The 2015 Canada Winter Games will be as close to a hometown games for Katrina Hohensee.
Even though she lives five hours away in Kamloops, Hohensee is the 18-year-old captain of Team B.C.'s synchronized swim team that's been in Prince George since Thursday practising at the Aquatic Centre.
Team B.C., the host squad, has held two-a-day practices at the Aquatic Centre in preparation for the 2015 Games synchro events Feb. 24 to 28.
"It's nice to get oriented with what's going on, the depth of the pool and everything going on around you," said Hohensee, who made the team in June after a 10 months of auditions. "It's also a great trip to go on and train with the team. It's been a lot of training and long days and intense practices the last two months. But we've brought our routines a long way from where we could hardly do figures to now doing entire run-throughs of our programs."
Team B.C. was selected in June and is comprised of 10 athletes (the youngest is 14, the oldest 18) from Victoria and the Lower Mainland. Hohensee is the lone athlete from Kamloops.
B.C. finished fourth overall at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and have had a busy summer prepping for the the 2015 Games.
They held a 10-day training camp in July at their home base - Commonwealth Games Pool - in Victoria and followed that up by competing in the U.S. Open in Las Vegas.
They spent Monday and Tuesday training in Kamloops prior to arriving in Prince George Wednesday and diving into the routines Thursday.
"We've been doubling our practices to six to seven hours a day," said Team B.C. head coach Tara Gant Friday, who's being helpedpool side by assistant coach Olena Foschevska. "This [time in Prince George] is helping us imagine what the pool will look like in February and as well as getting to know people in the community."
The solos, duets and team events are all set to a Batman theme, but after B.C. returned from Vegas, a lot of lifts and the accompanying choreography was changed.
It's what they've been figuring out in Prince George as well as some team building exercises.
Last night it teamed up with Prince George's synchro club, the Water Lilies, for a water show.
Today, between 2:30 to 4 p.m. the team will perform an entire test event with training and practice for the minor officials.
It's all been made possible through Synchro B.C. helping bridge the gap between Prince George's synchro swimmers and the 2015 Games team.
"We're helping the Water Lilies build something and get them excited," said Gant. "We're hoping the girls will connect with them so when we come back in February, they'll cheer for us."
This fall, Team B.C. will train twice per month in Victoria leading up its return to Prince George in February.
Hohensee, a competitive synchro swimmer for the last 10 years who graduated from Kamloops Christian secondary in June, will move to Victoria next month and take part-time classes at University of Victoria.
It's her first year on Team B.C. and likes the competitive environment.
"Our club in Kamloops is small, but it's solid," she said. "Here, with Team B.C., there's more people at my level. I like the challenge of synchro swimming because it's unique and it's not something that everybody does. You can push yourself as an athlete and work as a team."
B.C. is the second 2015 Games synchro team to travel to Prince George in preparation for the 2015 Games.
Team Saskatchewan, spent a week at the Aquatic Centre in early July working their routines and receiving a friendly taste of Prince George hospitality.
