes available, but for now, keep that date clear! Approx time of the event: 5:00-7:30PM.

5.        Thanks for being a part of Nitro Swimming, and we’ll see you at the pool! Don’t forget to pick up your training challenge T-shirt if you ordered one! Coach Mike

Coach’s Note + SOW 11/6/2012

Hi All — Quick few points, then Swimmers of the Week and our Swimmers of the Month…

 

1. Since we began, I have taken great pride in not having “required volunteer” hours of any kind in our program. I prefer to keep it that way. If you want to lay low on the radar, drop off your kiddo(s), pick them up, etc., cool by me. If you want to help a little and time at one of our meets, that’s cool as well. Totally voluntary, nothing required. That being said, we had a sign up system for the this past weekend’s meet at UT. Parents signed up for small shifts, and some of those who volunteered thought ahead and looked at the timeline of the meet and figured out when they could time and still not miss their kiddo racing. Well, that all sounds great, and works in theory. It doesn’t work out too well when people sign up to cover a slot and then fail to show up. It puts the burden on the person who was already there expecting to get relieved. I hope next meet at UT we have timers who sign up and then live up to their commitment. It is not required, but if you are going to commit, then see it through. I want to thank those that timed, and I saw some new faces in the seats on deck — great to see. I also saw some of the same folks as well that seem to volunteer every meet. We appreciate the help you continue to provide.

2. Nitro had 39 members of Team Nitro walk/run at the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure this past Sunday. Tracy did an outstanding job of organizing, the pink shirts definitely stood out, and as a result of the Red vs Black Meet for the Cure, and other donations, Nitro was proud to donate over $7,000 to the cause. Congratulations to all who participated, and thank you to all of you!!

3. Nitro’s own Haley Timmons was the first female finisher of the 5K in a time of 19:00.00, and was 6th overall. Way to go Haley!! She then headed over to the pool for the afternoon meet session. What a day for Haley!

4. Hooray!! Next Wednesday, from 7:00-8:00PM in the lessons viewing room, our 8 early college signees will be meeting for a congratulatory party and hopefully having to sing their new college fight songs! We will have photos posted on our website afterwards.

Swimmer of the Week for October 29^th – November 3^rd:

Intro to Nitro

Cedar Park:Annabelle Chang– Over the last few months Annabelle has shown a lot of progress in all of her strokes and in her confidence level.  She is doing swims and sets that 6 months ago she would not even thought twice about doing.  Annabelle always does a great job listening and is quick to remind her lane buddies about underwater push-offs and watching the clock!  Way to go Annabelle, keep doing what you are doing!!

Bee Cave:Adriana Klaas– Adriana is an excellent student. She in not only a very good active listener but she also asks the right questions. Adriana works hard at every practice while constantly having a smile on her face. Keep up the great work Adriana!

Bronze

Cedar Park: Maci Currin– Maci has had an amazing week of practices, really working on exact stroke corrections every time the coaches give her feedback. She is about the tallest 9 year old in existence and look forward to what the future in swimming has in store for Maci. Keep up the great work!

Bee Cave:Hannah Ward– Hannah is a swimmer that is fun to coach.  Always engaged on what the coach is saying, she ready to learn more.  She is ambitious and enthusiastic during practice.  Hannah is consistent in her work ethic as well as being a team player.  One of the best things about Hannah is she NEVER wants practice to end and says she wish she could stay at the pool all day.  We are looking forward to a great, fun future from Hannah.  Way to go!

Technique and Fitness

Cedar Park:Ella Baldwin & Quinton Koenig – Ella did an amazing job in the pool this past week.  She is coming off of having pneumonia and tried swimming a few weeks ago.  She hit a rough patch.  This past week she was back to leading her lane, watching the clocks and demonstrating for the group.  Nice work.  Quinton is really coming along with his technique.  There is some definite improvement in his stroke work and it shows.  Great job you two, thanks for being a part of NITRO and we’ll see you at the pool.

Bee Cave:Spencer Denton– Spencer has been working very hard in the pool this past week. He is constantly looking for feedback when he swims. His flip turns this past week has really improved. In result, his efficiency in 50’s is outstanding Way to go Spencer! Keep up the great work.

Silver

Cedar Park:Katie Law– Katy is always in a positive mood.  Swimming is a difficult sport and if you do not have a good attitude it is a lot more difficult.  Katy’s great attitude and hard work at practice paid off this week when she swam the UT meet.  She swam the 200IM for the first time and faced it like a champ. No breaths off the walls with strong streamlines and finishes throughout. Great job Katy!!!

