“Doing something you love, doesn’t feel like work."

Young and driven.

Andrea Jurenovskis remembers those days, as it relates to swimming, all too well. Learning, training, and accomplishing.

Whether it was during those early years of swim lessons at the municipal pool in Timmins or what would follow – the years of remarkable success at the Ontario and Canadian levels in the pool. Just as rewarding was enhancing her education at university.

There are times when every youngster dreams about what it would be like to compete at the Olympics. Jurenovskis, swimming with the Timmins Marlins Club, was no different. However, long after her academic studies were complete, the competitive side of swimming became simply one of enjoyment and physical exercise.

Her focus would turn from the water to the world of law.

She received a bachelor’s degree at the University of Toronto that would lead to law school at the University of Ottawa, where she also met her husband.

That one time mission of chasing swim records and personal best times would switch to advocacy and navigating the complexities of the legal system.

“Swimming has been a big part of my life and I have learned so much,” said Jurenovskis, now a mother of two. “The friendship, life skills, setting goals, and there was knowing that to accomplish something, you always had to make a sincere effort and work hard.”

After graduating with honors from Ecole Secondaire Catholique Theriault, the French high school in her Northern Ontario community, Jurenovskis had an opportunity to combine future studies and swimming in the United States.

Visionaries create new ways to experience tomorrow. That may very well hold true for Jurenovskis.

“I chose the University of Toronto because of its academics, and it had an excellent coaching staff for swimming,” said Jurenovskis. “It was the best move for me and the right move, too.”

It was also a school where, with glowing academic grades in courses relating to society, ethics, and the law, she was chosen as the recipient of the Deans Student Leadership award. Jurenovskis is adamant the award came because it was easy and fun for her to be involved in the advancement of sport and, particularly, swimming.

In the pool, Jurenovskis accomplished a great deal. She approached every meet with ambition and enthusiasm.

While at U of T, Jurenovskis had Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championship results in five consecutive years. The total haul of medals – 17. A versatile swimmer, she medalled in the freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke events. In 2011, she was named the OUA female swimmer of the year.

At the National level, again dominance. Jurenovskis ended her U of T career with more medals for her collection. This time six medals – a combination of gold, silver, and bronze – at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) finals. In 2016, the CIS rebranded to USports.

Personal attributes and appeal never got in her way to strive for the best. Next up, was wanting to input in ways that would build the sport of swimming in Ontario.

For Jurenovskis, her time in the water was not just as an athlete. She also has swim club coaching experience in Timmins and Ottawa, as well as with the University of Ottawa men’s and women’s swim teams.

Chosen to Swim Ontario’s nine-member Board of Directors, Jurenovskis joins other new appointees - Peter Kryger from Thorold and Toronto’s Tobias Oriwol – whose experience and knowledge will help grow the largest provincial swim organization in Canada.

Choosing a career in law, says Jurenovskis, fit her character, personality, and charisma.

“I was always intellectual, a perfectionist, and argumentative,” she said, with laughter, during a telephone interview from her home in the Canadian capital. “The interest was either law or medicine.”

Jurenovskis had worked for the College of Nurses of Ontario as an investigator reviewing allegations of incompetence, incapacity, and misconduct before taking maternity leave. Down the road, it will be returning to some aspect of legal work for the Government of Canada.

“Sport gave me so much in life and I am never too busy to give back,” she said. “Doing something you love, doesn’t feel like work. My goal has always been to contribute in a meaningful way.”

David Grossman is a veteran multi award-winning Journalist and Broadcaster with some of Canada’s major media, including the Toronto Star and SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN, and a Public Relations professional for 50+ years in Canadian sports and Government relations.