The winner of the Natasha Fung sweepstakes was the University of Florida Gators.
The St. Albert swimmer recently signed a national letter of intent with the reigning NCAA division one women's champions that currently boasts four Olympians on their roster.
"It was a difficult decision to make. Originally Florida wasn't my top pick. I definitely liked them but it was my first trip out of five [official visits] and I didn't really know what to expect out of the visit," Fung said. "It came down to three schools and it took me quite awhile to decide."
Also in the running to recruit the pool shark with the Olympian Swim Club was the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the University of Texas Longhorns.
"Definitely there were a lot of schools that I had to choose from," said the Grade 12 Bellerose Composite High School student. "Most of them email you in your Grade 10 and 11 years and once July 1st rolls around after your Grade 11 year they are allowed to start calling you. I definitely had phone calls every night from various places. There is a lot of research involved too, just on the Internet looking at different things I'm interested in, especially the combination of academics and athletics."
Fung, 17, is listed by Swimming World Magazine as a five-star recruit and was rated the No. 19 women's recruit in the country by CollegeSwimming.com.
"Natasha is a very accomplished member of the Canadian national team. She swims all the freestyles and is going to help us a lot. She is also a medley swimmer so she swims all four strokes," said Gregg Troy, head coach of the Gators. "She is one of the best athletes out of Canada. She is going to help us in a lot of relays and a lot of places."
Fung has a busy schedule of meets and training sessions lined up prior to arriving at the Gainesville campus in the fall.
"I'm definitely thinking about the Gators all the time," she said. "Their training program is so intense. When I went there I did dryland one day and they ran five miles like it's no big deal, just like going for a jog.
"I've sort of been lifting weights this year and I'm definitely looking at improving areas like that so I don't get my butt kicked when I get there."
Shooting for worlds
Fung plans to make a big splash before going to university.
"I want to get better and faster and I'm constantly setting goals for myself," she said. "The main goal for this year will be to make the team for worlds. Whoever places top two at nationals in whatever event it is are the people that get to go.
"There is also junior worlds, but I'm not sure if I would be able to go or not because there might be a conflict with the university."
Fung is a contender in several events.
"I'm focusing on fly right now. If that goes according to plan it will be between 100 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 free and 400 free as to what I do," she said. "It kind of depends too on how things go in training and in meets following that, which will kind of decide what I focus on."
The 200 individual medley is one of Fung's favourites.
"I just like how in IM overall the race isn't over until it's over. Different people have strengths in a variety of strokes. One person might be a very good flyer so they will end up in front at the very beginning. Someone might be a better breaststroker so they will be behind and then they catch up later. You can't really tell which way the race is going to go until it's over, whereas with other events you can kind of tell what's going to happen most of the time."
In 2008 Fung shattered Alison Higson's national 13 to 14 age group record of 2:16.79 in the 200 IM short course that stood for 20 years. Her time of 2:16.36 was later broken by a swimmer wearing a high tech body suit but Fung did it herself without one.
"That is definitely my favourite accomplishment that I've done," said the provincial 15 to 17 record holder in the 200 IM long course at 2:17.08.
In the spring of Grade 10 Fung attended the Australian age group championships with the Canadian delegation.
"That was a pretty fun experience. We did a week of training and then a week of competition there," she said. "I've been on a prospects team before but that was kind of like the big team. You get the bag and the free swim suit and that kind of stuff."
Fung's last major competition was the Pan-Pacific Junior Championship last August in Hawaii. She placed 13th in the 200 IM, 15th in the 400 free, 24th in the 200 free and 25th in the 100 free at the U18 meet.
"I didn't do as well as I wanted to there. I was a little bit under the weather … and I didn't really feel prepared," she said. "I definitely wanted to do better in the 200 IM because the way [the meet] is set up is that only two people from each country can get into the finals. I was going in as the top 200 IM swimmer but I didn't have a good morning so I ended up in the B final instead of the A final."
In recent years the versatile swimmer has fine-tuned her strokes in the 100 and 200 free.
"I used to be a breaststroker up until the [2008] Olympic trials. There I saw that more people get to go because they have to fill spots for relays and alternates and that kind of thing. I thought why don't I start swimming freestyle because like six out of the eight people in the final get to go so basically. You just make a final and you're at the Olympics," she said. "The following season I decided to really focus on freestyle and bring that up."
This weekend Fung will race for medals at the J.P. Fiset Invitational Swim Meet, formerly the Candy Cane Meet, hosted by the Olympian club at the Kinsmen Sports Centre. The five-foot-10 swimmer wants to put her hand on the wall first in a variety of distances in the fly, free and backstroke in her seventh and last year with the Olympians.
"I'm in the pool on a daily basis and my teammates make it a lot more interesting. I don't think I would be able to train every day if I didn't have someone there making me laugh or supporting me."