Bee Cave:Carter Dean– Carter has been working very hard on improving his butterfly and breaststroke this last week, he is able to apply the corrections that coach Todd and I have been giving him on both strokes which has greatly improved his IM. I can’t wait to see him swim the 200 IM as well as the 100 fly. Keep up the great work Carter!

Advanced Silver

Cedar Park:Avery Chan & Matthew McCartney– Both did a terrific job at the UT meet this weekend checking in with me after their races. Matthew also completed his first 200 yard butterfly swim, one of the toughest races out there. Avery had a great meet, picking up a number of ‘A’ time standards. Great job this weekend!

Bee Cave:Teresa Luo– Teresa may be quiet, but she speaks quite loudly with her actions.  Though she has been kicking for the better part of the last month and a half, Teresa put together a strong meet this weekend.  Meets are a great opportunity to see how your training is going, have some fun with your friends and challenge yourself “on stage” in some direct competition.  I’ve always attacked them with the attitude that, if you train right and prepare yourself, a meet is simply the culmination of your work and concentration at the moment of execution.  Teresa is a great example of this mentality.   The focus and effort she gives in practice can be seen directly in weekends like this one.   Keep up the great work Teresa!

Gold

Cedar Park: Gregory Raper & Anthony Luo– Greg had a really good weekend at UT this weekend really following through on the racing points we talked about and it paid off in a big way in his races. Greg was also the only swimmer who opted out of Trick or Treating to attend practice and this says a lot about his commitment to this sport. Anthony had some really memorable swims this weekend, including but not limited to his 200 Freestyle and his 200 Butterfly. His 200 Free he dropped 16 seconds from a 2:24 to a 2:08 but him among the elite 11 year olds in this event. Keep up your extreme work ethic and great attitude Anthony!

Bee Cave:Annie Halm & Gavin Moak– Annie has been working very hard this week, great focus on turns, and challenged herself in some back and breast swim sets, yet still left the pool after practice with some pretty big smile. On Saturday and Sunday at the UT swim meet she put a big smile on her coach’s face with time drops in almost every swim, with AA times in her 100 free and 50 back, while just missing AA cuts in her 50 breast and 50 fly! Great job Annie keep up the good work. Gavin Has shown great improvement in his focus during practice, he also was able to break through on a difficult IM set, and the improvements he’s made to his breaststroke will certainly pay off the next time he swims the 400 IM. This Sunday he gave us a pleasant surprise in his 200 butterfly dropping 20 seconds, using solid mechanics, and good pacing he held the second 100 within 4 seconds of the first 100. Well done Gavin!

Swimmer of the Month for October 2012:

Cedar Park

High School Training:Morgan Griffith– Morgan has been working hard in and out of the water.  At the November Unclassified swim meet this past weekend Morgan took a huge step in his swimming; taking on big swims like the 500 freestyle and the 200 butterfly for the first time.  Swimming the 500 freestyle after not feeling the best on Saturday he stayed right with the heat he was in and will likely be swimming it again.  As for the 200 fly, he worked hard and now knows what to expect for the next time he swims that!   Way to step up the the plate Morgan!

TAGS 1: Nick Milikich– Nick trains very consistently every day and is a great teammate to the other member of the group.

Sectional:Josh Winn & Sammi Sutton– The “Short Dawg” is a “Big Dawg”! Josh has a big work ethic and big goals. Sammi is sitting on the edge of something very special. Just remember I told you so.

Bee Cave:

High School Training: Taylor Main– Taylor is a standout student, who doesn’t just go through the motions of each drill but tries to understand why we are doing each one and puts those lessons into his technique. He is constantly asking for feedback and consistently works hard at every practice. Keep up the great work!

TAGS:Maggie Taylor – Maggie has a tremendous amount of talent & has been leading lanes, going on the fastest intervals, and honing her butterfly.  At the UT meet this past month, Maggie was close to getting TAGS cuts and will try again this month at the next UT meet as well as at COR.  Maggie is a ‘racer’ and always steps up to meet challenges. Way to go Maggie and keep it up! I see (individual) TAGS cuts in your near future!

Senior:Lisa Dunlap– Lisa’s training in the pool has gone to a new level. She is challenging herself to things she has never done before. Recently she decided to swim the 500 freestyle in this past weekend’s meet. For most it is an intimidating event, she went out there with confidence and owned that race. Lisa held even splits to go a 6:16 in her first time in the event. Looks like she might have a future in this event. She is steadily rising to one of our group leaders in the pool. At times she sets her mind to beat someone during practice, and executes it. Her determination and high energy attitude has coaches’  eyes opening wide. Keep up the great work Lisa! Can’t wait to see what you can do during championship season!

