Prince Albert, SK -
PRINCE ALBERT - Well-schooled in the pool and the classroom, Shay Daniels is living life in the fast lane.
Daniels is an honours student at St. Mary High School, with a 93 per cent average this year in Grade 11. She's contemplating a career in medicine.
What's more, the 17-year-old swimmer from the Prince Albert Sharks has qualified for the Canada Summer Games this August in Prince Edward Island, along with Sharks teammate Mitch Robin, 15.
"It's really exciting," Daniels said Friday after writing a couple of exams.
"I think it's going to be a really good experience."
Daniels and Robin met the Team Saskatchewan qualifying standards at a meet last month in Regina.
Daniels placed third in the 100-metre freestyle race to become part of a 12-member female team that's otherwise made up of swimmers from Saskatoon and Regina.
"I think I just trained really hard (this year) and I made sure that I made all the practices," said Daniels, who also helps out as a coach of the younger Sharks.
"I did a lot more race-pace stuff in practices, so I was better prepared for the meets."
Daniels is off to the Manitoba-Saskatchewan provincial championships early next month in Winnipeg. Racing in multiple events, she'll be able to warm up for the Canada Games.
"I'll likely swim seven or eight events (at the provincials), whereas in Canada Games, I'm just going to swim the 100 (free), probably," she said.
Daniels has already secured a relay berth, and she's trying to earn a spot in the 100 free individual event, so her Man-Sask meet times will factor into final selections.
"So, I can't really just slack off now," she said with a laugh.
She's hardly a slacker, considering her athletic and academic achievements. On both counts, she's shooting high.
"I definitely want to go as far as I can," Daniels said. "I think swimming in university would be really awesome to do. And the university that I want to attend (Victoria) has a really good swim team.
"I'm thinking about (studying) medicine. A lot of people in my family have done medicine. My grandpa is a doctor, and so is my uncle, and my mom is a nurse."
Daniels and her mother are making the trip to Atlantic Canada for the Games.
"My mom has some family out there, too, so she's coming with me," she said. "That'll be fun."
Team Saskatchewan plans to train in New Brunswick the week before the Games swim meet in P.E.I.
Daniels has been swimming competitively with the Sharks for eight years.
"I really love racing, and I like all the friends I meet with swimming," she said. "It's a great experience. It teaches you lots of values. I really like it.
"Yeah, I do have to get up early (for practices). It's a lot of training, but I know that in the end, the training will be worth the success I get."
Sharks vice-president Janice McLeod said Daniels was most deserving of a Games berth.
"She had some really good swims," McLeod said. "She has been swimming with the club for a long time and has worked very hard."
jmacneil@paherald.sk.ca
