Buc makes smooth transition

This article appeared in the Pasco edition of the St. Petersburg Times on Oct. 1, 1998.

PHOTO CAPTION: Gulf's Stephanie Joyce prepares to start the 200 medley relay Tuesday at the New Port Richey City pool. Joyce also competes in synchronized swimming for Suncoast Waterworks. Photo, by John Pendygraft, courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times Pasco edition.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

Her arms are churning, her legs kicking. The water racing past her ears creates waves that flow with a muffled roar.

But Stephanie Joyce does not hear.

Nor does the Gulf High swimmer notice her shoulders and back burning with effort, or that her lungs are crying for a slow, deep breath of air.

There is just no room. Joyce's head is full of that great new song she heard that afternoon on the radio or that complicated formula she learned in math class.

Mind games.

They distract Joyce from her surroundings but focus her on the ultimate goal.

"When people race, they think, "I'm dying for air,' so think about something else," the freshman said. "It keeps your mind out of it. I think it makes me swim faster."

Joyce's other secret weapon: a kiss from Tess, her 9-year-old Dalmatian, before leaving the house on race day.

"I feel like it gives me good luck," Joyce said. "It's like she's cheering me on."

Not that she needs the help.

Joyce, a synchronized swimmer for the past five years, has traded form for speed in her gig at Gulf and is doing better than expected for someone new to the sport. In her first meet, Joyce won two races (100-meter backstroke and a 200 individual medley) and was part of the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.

"I look to do as well as I possibly can," Joyce said. "I don't expect to get first this year. But if I do it every year, I expect to be one of the best swimmers in the district."

Control is the watchword of a synchronized swimmer. The sport demands it; demands discipline, strength and stamina in what is basically a form-restricted ballet performed while treading water. Swimming for speed demands the same, though in more explosive proportions, and Joyce said each sport has enhanced her performance in the other.

That was the plan when Joyce and her mother moved in August from Staten Island in New York City to New Port Richey.

Joyce already was successful in synchronized swimming. The team she competed for even qualified for nationals. But she felt she needed to increase her strength, and what better way than on a swim team?

The transition from one discipline to another was easy.

Take practices.

Joyce, who now competes for the Suncoast Waterworks synchronized team in Largo, said she swims 500 meters as a warmup for that sport, so the distances she is swimming for Gulf are not daunting.

Neither is the prospect of getting tired. Joyce said she has held her breath for 75 seconds during synchronized routines, which can go as long as five minutes.

"And when your coach says do it again, and you have no break, you just die," she said.

On the other side, Joyce said speed swimming's constant use of arms and legs helps her synchronized routines in which leg motion is the only thing keeping her upper body out of the water and arm motions are used to keep her inverted body steady while she moves her legs.

Joyce also knew all the strokes needed in speed swimming.

"She was comfortable in the water, and for someone new coming in, that is one of the biggest things," Gulf coach Linda Cassidy said. The main thing is teaching her to swim fast."

Which should be accomplished providing Joyce doesn't keel over from exhaustion.

In addition to daily practices with the swim team, Joyce works out for 31/2 hours every Saturday with Suncoast Waterworks.

Joyce said that will increase to eight hours as competitions approach.

In addition, Joyce, who plays the clarinet, practices each night with the Gulf marching band.

"I find it gives me energy," Joyce said of her schedule. "Everyday you're exercising."

Meanwhile, she'll save the thinking and singing for race day.