Jaycie Forbes is ahead of the game. In her words, she’s “not getting behind” in school. Nor is she falling behind in the pool.
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Forbes, a Grade 11 student at the athlete-specific Pursuit School of Sport in Lloydminster, has been selected to Saskatchewan’s synchronized swimming team for the Canadian championship qualifier this March in Québec City.
“I just found out (in January) that I get to go to my first nationals in Quebec,” said Forbes, who turns 17 on March 3, two weeks before her national quest.
“It is very exciting for me and my club, because it’s really hard to go to nationals, from a small town, considering the pool operation hours. It’s very difficult to schedule the time requirements we need to be able to swim national stream.
“But yeah, coming to Pursuit this year, it’s really helped me get those times and be able to improve. It’s definitely more flexible for my swim schedule and it’s really helped me with my education, with not getting behind.”
Forbes is a member of the Border City Stingrays. She became a synchronized swimmer about eight years ago and the sport has enabled her to include elements of one of her greatest passions — dance.
“I started with dance when I was really little,” Forbes said during an interview at Pursuit.
“Then, I started doing lane swimming and kind of fell in love with swimming. I really like dance, too, and then synchro was the best option to combine both of them. Just fell in love with it.”
Her father has played sports like hockey, baseball and softball, and her mom has been a swimmer, so there hasn’t been any shortage of sporting options in the Forbes’ household. Jaycie sampled hockey for a bit, following the lead of her older sister Brooklin, now a 21-year-old college graduate in the workforce.
“My sister has always been in hockey,” she said. “I tried hockey for a few years, but it wasn’t my thing.
“My parents have definitely supported me to do synchro. They really see how it lights me up whenever I’m feeling down.”
The cheerful smile on Forbes’ face attests to just how much synchro swimming is her most rewarding and productive platform.
“Synchro is a different sport, for sure,” she said. “It’s a combination of gymnastics, swimming (and) dance. You do everything when you’re holding your breath, so it’s really challenging.
“But I honestly really love it. It has given me such a confidence that I can take throughout my life. You have to really represent the song that you’re swimming to, by using emotions. It’s all your actions. It gives you such a confidence you can take out of the water.
“I’ve just been doing solos, so I can pick my own (accompanying music). I talk to my coaches. I like swimming to things that are deeper and have emotion. I think it really helps me have that excitement to swim. I really like swimming to that.”
Forbes has carried those qualities of confidence and excitement into the classrooms at Pursuit, which is in its first year of operation under the direction of the Lloydminster Public School Division.
Her favourite subject this school year has been English. In part, because the well-rounded class has like-minded athletes from a variety of sports, including gymnasts, a fellow swimmer and many hockey players.
“All the different sports are represented,” Forbes said. “That’s probably my biggest class. Athletes from a bunch of different sports make up that class, so there’s a bunch of different personalities. We really come together as a school.
“We all understand each other and everything — that we’re all trying to accomplish something big with our sports, but also education is still super important to continue on with our goals.”
Pursuit’s flexible schedule has already helped Forbes reach some of her greatest goals this season, not the least of which is qualifying for this year’s national qualifier.
“Nationals has always been my dream, just to go there a few times,” she said. “My biggest dream is to try out for Team Canada, but we’ll see how nationals go. There’s so many other things that I need to accomplish, and I’m excited to start accomplishing them.
“National selection has given me a (confidence) boost to be able to keep improving and keep going to camps.”
The Canadian artistic swimming qualifier runs March 17-21 in picturesque Québec City.
“I’m excited,” said Forbes, competing in tech and free categories as a junior soloist. “I’ve never been there before.”
The artistic swimming nationals are set for May 5-9 in Saskatoon.
Before she heads to the March national qualifier, Forbes’ home community is showing support for her trip. A fundraising dinner is scheduled for Feb. 25 at the Canadian Brewhouse in Lloydminster.
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