ALONG THE WILLAMETTE RIVER on Portland's Central Eastside, there is an empty lot just north of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Erica Slavin knows it well, though she's never been there. For her Stanford capstone project in architectural design, Slavin and a partner designed a public market for that spot, creating physical and computer models and worked with a structural engineering student to complete it.
The project went so well, she's taking the class again, this time from the engineering side. Given her dedication, no wonder the School of Engineering this month awarded her a Terman Award for academic achievement.
Slavin, an All-America synchronized swimmer and 2020 Canadian Olympic hopeful, carries a 4.026 cumulative GPA. She's never received a 'B.'
"We didn't do letter grades in high school, but, no, I don't think so," Slavin said. "I'm a chronic non-procrastinator. It stresses me out to leave things too long. That comes from years of trying to balance everything – trying to make use of every half an hour that I can get."
A senior captain, Slavin completes her Stanford synchro career at the four-day Collegiate National Championships, which begin Wednesday in Oro Valley, Arizona. Slavin has won four national titles – one each in team and duet (with Sandra Ortellado) and two in trio (with fourth-year partners Clare McGovern and Ortellado).
Synchro truly is a metaphor for life. Above water, we see a dance of grace, beauty, and smiles – all that is good. Under water, arms and legs pump madly to maintain the above-water façade, representing the struggles and effort that no one sees.
Slavin tilts her body upside down yet keeps her legs high out of the water, performing effortlessly while holding her breath. This is where she truly shines.
"Some people are better upright with their arms in the air," Slavin said. "But I do a lot of upside down legs, trying to have two legs out of the water as much as I can."
How does she do it? Slavin isn't sure.
"You just go upside down," she said. "It's so hard to explain the feeling. It's something that I've done for 15 years. At this point, it's just second nature."
The coordination is difficult to comprehend – a 3-minutes, 45-second duet or trio routine of angles, points, head bobs, and details. The heart beats at a rapid rate with few opportunities to breathe. This is why conditioning, especially in the fall, is vital.
A typical conditioning workout might be 10 x 50-meter sprints in one direction, with underwater 50-meter laps back, with 10 seconds of rest before the next rep. Or, a 1,000 freestyle swim where the frequency of breaths decrease on each lap. For instance, Slavin might begin with a breath every five strokes, then take one every seven, then nine, and finally 11 strokes. Then, start that cycle over.
If Slavin could live any childhood dream, she would play ice hockey. She grew up Calgary, the oft-frigid cosmopolitan Alberta city at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, and was a gymnast and swimmer in her younger years.
"I was bored of swimming and never very good at gymnastics," she said.
The Olympics are a big deal in the Slavin home and the family typically spends two weeks in front of the TV. During the 2004 Athens Games, when synchro came on the screen, 8-year-old Erica turned to her mother and said, "I want to do that." Barb signed her up and Erica has worked to become the synchro artist she is today, and a member of the Canadian national team.
Her status with Canada is a bit undecided. Slavin is the only member of the 16-member training squad who is a full-time student, or based in the U.S. Though she's been accepted into Stanford's structural engineering co-term program, Slavin may defer grad school until after the Tokyo Olympics.
"I'm ambitious," Slavin said. "That's a pretty common theme at this school.
"I like doing things to perfection. I know that's not possible. In my sport, you're never going to achieve perfection, but you want to be as perfect as possible. That definitely has become a theme in other areas of my life."