Hannah's heading to Houston.
Avery is Akron-bound.
It's all part of a plot to extend the tentacles of the Prince George Barracudas Swim Club further into the U.S. college ranks of the NCAA and the two senior members of the Prince George club are absolutely thrilled about the adventures that lie ahead of them.
Hannah Esopenko, 17, signed a scholarship commitment to take her swimming talent to the University of Houston. She will be part of a 35-athlete Cougars women's team next year in Houston, where she will be training in the longest pool in Texas.
Esopenko, who gave Houston a verbal commitment in late-September after visiting the campus, plans to study biochemistry with designs on a degree in pharmacy.
"I'm so excited, I can't wait to go down there," said Esopenko. "I visited two other schools (Rice and Akron) and I just knew Houston was the place for me. It's really cool - their facilities, their training schedules, all the resources they have access to, the therapists, sports medicine, nutritionists that are there to help you succeed there.
"That has always been my goal to go to school in the States on a scholarship because I grew up swimming with Katie Mann (University of New Hampshire), Danica Ludlow (University of Calgary), and Haley Black (Auburn University) and that was what they talked about when I was little.
"Jerzy and Jason (Barracudas coaches Partyka and Smith) have helped me so much, just shaping me into the swimmer and person I want to be. The club has been a good environment for me."
On the same day Esopenko signed her commitment letter (Nov. 8), Avery Movold put pen to paper to commit to a four-year scholarship at the University of Akron (Ohio).
The 17-year-old Barracuda will join the 24-swimmer Zips women's team roster next September - the first Prince Rupert Amateur Swim Club member to ever sign a scholarship deal with a U.S. college. Movold will enroll in the pre-law program at Akron, the hometown of basketball superstar LeBron James.
"I've been looking since I was 12," said Movold, who got her first call from a college recruiter when she was 12.
"The campus is absolutely incredible. Penn State had a really nice campus but it's just so big and just trying to find my way was confusing. Akron is a smaller university and that's something that I like because I can get to know my profs better. I'm not allowed to say but I got a really good offer from them."
Movold moved to Prince George three years ago from Prince Rupert for the Barracudas club program and has worked with Partyka as her coach ever since she arrived.
"He has brought me so far, he's done unbelievable things for me like spending more time with me staying after practice and encouraging me to stretch," said Movold. "I don't get to work with Jason as much, but this club is amazing. It's been a great three years."
Movold pulled off a mild upset Sunday morning at the Barracudas' Medical Northern Moose Meet when she beat Esopenko in the 400-metre individual medley. Movold clocked 5:06.23, while Esopenko got to the wall in 5:06.49. Esopenko excels in butterfly and breaststroke and Movold is more of a backstroke/freestyle specialist. The 400 IM is one of the few events where they compete against each other.
"This is our home meet and the first meet of the season for me so I'm just kind of getting the kinks out, still building up endurance and just gauging where I'm at so I know what I need to work on," said Esopenko. "I know that Avery's freestyle is a lot quicker than mine, she has that 800, 1,500 endurance and that's something I need to work on in practice, my endurance, and the little things like underwater kicking and turning."
Movold figured her training partner would use her advantage as a breaststroker to get a healthy lead heading into the final 100 metres but she kept pace and caught Esopenko on the first leg of the freestyle.
"That's the first time I've beaten her in the 400 IM, I was just trying to swim every race as fast as I can," said Movold.
"That was like 15 seconds off my best time," said Esopenko.
Esopenko joined the Barracudas at age 7 and has known Movold since they were 12. They share the same ambitions to become college athletes, spend hours in the pool training six days a week, and have became good friends.
"We can definitely relate to each other a lot better than most people can because we have the same goals and we're the same age so it's great to have someone to lean on when you're having a rough time or celebrate the good times with," said Esopenko.
Movold felt like celebrating when she swam 1:03.6 in the 100 butterfly at the sprint meet, close to a personal best time for that event. Esopenko was most satisfied with her 200 fly race. She added time to her PB but said she felt in fine form with her stroke and her kick.
One other Barracuda, Olivia Soares, 17, is close to a scholarship agreement with the University of Victoria.
