Gauthier a quick study in pool

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This article was published 01/11/2018 (2555 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hands gripped tightly onto the starting block and hair tucked neatly into a Brandon Bluefins swimcap, Allie Gauthier prepared for her 100-metre backstroke heat.

The stomach ache that Gauthier said is routinely brought on by nerves before a competition has likely disappeared by now. Once she gets on the block it all goes away, replaced by the passion she feels for swimming.

“I love it so much, it’s been a great part of my life right now,” she said. “I’ve had just some amazing times on the pool deck.”

Saturdays, like the one on the weekend at the Sportsplex swimming pool, have become the norm for the 13-year-old. Parents were cheering, coaches were yelling and crowds of young swimmers lined the deck, waiting for their turn in the water. The sub-par Manitoba temperatures were temporarily forgotten in the toasty confines of the pool.

Gauthier started swimming two years ago with the Brandon Bluefins swim club, that gives athletes an opportunity to improve their skills.

A love for water and a fiery spirit is what first drew her to start swimming competitively.

“I love swimming, my neighbours had a pool and so I would always race my little sister,” Gauthier said, chatting in between races on the pool deck. “I’m a very competitive person, so I love swimming competitively.”

Gauthier spends almost as many days a week at the pool as she does at school. Four times a week she works to improve as a swimmer, always with the same goal in mind: the Olympics.

“I really want to make the Olympics, but I also want to keep improving,” she said. “This year I think my goal is to make the Western Canada Summer Games.”

Right now she’s on the target squad as she has been attending camps to try to qualify for the provincial team.

Gauthier, who received an award of merit from Swim Manitoba last season, also went to ManSask Championships last year where she won a few medals. This year she’s met the qualifying time standards to make another appearance. Gauthier said she’s one of the youngest Bluefins to qualify.

In the interim Bluefins coach Barb Fay is working with Gauthier to improve on her tight stream lining, which is being in a position in the water that creates the least amount of resistance.

“They want to be tight like a pencil instead of bent elbows or knees or your arms open,” Fay said. “We’re working on dives too, so just learning how to get off the block correctly. They’re getting better it’s getting more smooth, she’s getting a lot more tight stream lining.”

That competitive spirit that saw Gauthier racing her younger sister in the pool years ago is still prevalent in her young swimmer.

Her work is paying off as well. At the Western Pentathlon short-course event, Gauthier finished first in the 100-metre butterfly (one minute 23.80 seconds), 100m backstroke (1:17.65), 100m breaststroke (1:40.34), 100m freestyle (1:09.87) and the 200m individual medley (2:57.91).

“She doesn’t want somebody to beat her, she always wants to do better, she’s very driven.”

Gauthier also competes in team relays with the Bluefins, which has its own benefits

“The team that you get to work with you’ve got to trust each other but I also love doing individual races because I love just getting to do your best,” she said.

Regardless of whether she’s competing in team or individual races, the backstroke remains her favourite.

“I love just the fact that every stroke you start off from going above water and going under the water. “I love that in back stroke you’re just constantly in the water,” she said.

Over the two years she’s been involved with the sport, Gauthier has constantly been evolving as a swimmer and as a teammate while always looking to improve in any way she can.

“Knowing how to be part of the team, how to cheer on kids, I’ve learned a lot about that,” she said. “I’ve also learned how to do better starts, and how like to collaborate and how to help other kids, and how to listen to coaches and kind of interpret what they’re saying.”

“I just love it so much,” she said.

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