By SNS Communications
This summer Sam Low accomplished her goal of competing in her first World Aquatics Masters Championships for artistic swimming – but she isn’t done yet.
“I want to compete in as many Masters World Championships as I can,” says Sam. “There’s an 80-to-100-year-old category. Those people inspire me so much, I hope to be them one day.”
Travelling to Singapore for the competition, Sam came 15th in the Solo Technical Routine event and 11th in the Solo Free Routine event for the 25-29-year-old age group. Sam was just shy of the top ten for Solo Free Routine with a 0.1-point difference.
“I’m happy with how I did. I think I swam well. Maybe next time I’ll get top ten, but going was more for the experience. I remember when I first walked out onto the pool deck, I started tearing up because I couldn’t believe I was there,” says the 26-year-old.
Sam is currently on a club team with Atlantis Artistic Swimming, but since the timing didn’t quite work out for her team, she decided to go to Singapore as a soloist. Her parents and husband, Matt, came to cheer her on, but Sam says it was scary going without a coach or teammates.
Armed with a lesson plan and corrections sent from her coach at home, she got additional help from one of the Canadian coaches at the competition who watched Sam during training sessions and provided some feedback.
“The other Canadians that went to Singapore kind of adopted me the whole week,” says Sam. “They all came together and they cheered for me as I competed, which is really special.”
For her two routines Sam swam to My Immortal by Evanescence and a cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles. Being able to express herself through music and choreography is one of the main reasons Sam fell in love with artistic swimming.
Sam got started in the sport the old-fashioned way—through a newspaper ad. Growing up in Whitby, Ontario with a pool in her backyard, Sam loved to swim. Then when she was seven years olds her parents saw an ad for Durham Artistic Swimming Club and they asked if she wanted to try it out.
“It joined strength with artistry and it’s just so creative, you get to swim to music, I just loved everything about it.”
Now living in Timberlea, Nova Scotia, Sam works full-time as a labour and delivery nurse at IWK Health. This means she often gets practices in before or after 12-hour shifts.
“It’s tiring, but I do it because I love it and it’s good for my mental and physical well-being and I get to hang out with my friends,” says Sam. “I just want to be an inspiration for younger athletes to show that you can continue the sport that you love into adulthood just because you love it and it’s good for your health.”
Looking ahead, Sam’s next goal is to compete with her team in Budapest for the World Championships in 2027.
