Swimmer Sherry Liu is on a journey of self-discovery.
That is what Hyack Swim Club coach Mark Bottrill calls the Burnaby 17-year-old's accomplishments that led up to her earning a place at the recent Pan American Games in Mexico.
"At this stage with young swimmers, it's selfdiscovery," Bottrill said. "It's not just learning how to do things better. They have to tackle, in many ways, a huge amount of work, which scares the bejesus out of a lot of people."
Liu appears to not be one of those people.
Born in China, Liu came to Canada at the age of four. She learned most of her swimming skills from her father before settling into the Hyack family a year ago.
Since then, Liu has taken a big step into the senior swim ranks, finishing second in both the 800and 1,500-metre freestyle, while also placing third in her first-ever 400m at last season's summer nationals.
She also won her firstever national title in the 1,500m free at the world trials in Victoria earlier in the season.
"I think my dad gave me a pretty good base to begin with, but I dropped 20 seconds off my 800 freestyle after coming to the Hyacks," Liu said.
But her improvement at 400m struck an individual chord with the academic honour student.
"My favourite race from last year was the 400 free," she said. "I was beginning to write off that distance, but had a two-second drop in time from the nationals. - I was really happy with that time. It was a great conclusion to the meet."
That feeling carried on to the Pan Ams, where Liu won the B final at that distance, placing ninth overall in a 4: 18.11 time that would have been good enough for the championship final.
So where does the unassuming Liu get the strength to challenge the best at the longer distances?
"I think it's something I've tried really hard to develop. It was easy with my dad, practising oneon-one. You have to keep focus and I think that's where it comes from," Liu said.
"I don't think I'm one of those athletes that has raw power. - But when it comes to distance swimming, it's my cup of tea. I feel I'm light in the water. When I'm swimming, I feel I can go on forever."
And for the medium term, she likely will.
Liu will sign a letter of acceptance from Harvard University, where she will study and train following graduation.
From then on, her future looks wide open.
"What I really want to do is just focus on improving," Liu said.
"At the end of this season, I want to leave this pool with no regrets. I don't know what that will be, but I want to feel that I honestly tried."
Knowing Liu, that will be a given, said her Hyack coach.
"To do what she did in a public swimming lane, it takes a lot of self confidence," Bottrill said.
And confidence is something Liu has worked hard to acquire.
"I try to be confident, especially in practice. If a set doesn't go well, or if I'm feeling tired, it begins to wane a bit. But when I'm behind the blocks, I try to put all that behind me," she said.