Sectional:Jessica Conrad– Jessica’s training has gone to a whole new level of consistency as she works hard toward Junior National cuts. She started off the season at the past UT meet by making some nice improvements in her butterfly and has proven to be quite competitive on our ‘Friday Night Lights’ stand up racing sets on Fridays!  Jessica has a great amount of ‘upside’ and is just now starting to see how her consistent training can help her reach her goals.  Congrats on being named Swimmer of the Month and keep up the good work!

 

National Group:Zach Thomas– Zach has had a super start to his season with very strong training in September and October and that is showing in his meet performances. Zach has improved in all phases from technique and strength, to attendance, and overall training toughness and it has been really fun to watch him take his swimming to new levels. Zach does a great job academically and is truly an embodiment of the phrase “student-athlete”. The entire National Group has taken notice of Zach taking his swimming to new levels and we are all proud of him super signs as he points to Junior Nationals in Orlando this March. Great job Zach…keep it up!

Thanks for being a part of Nitro and we’ll see you at the pools! Coach Mike

 

Coach’s Note 10/5/12

A few informational points as we head into the weekend…

1. I missed one of our athletes who took a recruiting trip two weekends ago: Kristina Beall was invited to check out Southwestern University. Sorry for the miss!!!
2. I’ve had reports of a black car continuously parking in the handicapped spots at Cedar Park and waiting there, and a pick up truck continuously in the fire lane. One of my personal hot buttons is people who park in handicapped spots and fire lanes illegally. Please don’t do that anymore.
3. Any Cedar Park member who is interested in some additional dryland/agility/strength training, a fitness professional named Tim Meyer has some attractive options right next door inside the Soccer Zone. If interested, start with an email to him at tim@madtraining.com .
4. Last point – from Minerva Martinez, our USA Official Organizer In Charge…

Five Reasons to Become an Official

• It’s fun! You’ll be working with the greatest group of volunteers in all sports.
• You’ll be close to the action. The bleachers aren’t comfortable anyway!
• High satisfaction; low pay; great food in hospitality, and parking at UT meets!
• It’s a great way to meet future Olympians—unless you already have one in your home
• You’ll be doing a great service for Nitro and swimming.

If you want to become an official, or just simply understand the rules of swimming better, join us at the next USA Swimming Officials training.

When: Saturday, October 13, 2012 – between the AM & PM sessions
Where: UT – Alderson Room (2nd Floor)
Who: Anyone interested in becoming a swim official
Any official needing to attend a recertification training

Planning on attending? Questions? Contact Minerva Martinez at minervacmartinez@yahoo.com.

Thanks for being a part of Nitro Swimming. See you at the pools! Coach Mike

Olympic Trials message 6/24/2012

Olympic Trials begin tomorrow, Monday. Our athletes arrived in Omaha, have already settled in, warmed up at the CenturyLink Center, and are ready to give it their best. A temporary pool was built just for the meet, and will be removed after this meet and Masters nationals the following week. The center can seat up to 18,975 spectators, so the energy will be electric – with lasers, indoor fireworks, loud cheering, etc. Here’s a final note from Tim he wrote on Friday just before leaving for the trip…Enjoy…

P.S.: Tim was the driving force behind the gear, even though he made it sound like me and Tracy!

Swimmers and Parents,

A huge thank you to many today as Nitro’s Olympic Trials swimmers head to Omaha this weekend. Awesome send off and first thank you is to the team for rallying around the Trials swimmers and truly making them feel very special. Natalie Davis led the way for NG with cards and other spirit items. Huge thank you to Mr. Barney, Coach Todd and all the swimmers and families at BC who created amazing gift bags for each of the swimmers including personalized water bottles and key chains. Wonderful gesture and very thoughtful! Last but certainly not least to Coach Mike and Tracy for spending a good chunk of money on incredible gear for each athlete including name baseball jersey’s, sweats, bags and shirts all name and logo embroidered. The entire Nitro team really rallied around these athletes and now we know this group will represent Nitro like true champions both in and out of the pool while in Omaha!

