It's easy to understand why Julianna Prim still swims in the Powerade State Games of North Carolina.
Not only is the competition — which will end today at Bolton Pool in Winston-Salem — near her native Yadkin County, but Prim and her family also feel as if they owe a little something to the State Games.
"We feel an obligation," said Oz Prim, Julianna's father and a longtime swim coach. "The State Games have been good to us. We have won two scholarships through the State Games of America. We competed in the State Games Nationals two years ago in Colorado."
Julianna, a 2009 graduate of Starmount High School, won a State Games scholarship coming out of high school and another last summer, as she was transferring from Pfeiffer University to N.C. State University after one year of college.
She had a breakout first season with the Wolfpack, winning the women's team MVP award. But, like most athletes in non-revenue college sports, her athletics scholarship is not a full scholarship.
"I think when you are a junior in high school, you can apply (for State Games scholarships)," Julianna Prim said. "As long as you compete, you are eligible. It takes into account GPA, community service and that kind of thing.
"It's nice. Anything really helps, you know."
Prim was scheduled to swim eight events in the 19-over division of the State Games and was seeded No. 1 in six and No. 2 in the other two. The swimming competition started Saturday and ends today.
She nearly qualified for the NCAA championships in her first season at N.C. State, after being named a Division II All-America in her one season at Pfeiffer. She will swim the 200-yard long-course freestyle in the State Games, one of her two best events, but won't swim her best event, the 200 butterfly.
"I will swim the back(stroke) and breast(stroke) and 400 freestyle," she said. "Those aren't my best events, but they are ones I need to train and get better at."
And though Prim has competed in much larger events — such as USA Swimming's Santa Clara (Calif.) International Grand Prix last week — she says she can't help approaching them all the same way, no matter their size.
"Like I said, I really like racing," she said. "I am pretty competitive. It's always more about the time, but I like to win, too. So I guess both are important to me."
As the summer drags on, Prim and her fellow N.C. State swimmers hang in limbo. Brooks Teal, a longtime acquaintance of Oz Prim and N.C. State's coach for the past 11 years, resigned in May. School athletics officials have yet to select a new head coach and staff.
"I always wonder about it," Julianna Prim said. "As it gets closer, I am thinking about it more. I just want to know. I want to know who it's going to be and that kind of thing."
Meanwhile, Prim keeps up a rigorous training regimen that includes "a couple" of hours in the pool every day, as well as weight training. She also helps coach a swim team in Elkin.
The training should help in many ways, one of which includes Prim's making a good first impression on her new coach.
"What's bad is you don't know who is coming and you have to re-prove yourself every season," Oz Prim said. "That's what the challenge is. It could be a great coach that she really bonds with. That's what we hope."
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