At the age of 9, Bryce Kananowicz was not always the best swimmer while swimming for the Coeur d'Alene Area Swim Team. But over time, he persistently worked until he reached his goals set at a young age.

"When I was 9, I started off with CAST and I was in the back of the lane and in the slowest lane," Kananowicz said. "I've always been a very competitive person, so I made it my goal that I wanted to try to - maybe not the next day, maybe not the next week - but try to eventually get in front of the person in front of me to eventually get up to where I'm leading my lane and I'm chasing the person at the front of the lane until I'm in the fastest lane leading."

After about a year, Kananowicz's talents took off.

"When I was 9, my best friend, (former Lake City High swimmer) Joe Loftus was the fastest kid on the team. I wanted to be the best at what I was doing and I strived to be the best on the team and by the time I was 10, I was making the Western Zones, which was a big deal and when I was 11, I was real close to beating Joe and when I was 12, I was setting records and I was beating Joe and I was being more competitive. It took a couple of years to get where I wanted to be but now I got to that speed where I could beat Joe."

And now the 17-year-old is among the top swimmers in the country. He said he is among the top 30 in the world in his age group, and at one time was tops in the world for his age in the 100 backstroke.

"There's always someone out there who's working harder, stronger, better, faster than you are and I want to be the person everyone's trying to catch and beat," said Kananowicz, now a senior at Lake City, who will close out his high school career today and Saturday at the state swim meet in Boise. "My friends and family remind me you want to be the one people are chasing. It could be a couple hundredths of a second that could be the difference between first and third place."

KANANOWICZ WAS born on Dec. 22, 1995, in San Antonio, Texas, where his parents, Ben and Sherry Kananowicz, lived for 15 years. They graduated in college together and lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before moving to San Antonio. During the past several years, both of them have worked as nurses at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

The family moved to Coeur d'Alene from nearby Liberty Lake when Bryce was 15.

"I was just about to end my freshman year when I moved here," he said. "I was training out here in Coeur d'Alene since I was 13 when I was swimming for the Coeur d'Alene Area Swim Team. It was more convenient for time's sake so (my family) didn't have to make so many drives and we always liked the area, so we moved 30 minutes away and it'd be more convenient for training."

Sherry Kananowicz swam for several years and competed in the Canadian Olympic Trials. Sherry, who is the president of CAST, got her son into swimming.

Kananowicz, who was age 7 1/2 when his family moved to Liberty Lake from San Antonio, tried out for the swim team in Liberty Lake at the urging of his mother. When he was 9, he was invited to swim for CAST.

"My dad was a soccer and hockey player and I tried every sport," Kananowicz said. "But swimming stuck with me the most and I liked it the most."

According to Collegeswimming.com, the 6-foot-1 Kananowicz is the top swimmer in the state and was ranked 99th nationally. He's the defending state champion in the 200 individual medley.

"My goal is to go and win and break state records," Kananowicz said. "I've always been dominant in the 200 IM, the 100 fly and the 100 back."

BECAUSE HIS parents were born in Canada, Bryce Kananowicz holds dual citizenship, meaning he can try to make the Olympic team in either the U.S. or Canada. He said he is hoping to earn a spot on Team Canada one day, whether it's at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil or 2020 in Tokyo. He has top-five long course times in his age group in Canada in the 200-meter backstroke (2:05.22), the 100 butterfly (56.49 seconds) and the 400 individual medley (4:30). Only the swimmers who have the top two times from Canada make it to the Olympics.

"That's my goal," Kananowicz said. "I'd love to compete for Team Canada. Over the next three years, I have to swim a little bit faster and hopefully I can make it to the Olympics."

Kananowicz said Missy Franklin, a four-time Olympic gold medalist from last year's Summer Olympics in London, is "a good friend of mine."

In short course pools, Kananowicz, 17, is second in his age group in the U.S. for the 100 backstroke, third in the nation in the 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly and 200 I.M., and he's seventh in the nation in the 100 freestyle.

ON SEPT. 29, Kananowicz verbally committed to swim for and attend the University of South Carolina. After being contacted by many of the top swimming schools in the nation, Kananowicz chose South Carolina in part because of the coaches and the school's strong academic prowess.

"It has the most honor roll athletes in the SEC in the last 12 years and it has a great dental school," Kananowicz said. "I want to be an orthodontist someday. I've always been fascinated with dental work. I'm job shadowing for Dr. Karl Peach in Post Falls, my uncle's a dentist and my best friend's dad is a dentist, Dr. George Loftus (in Coeur d'Alene). It's something that excites me, especially with orthodontics, you're really helping people change their smiles so they can be proud of it ... I had braces and now I'm more proud of my smile."

Lake City swimming coach Jon Siegler said he has little doubt Kananowicz can compete and thrive in the SEC.

"In my opinion, he's fully ready," Siegler said. "It's whether he can buckle down and can compete. Throughout the years, we've seen him rise up. He wants to be one of the best."

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, or via email at bbourquin@cdapress.com Follow him on Twitter @bourq25