The name Krista Bowser is one that swim coach John Peters speaks of with great respect and is invariably the first one he mentions when asked to name the most outstanding swimmers he has ever had on his teams.
And Krista fondly recalls those days when she was member of the Sackville Swim Club and later as a star with the Mounties but she still insists he was more demanding of her than of any of her teammates.
However, she believes he may be mellowing with age although he still expects more of his talented athletes than from those less skilled.
From 1996 to 2000 Krista was the "Queen of the Pool" and Peters says she never lost a sprint and invariably qualified each season with ease to earn a berth in the national championships run by the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU).
Mount Allison has never had a swimmer finish in the medals at the national level, but Krista Bowser came closest, ending in fourth spot in 2000, her senior year, competing against Olympic level athletes.
Eleven years after her last race, the former swimming great is the proud mother of two handsome children - three-year-old Payton and six-month-old Cohen. She is married for a former Mount Allison student - Ron Cluett - and they live beside one of the many lakes that dot the Dartmouth landscape.
'When I graduated from Mount A in 2000 I hung up my swim suits and haven't been in the pool many times since," she said during a recent visit with her parents, Keith and Debbi Bowser.
Asked how she got involved in the sport she said her mom had registered her in the beginners' class of the Sackville Swim Club but she hated the water with a passion and it was quite some time before she accepted her lot.
"I guess it was when then-coach Barb Campbell told my mom that I had a lot of potential," she said, "but even then I often got disqualified in races due to a lack of concentration and attention. It was only after I won a few events that I became really interested and trained with a passion."
Krista says it was the social aspect of swimming that tweaked her interest early on and some of her best friendships were formed at the pool, many of those people remaining close to her all these years later. She became the provincial champion in the dashes - 50- and 100-metre events - for several years although Fredericton swimmer Chris Morrison gave her a challenge most times. Her specialties were the 50 and 100 butterfly and freestyle events, although in later years she entered the 200-meter freestyle and individual medley.
"She was a great sprinter," says coach Peters, "earning berths in the national finals each of her four years while at Mount allison and was also on the Canada Games team in 1993 and 1997."
"I will offer every encouragement to my children to take up swimming as a lifestyle as it has so much to offer – an opportunity to gain self-confidence and to meet many friends who will remain close for a lifetime.” - – Krista Bowser
Krista had a real fire, she was always on time and probably worked harder than any of the others on her team and could be counted upon to swim faster when the pressure was on. She would have to be considered our all-time all-star although we have had some good ones - like Kerry Creelman and now Marya Peters."
After receiving her bachelor of arts degree in 2000, Krista looked around and opted to continue studies to become an x-ray technologist and is now employed at IWK Hospital in Halifax. She says she sees some heart-breaking situations but knows that she and her colleagues are doing all they can to help improve the health of children.
Krista recalls she had some outstanding teammates, including Kent Coates, who went on to earn national honours, Andrew Snowdon, Jennie Alexander and Jessie McFee, among others. And then with the Mounties she recalls that Elissa Gelleny usually accompanied her to the nationals.
Asked to comment on the reason times for most events are now being lowered, one after the other, she says one big cause is the high-tech, specially designed bathing suits combined with the latest developments in coaching techniques.
Krista says swimming, like anything, is a case of "you only get out what you put in."
And she says some of the best years of her life were spent in the pool. While she enjoyed much scoreboard success she gives coach Peters much of the credit.
"I had the will to win and became very competitive," she says, but it was the coach who always kept pushing."
Meanwhile, the veteran coach says "she was a little fireball who always went at full speed and never lost a race after the age of 12 and combined this with strong academic showing."
So what did swimming teach Krista?
"I was forced to learn to organize my time as we spent a dozen hours a week training and many more at meets on the weekend."
She was rookie of the year in 1996-97, athlete-of-the-year in her final three seasons, an AUAA all-star all four years as well as national qualifier each of her four years.
In conclusion, she is very clear in saying, "I will offer every encouragement to my children to take up swimming as a lifestyle as it has so much to offer - an opportunity to gain self-confidence and to meet many friends who will remain close for a lifetime. It is definitely one way to resist the temptations that society has to offer these days."
