Nitro swimming • Cedar Park

Nitro swimming • Cedar Park

Written by Mark Collins Monday, 07 January 2008

On cold, blustery days when the temperature dropped, clouds spit rain and the wind whistled, Mike Koleber used to cringe. Now, he smiles as he walks into his brand-new indoor aquatic facility: Nitro Swimming.

“Thunder and lightning? We swim. Cold and windy? We swim. Even if it is miserable outside, you wouldn’t know it in here,” said Koleber, owner and head coach of Nitro Swimming.

A swimmer since he was 3 years old and the son of a swim coach, Koleber is an 11-time NCAA All-American from Oakland University.

In June 2007, he launched the Nitro Swimming facility complete with locker rooms, Olympic-size swimming pool and an additional five-lane learners’ pool for children’s lessons.

Both pools were built with overflow gutters to help waves disappear, making it easier to host large numbers of swimmers.

An eight-foot deep end in the competition pool meets new USA Swimming standards.

Nitro Swimming also features an ultraviolet sanitation system that kills 99.9% of micro-organisms in the water. The system doesn’t rely on chlorine, so skin and hair are less likely to dry out from time in the water.

“Water is the lifeblood of this facility,” Koleber said. “I believe we’ve got not only the nicest facility around, but it’s the cleanest, purest water for kids’ safety.”

Koleber hand-picked his staff of six coaches and brought them on as full-time employees so all their energy could go into coaching swimming.

“Fortunately, I’ve got a great staff,” Koleber said. “This is all they do; they are swim coaches. I think our staff would match up with anyone’s in the country.”

Koleber is changing the way swimming lessons are organized. Nitro Swimming offers once-a-week competitive swimming all the way up to six-day-a-week lessons.

Nitro also makes an effort to hold lessons for multiple age groups at the same time so parents only need to make one trip.

“It used to be if you were a square peg you just had to fit in a round hole. Now, if you’re an octagon, we’ve got an octagon hole for you to fit into,” said Koleber. “We can take somebody from baby to a 110 years old; we’ve got a program for them.”

Nitro Swimming also takes care of swimmers’ parents. For a small fee, parents can use the on-site cardio and fitness equipment or take advantage of the free wireless internet.

“We might be huge for a program, but we know every single swimmer,” Koleber said. “We live, breathe and eat this swim center.”

Adult Swim Programs

Nitro Swimming isn’t just for children — programs for adults include:

Adult learn to swim and learn to swim better — These sessions are designed to teach adults to swim or brush up on water skills that have become rusty over time.

Adult lap swim — Lanes dedicated to lap swimmers are available weekdays from
7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Adult fitness swimming — Fun, fitness-filled swim practices include individual correction and unique, challenging workouts.

Adult masters swimming — These more advanced swim workouts cover the four competitive swim strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

Nitro Swimming, 1310 Toro Grande Blvd., Cedar Park, TX, 259-7999, www.nitroswim.com