Performing at the Alberta Winter Games next weekend is too good to be true for synchronized swimmer Paige Skogstad.
“It’s going to be really neat because you get treated like you’re someone who is really, really important and I think that is really cool,” said the Grade 8 student at Sir George Simpson School. “At normal competitions they do stuff but at the Alberta Winter Games we don’t even stay in a hotel with our parents, we stay in our own little spot and they feed us and give us rides to where we’re competing. They give us a lot of things that we wouldn’t normally get at other competitions.”
Skogstad, 13, and duet partner Bethany Smith, 14, of the Excel Synchro Club qualified for the multi-sport event for developing athletes 11 to 17 years old after a first-place showing at the north zone qualifiers.
“It’s really cool to go and see the people who are really good. We all come together and we’re all good at this thing,” Skogstad said.
The Games start Saturday in Medicine Hat.
“I can’t wait,” Skogstad said. “I’m not sure how nervous Bethany gets before a meet but I get really nervous. I’m like, OK, there are lots of people who are watching and I’m not the best at putting myself out there so I get nervous.”
The goal is to bring home a gold medal.
“Our coach wants us to try and get first and Bethany wants to get first, so I’m like, OK, I guess we want to try and get first,” Skogstad said.
Last month’s qualifier for the Games exceeded her expectations.
“Bethany wasn’t surprised because she was always going that we’re going to win it,” Skogstad said. “I normally want to go top three but I was really surprised when we got it because we won by two points at that meet so we were really, really excited that we won and that we would be going.
“When we went into the change room we got a lot of comments about how good we were and what strong swimmers we were.”
The Excel duo energizes the pool with their routine, a techno version of Puttin’ on the Ritz that lasts 2:45 minutes.
“Lot’s of people say how much energy we have. Last year we did an energetic song and this year we’re doing an energetic song and it has a lot of energy to it. Lots of duets as they get tired they kind of lose energy and if they have a song they don’t like as much they don’t have as much energy,” Skogstad said. “We really just like to do our thing.”
Skogstad and Smith have formed a tight bond in their second season together.
“We’ve got a lot stronger since last year with our connection. We’re a lot better friends than we were last year too because we spend so much time together,” Skogstad said.
Smith is happy to have Skogstad as her pool partner.
“She is top notch. She’s been improving a lot since she came here,” said the Grade 9 Leduc student. “We don’t really think the same but I’ve kind of been around her enough that I can predict her thinking patterns.
“We also try and look at each other underwater and if we see something that we’re doing right then once we’re above we encourage each other and we can get really in synch and that makes our routine stronger.
“We also each have musical training so it’s really easy to count the music and then we can synchronize easier too.”
Skogstad and Smith swim together at the University of Alberta pool three days a week and the sessions include two hours in the water and one hour of dryland training. They compete in the provincial 13 to 15 stream under the direction of Excel head coach Dr. Teresa Alentejano, a FINA judge of synchronized swimming who has been selected to judge the event at the Rio Olympics this year.
Skogstad also helps instruct the Excel’s beginner group on Monday nights at Fountain Park Recreation Centre.
“I help the main coach. We kind of play games with them and sometimes I will get into the water and adjust or try and hold them up while they try a position that they can’t hold as well,” said the swimmer for the St. Albert Sailfish Club in the summer.
The hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics requires advanced water skills, great strength, endurance, flexibility, grace, artistry, precise timing and exceptional breath control when upside down underwater.
“I really like how original it is,” said Skogstad, who started in the sport with the Aurora club. “No one really gets what it is until they see it and then they’re like, ooh!”
