POULSBO — She actually enjoys the feeling of butterflies in her stomach — and the accompanying rush of adrenaline.

Unlike her small stature of 5 feet 1 inch and 108 pounds, Viking’s varsity swimmer freshman Bethany Aban is a giant force with which to be reckoned in the pool.

Aban, 14, uses her fluttery stomach and a special goggle routine to pillage the waters, breaking North’s 29-year-old 100-yard breaststroke school record. She followed with double encore.

On Sept. 18 Aban broke Terry Gaines’ 1979 100-breaststroke record, 1:15.9, with a 1:14.06. A few weeks later, on Oct. 2, Aban outdid her own record, setting the 100-breaststroke record as 1:13.3. The three-peat came on Oct. 23, as she (once again) broke her own school record, and in a state qualifying time of 1:12.34.

“After I finished the race I didn’t realize it, but then I could hear everyone cheering and I pumped my arms twice. I was so excited,” Aban said of the first time she broke the record. “During the race I didn’t feel tired at all. I could have kept going.”

It was during the second record-setting time Aban was aiming for a state qualifying time. She was disappointed that swim didn’t qualify for state, but was happy she quickened her own record.

Aban started swimming in the fourth grade. She joined the Poulsbo Piranhas competitive team in the seventh grade. Setting North’s breaststroke record has been her goal ever since she began to swim competitively.

“I was already looking forward to swimming the breaststroke in high school,” she said. “I looked at the record and I knew I was pretty close and then it became my goal.”

Head coach Greg Braun wasn’t surprised by the freshman’s hat trick. He said she swims very smart races, and is very solid in all varieties of stroke.

When Aban sets a goal, she’s going to accomplish it.

“She’ll do what it takes to get there. If we said ‘Bethany you need to practice six hours a day,’ she would,” Braun said. “If there’s some little detail she needs to tweak, she’s all over it.”

Aban said she works as hard as she can each and every day, and this is why she’s able to reach her benchmarks.

She also has an interesting routine she must do before each race if she hopes to swim well.

“Before my race starts I have to fix my goggles constantly, it’s just a habit. And I have to swing my arms around,” she said. “If I didn’t I wouldn’t feel right, it’d be like I’m missing something. I’m superstitious they’ll fall off in a race so I have to push (the goggles) hard to my face.”

One is left to wonder what comes next for a young swimmer who’s already met a two-year goal within a month of being able to achieve such an ambition.

Well, she simply moves on to the next desired achievement on her list, and she’s got many.

One of them was qualifying for state in the 100-yard breaststroke, which she did last Thursday.

She’d also like to qualify for state in the 100-yard backstroke and set the backstroke school record. She’s about an arm’s reach away, as her 100-backstroke is less than two seconds off a state qualifying time.

Braun believes Aban’s got what it takes.

“Is that something she could do?” he said. “Yeah.”

Aban, a natural in the water, has more lofty ambitions to whittle away at in the next three years.

She wants to swim at the college level and perhaps at the national or Olympic level.

“I’m really working toward those,” she said.

In the meantime, she’ll continue to practice with all her might, five days a week for about two hours each day.

After getting out of the pool, Aban goes to work on land, running and training her core muscles.

On Thursday the Vikings girls swim team is off to the 2A and 3A Olympic League Invitational in Port Angeles. Races start at 3 p.m.