Any Nitro family who will be in Omaha watching the trials

Quick two points 6/22/2012

Two Quick Ones – Please read both – they will make you feel pretty good…Olympic Trials send off and read what TAGS1 does on their spare time…

1. Not sure if you watched the KXAN or the YNN news stories, or plan on seeing the one on KEYE who will be filming at our pool this afternoon featuring our Nitro athletes who will be competing this next week in Omaha at the United States Olympic Team Trials. Nitro is very proud to have nine athletes competing on this ultra-high swim stage!! Seven of the athletes will be at our Bee Cave facility this afternoon at 2:00PM for an official “send off” where they will be getting their team gear, some final words of encouragement and well wishes before they head to Nebraska. If you are not doing anything this afternoon, and feel like making a drive on Hwy 71, come on out and be a part of the send-off! This is a HUGE accomplishment, and here is a list of who is competing:

Quinn Carrozza- qualified in 100, 200 and 400 free as well as 100 and 200 back

Maddie Edwards- qualified in 200 back

Matt Ellis- qualified in 50 and 100 free and 100 and 200 fly

Zach Gunn- qualified in 100 and 200 breast

Annika Jonsson- qualified in 200 fly and 200 im ( also representing the University of South Carolina )

Megan Latone- qualified in 100 and 200 back and 200 free ( also representing Texas A&M University )

William Licon- qualified in 100 and 200 breast and 200 and 400 im

Manny Mendoza- qualified in 400 im

Megan Onstott- qualified in 200 breast and 400 im

Nitro wishes nothing but the best to these nine athletes as they represent their families, Nitro and all of Texas as they head to the fastest meet in the world starting Monday in Omaha!

2. In a world where we’re bombarded with reports of the bad things kids do, bus monitors being harassed to tears by middle schoolers, etc., how about some good news??

What does the TAGS1 group at Cedar Park do in their spare time? I’ve pasted it right here:

On Saturday, June 2, the TAGS 1 group and 10-12 parents did a service project. A woman who was recently widowed needed help with her large, overgrown yard. The kids spent 4 hours weeding, mowing, planting, scrubbing patios, washing cars, and blessing this lady. Below is a note from her that I wanted to pass along. And here is a link to pictures from the day: tps://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=chulavatr&target=ALBUM&id=5749485338826437281&authkey=Gv1sRgCPPZwqfkzNzHtwE&feat=email

Could you please share my thanks to the swim team and parents? I left the next day to see my son in Montana and just got back. I want everyone to know how much I appreciate all the work that was done.

The kids were so polite, thoughtful and courteous, besides being hard workers. I can’t believe how much they accomplished in the short time they were here. And they were so nice to each other. I loved watching them play and tease while they worked. They were so happy while they worked!

I appreciate that the group was so well organized and thorough. I know my requests sounded kind of strange in some areas, but they followed through on what I wanted.

My yard looked so different – so much better. I wish I had taken a before and after picture!

I’ve told so many people about what a good experience it was for me and how much it relieved my burden. I feel like I can manage now that I’ve gotten this head start.

Thank everyone again for me. Your help was so appreciated.

Vincene

3. Thanks for being a part of Nitro, and hope to see you at 2:00PM at Bee Cave. Coach Mike.

Goodie bags for Univ of GA swimmers

Sincere thanks to the families who helped make the goodie bags such a hit for the UGA swimmers.  We delivered them to the Bee Cave pool during their practice today.  Their coach, Harvey Humphries, told us that he’s never seen such great goodie bags given to a team, and asked us to pass along how grateful he was to all of you for being treated so well by a host team.  He even let my 8-year old son hold his national championship ring during a picture!  It was almost bigger than my kid, and yes, we had to give it back.

The snacks were a hit, but the handmade bracelets and key rings from Katie and Abbey Nichols family were a true treasure. Reese Johnson’s mom made the pretzels and bag tags really pop! And the bags were all stuffed by Caitlin and Gracey Murphy’s family! By far, the swimmers liked the letters from NITRO kids the best of anything in their bags. I watched the swimmers reach around everything else in their bags and pull the letters out to read them first. I personally loved the Marvins’ rainbow writing and the picture of the Freeman girls. There’s no doubt that all of your good thoughts and wishes will help these kids swim their fastest this weekend!

This picture of the bag shows: Bottled Texas spring water, TX koozie, Jelly Belly sport jellybeans, a small Dr. Pepper (in honor of its Waco birthplace), Texas-shaped pretzels, Propel packet, Trail mix, a sugar cookie, a banana (not pictured), a honey stick (not pictured) and a Nitro Swimming shirt. All of this for less than $12 per swimmer.

Many thanks! See you all at the pool!