Prince George Pisces Summer Swim Club head coach Jessica Ballantyne will be the first to admit her days of racing long distances in the pool are behind her.
But challenge her to a sprint race and she's all over it.
Thirteen years of competitive swimming with the Prince George Barracudas Swim Club taught Ballantyne all she needs to know to cruise through water like a torpedo and she proved to herself she hasn't lost that ability at Saturday's Pisces club time trials at the Aquatic Centre.
Having just wrapped up her third year of biology/biochemistry studies at UNBC, the 19-year-old Ballantyne is heading into a third season coaching the Pisces summer program. This is her first year as head coach and racing in the senior category just comes with the territory.
"I still like getting in the water," said Ballantyne. "I can't do anything more than (50-metre races] anymore but my 50s are not much slower than they were back in the day. You don't lose that technique, it's just that I've lost that endurance."
While the focus is on summer meets, the Pisces is a year-round club. Its two-hours-per-week fall and winter maintenance programs require much less commitment than the three-month, 12-hours-per-week summer season from May-July. The summer sessions are geared to teaching race techniques in all the strokes, how to dive, and how to develop limb flexibility and muscle mass through dryland training.
"Coming from the Barracudas you have a different mindset about summer club because you swim 10 months out of the year at the higher levels with the Barracudas," said Ballantyne.
"I have so many good things to say about the Barracudas, but working with the Pisces it showed me the other side of it, because not everybody can commit 20 hours a week. I mean, I can't kick a soccer ball, but these kids aren't just swimmers. They play volleyball, they play soccer, they're well-rounded."
The Pisces are among five B.C. Summer Swimming Association clubs in the northeast region and will host the first meet of the season, May 24-25 at the Aquatic Centre. Prince George will also host the regional meet, Aug. 2-3, the qualifier for the provincial championships in Kamloops, Aug. 14-17.
Pisces junior coach Libby Bell, 14, also races in the summer. She's been to two summer provincials since joining the Pisces after two seasons with the Barracudas.
"I love coaching because you get to teach little kids how to swim and it's an amazing thing for them to learn," said Bell. "Butterfly is the hardest to teach, I hate butterfly. Breaststroke is the best.
"I really love swimming, I've been swimming since I was five. There's really nice people in Pisces and racing is fun. I have lots of friends from other clubs. It's just a really good sport."
During the fall she competes in cross-county running with her Duchess Park high school team and this summer is hoping to tackle her first triathlon, following in the footsteps of her father, Fraser.
The club has about 60 swimmers aged five-17 signed up for the summer season and about 50 members in the fall and winter sessions. Ten-year-old Stephanie Horning is back for her second season with the Pisces.
"It's just really fun and I like getting pushed a little bit, I just enjoy swimming," she said. "I must admit I'm not very good at butterfly. Either freestyle and breaststroke are my favorites. I really like being at the meets and I like traveling a lot."
Horning entered the Prince George Kids Fun Triathlon two years ago and finished second in her age category and she's considering putting her swimming skills to work again in that event in July.
Club fees for the three-month season range from $325 for development swimmers (aged six and younger) to $425 for senior athletes. For more information on the Pisces club, go to pgpisces.org.
