Jennefer Brankovsky has come a long way to swim at UB, for which she recently set seven school records at the MAC Championships in Ypsilanti, Mich. Four of these records - 200-yard butterfly, 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley, and 200 freestyle - were set individually and three - 800 freestyle, 400 medley, and 200 freestyle were set as part of a relay.
Brankovsky is not a typical freshman at UB. She is 20 years old, having completed a fifth year of high school at Don Mills Collegiate Institute last year. In the Canadian province of Ontario, students have the option of a condensed four-year schooling, but most prefer to take the more flexible five years. When she was two, her family moved from Germany to Toronto, where they currently reside.
Swimming was just something that seemingly came out of nowhere to Brankovsky. Her parents are tennis players, so their daughter's success in the water has been somewhat uncharted territory.
She participated in learn to swim programs at a young age, and at about nine, someone suggested Brankovsky join a club called Olympic Way, in which participants train three days a week, get into a routine, and set goals for themselves.
"I've always had goals, like make nationals or junior nationals, stuff like that. I like to know what I'm aiming for," said Brankovsky, "To go after a certain time in an event, for example."
One goal Brankovsky set for herself was win a scholarship to swim somewhere in the United States. Not only has she done that, but has made a name for herself at UB and in the conference in only her first year.
All this comes after Brankovsky struggled through what would be her last year on her club team in Scarborough, Ontario. Through it all, she kept her goal of swimming in the U.S. on a scholarship in mind.
"Last year was pretty hard. I didn't swim very well at all, and I didn't know where I was going to go to college, so there was lots of stress. The club wasn't supportive, it was very negative. People would even make fun of you if you trained hard. It wasn't a very good atmosphere to train in."
A trip to Buffalo was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. After meeting with women's swim coach Dorsi Raynolds and some of her potential teammates, Brankovsky was sure UB was where she wanted to go.
"Dorsi was totally the opposite from my coach at Scarborough. She's such a positive coach and I really needed that. I mean, she's at every workout. She shows genuine concern for everyone on the team. It's just a much better atmosphere."
"The team stopped by to say 'hi' and everything too, and I wasn't even on an official trip. Teammates would just drop in, and they really seemed to care about whether I came."
There has been a bit of an adjustment period though, especially since the length of the pool is different in Canada than it is here in the United States.
"In Canada we swim in 25 meter pools or 50 meter pools, and now I'm swimming in 25 yard pools. You still hurt after a race, but they do feel quite a bit shorter. I've had to work on my turns, the turns have to be faster. I've worked pretty hard on them, so they're better. They have to be quicker because there is less room for error."
After all Brankovsky has accomplished, there are still goals to obtain.
"My goal was to make the NCAA 'B' cuts (everyone from an 'A' cut automatically qualifies, and the rest of the field is filled with the top "B" cuts), and now I've done that, so the next step is to actually make it to the meet. I'd also like to go to the Canadian Olympic Trials. That was a great meet two years ago and I'd like to go again."
Brankovsky is currently majoring in exercise science. When she has completed her degree, she hopes to become a doctor and open up her own practice, probably in the United States.
