Ever wonder which minerals do better in water?
The answer, metaphorically speaking, may be answered this weekend as athletes from the Sudbury Artistic Swim Club (SASC), proud representatives of the Nickel City, travel to their first competition of the 2025-2026 season – to be hosted in Kingston, affectionately dubbed the Limestone City.
The SASC folks are travelling with a 12-swimmer contingent broken into a pair of Regional Team entries: an 8-swimmer 13-15 (ages) squad and a 4-person 16-20 crew. It’s a highly diversified mix of girls, some with a few years of club experience under their belts, others far more new to the scene.
Thirteen year-old Sophie Patry has added artistic swimming to her tool-box of sporting involvement, mixing in curling as well, almost by necessity, given the Coniston family background.
“I remember being worried about how hard it would be to keep myself above water, but over time, it got really easy,” said Patry, a grade 8 student at École St Augustin in Garson who first started with the program almost four years ago.
Six of the eight members of the 13-15 grouping are returnees from a year ago, including Patry, creating a setting that allows for a better end product in the mind of the local teen. “Having more people gives you more liberty to do different things, arm movements and stuff, because it will look more smooth,” said Patry.
“You’re not doing it by yourself.”
It also, however, creates a few more challenges in a sport that, until recently, was monikered around the need for team synchronicity. “I feel right now, we’re trying to perfect being more in synch, especially during one part of our routine where we are not the best,” said Patry.
“We are really working on that, being more synchronized on our counts.”
Not always easy as young swimmers contort their bodies in a variety of fashions in the pool, heads down and legs up, at various times, all while attempting to remain perfectly aligned with one’s teammates – even as visual contact is difficult.
“You can hear the music and it’s usually a count of eight, like dance or cheerleading,” explained Patry. “You try and just stay with that. And the music can also help you out too, because I might know that this happens at this point in the music, so that can help you get back.”
The accompanying music, naturally, is central to the performance of the routine, with the Sudbury girls hopeful that fans and fellow competitors at the event will join in the fun of “Prince Ali” from the Aladdin soundtrack.
“A lot of people will know this from Disney – and our suits are more of a genie outfit, with gems and stuff,” noted River Davey, making her competitive debut at the Eastern Regional Winter Championships being hosted by the Kingston Blue Marlins at the Queen’s University Arc from January 23rd to the 25th.
Also 13 years old (as of December), Davey is a very well-spoken home schooled athlete, one who had largely foregone the lure of competitive sport until her mother’s friendship with one of the Sudbury Artistic coaches introduced her, a little over a year ago, to what is now a definite passion.
“I didn’t find it that hard to catch up (to the other SASC swimmers) because I do find that I am a pretty strong swimmer,” said Davey. “The toughest thing for me was swimming the laps back and forth to start, because you have to do eight of them. That was a lot for me at first.”
“But when it came to the skills, I enjoy doing them, so I find them easier.”
Not that she is suggesting, even for a second, that every single skill is easily mastered.
No, no, no – not when one spends a given percentage of every routine turned on their head in the middle of a pool. “The upside-down thing: it might look graceful from above, but underneath, it’s quite difficult to master,” Davey explained with a smile. “You really have to be strong in your upper half.”
Much like Patry, Davey acknowledged that the extreme precision that they continue to strive towards is not quite there yet for the team, though they are certainly aware of when they are more likely to be a little bit more bewildered.
“Around the end of our routine, there are a few parts where we wander a bit too far apart,” said Davey. “It’s usually around there where we might get thrown off.”
Rounding out the eight-girl 13-15 squad are Bella Perron, Hannah Edwards, Brielle Fudge, Leah Fosten, Sophie Caya and Violet Shelswell, with coach Courtney Stasiuk-Mohr at the head of this particular collection of aquatic talent.
“Our coaches push us a lot, but they are also very encouraging coaches,” said Davey.
And like most kids this age, taking advantage of all that a road trip and weekend in Kingston has to offer is a big part of the fun. “We usually have a group meeting the night before and just do some team bonding and hang out and go over everything,” suggested Sophie Patry.
The Sudbury Artistic Swim Club 16-20 Regional quartet that will also make the trip includes Maya Benoit, Brianne Portelance, Ave Pagnutti and Emily Roy, as well as coach Gillian Franklin.
