Kristi Miller / Colorado Daily

Dave Jacobs takes a few laps during the lap hours at the Scott Carpenter Community Pool in Boulder, CO on Thursday, June 19, 2008. Niwot High grad and Boulder Swimming alum, Christine Jennings, used to practice in Boulder's pools and now she is preparing for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Gophers in Boulder spend their winters hiding in the snow pack for the most part. However, a certain gopher prefers to spend her time in the swimming pool year round.

Niwot High grad, and Boulder Swimming alum, Christine Jennings, is one gopher (University of Minnesota Golden Gopher, to be specific) who is burrowing her way into the ranks of the top female swimmers in the United States.

Jennings spent her salad days in Boulder, Colo. swimming for the Boulder Swim Team. While attending Niwot High School she trained at the Boulder Rec Center under swim coach Jim Richey.

Richey has been coaching swimming for over 25 years and has trained several high caliber swimmers, including Olympic silver medalist Larsen Jensen.

"He is very tenacious," said Christine's mother, Gayle Jennings. "He strives to get the best out of you."

Richey certainly got the best out of Christine Jennings, as she became a junior national champion and was ranked in the top 100 in the world under Richey's tutelage. On top of that, she held the Colorado state records in the 200m freestyle and the 400m freestyle until they were recently beaten.

"To put that in perspective," said Richey. "The girl who holds the state record in the 50m free and 100m free is [six-time Olympic gold medalist] Amy Van Dyken."

Jennings said that swimming on the Boulder Swim Team really helped her to step her game up to an Olympic Trials level. She had her first experience at the Trials as a 17-year old, when she tried to qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Now, Jennings will return for a shot at the Beijing Olympics.

Jennings found her love for competiton at the Boulder Rec Center, where she not only faced tougher opponents, but received advanced coaching and, for the first time, found herself performing in front of an audience.

"It was a whole new experience," said Jennings of the crowds at swim meets.

With people there to watch her, she said it increased her competitive drive.

Now Jennings is a 21-year old senior-to-be at the U of M who making the leap from promising young Boulder swimmer, to world-class swimmer.

On May 6, she competed in the World Open Water Championships in Sevilla, Spain, where she finished 22nd, and was the second fastest American swimmer in the event. She has only been competing in open water swimming since May 2007.

"I was new and I was a rookie going into it," said Jennings. "It was OK for my first open water swim. I thought I could have done a lot better."

Jennings does not seem to be wowed by her personal achievements, as so far she is only beginning to reach her goals.

"It's something that she has wanted to do since she was seven years old... to get to [the World Championships] or get to the Olympics," said Jennings' mother Gayle. "It has been pretty impressive to me as a parent, that a child can be focused on her studies and sports to that degree, and finally make it."

Jennings has already made it to the World Championships, but she now has her eyes set on the Olympics. She was unable to qualify for the U.S. team in the open water events, but she still has other disciplines that could allow her to qualify -- namely the 400m and 800m freestyle.

The change is race distance should not prove to be a problem for Jennings who won the Big 10 Championship in the women's 500m freestyle in 2007.

It's not an obstacle in the eyes of Richey, either. He calls his former pupil a "mystery woman," because of her ability to compete in a wide range of events from middle distance (400m/800m) to long distance (5k, 10k open water).

"Most people would think that'd you be good at either this thing or the other," said Richey. "She's an interesting athlete. It's really a product of her hard work."

Jennings is currently training at the University of Minnesota for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming that will run June 29-July 6 in Omaha, Neb. Her preparatory regiment consists of about 20 hours per week of swim training, plus additional hours of cardio and weight room training.

"It's a lot of work mentally and physically," said Jennings.

Richey, for one, believes she is up to the task.

"She works harder than anyone out there," said Richey. "Believe it."