From the earliest days of synchronized swimming in Sudbury, with the likes of Gwendolyn Whissell and co-horts introducing this new water
variation to her swim students at the YMCA, through to the move to the Laurentian University and the growth during the
Yet even now as the rebranded Sudbury Artistic Swim Club deals with the challenges of training sessions at the R.G. Dow Pool – hardly ideal in trying to remain on par with upper level clubs in Ontario – there is a second constant that immediately comes to mind: that being the energy and enthusiasm of the young athletes who take to the water in what is very much still a niche sport.
“I did everything before synchro (the former name of artistic swimming): soccer, figure skating, hockey, dance, gymnastics – but I fell in love with synchro,” noted 15 year old eight year club veteran Brianne Portelance.
After devoting some five years or so to the recreational side of her sport, the youngest of two children in the family (older brother Noah is 17) migrated to the regional competitive team three years ago, a nice mid-point for those who might not want to devote all of the time needed to commit to all-out provincial level meets.
“I had learned almost everything that rec had to teach me,” said the grade nine student at Collège Notre-Dame. “I love regional because I can go to competitions but I can still do other school sports like flag football and curling (which she enjoys alongside her brother).”
That longing for diversification has been rewarded, even when entering a sport to which so much is new from the moment of the very first practice. “With dance, you also go by counts of eight and that switches over to here,” explained Portelance, noting the key component involved with the ability of her team of six or seven athletes to fully coordinate their efforts in the pool.
“That count – all the way up to eight – you just have to make sure that you remember your count,” suggested 11 year-old Bella Perron, right in the middle of her third year with SASC. “If it’s right, that’s all you can do.”
Like so many of those who give artistic swimming a fair shot, this grade six student at Ecole St Pierre in Lively was drawn by an innate desire not to forever remain as a landlubber. “I’ve always been like a little mermaid; I’ve always loved the water,” said Perron. “Then one day, my Nana was scrolling through Facebook and she saw Try Synchro.”
For as much as the hope is to attract those who dip their toes into the artistic swimming pool, so to speak, there were no kid gloves at play for coaches of the SASC – at least not in the case of Perron.
“I wasn’t expecting the coaches to push me so hard, almost from the first day,” she said, she and her team of five preparing for their first meet of the year at Brewer Pool in Ottawa. “They had me kicking super hard so that I could get high in the water. When you are treading water, it’s like a bicycle motion.”
“Here, we do the egg-beater, which is circles.”
Having grown up with a camp on Trout Lake near Noelville, Perron has taken very quickly to artistic swimming – though it sounds like she’s not alone. “It’s just cool to see how far we have come since the start of the year, how much better we’ve become.”
“I like that.”
While Perron and most of her group (Brielle Fudge, Leah Fosten, Sophie Patry and Hannah Edwards) will be experiencing the competitive environment for the very first time in mid-February, Portelance and company (Ava Pagnutti, Emily Roy, Kaarina Peura, Katie Fosten, Amélie Fitzsimmons and Maya Benoit) can pull on the knowledge of events past to help calm the nerves.
“The first thing I would say is to enjoy the experience,” suggested Portelance. “Yes, it’s a little scary with people looking at you, but just be in that moment. Think about where you are and how cool it is that you’re getting to do that. Muscle memory kicks in, just because of the number of times that we have run the routine, over and over and over.”
Message received – it would seem.
“I just want to go out and do it and have fun,” beamed Perron. “I’m so excited to see how we look at the competition. I think we’ve improved a lot.”
That’s an opinion that is shared by coaches Amy Lacelle and Gillian Franklin (age 11-12 – quintet) and Sevoya Riddle and Alystra Riddle (junior group), along with club head coach Courtney Stasiuk and returning coach Emily Binks, all of whom are not only involved at developing the specific skill sets of the athletes, but also lead the selection of music and choreography.
“We talk a lot and dance a lot so our coaches like to reflect that in our music,” said Portelance with a laugh. “We’re a very high energy team. Our music this year is a party dance theme. With us, it’s always a fun party vibe, kinda Carribean.”
While the meet in Ottawa represents the first trip of the year for the regional crew, the duet of Heidi Fink and Eva Jessup were at the Lisa Alexander Meet in Etobicoke in January, placing 5th in a field of 18 entries with a final score of 94.0521.
Both also showed extremely well in their solo routines, with Jessup earning silver in Youth Solo (2/13 – 86.6396) and Fink returning with bronze in Junior Solo (3/18 – 94.9417).
