Gunn grad Jennifer Campbell, who will be a junior at Cal in the fall where she's a member of one of the top women's swimming programs in the nation, doesn't have to come back to Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics Club every summer.

But she does.

"She's been a big leader," PASA coach and Olympian Dana Kirk said Friday after watching Campbell win the 200-meter freestyle in a time of 2:03.38 at the USA Swimming Futures Championships in Santa Clara. "Coming back in the summer inspires our kids, inspires our guys. She's done a good job of gaining strength as she grows older."

Campbell later placed third in the 100 fly (1:02.35) and joined Sacred Heart Prep's Sloane Reinstein, 13-year-old Audrey J-Cheng and Gunn's Sarah Snyder in placing second in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:53.54. A pretty good day all around.

Snyder, part of Gunn's Central Coast Section championship team, also had a pretty good day. She finished second to Campbell in the 200 free (2:04.65) and was second in the B final of the 100 fly, recording a time of 1:02.63.

Snyder and Campbell are swimming buddies in practice and Kirk said it's clear Campbell has had a positive affect on Snyder.

"It's a huge tribute to what she's done," said Kirk, who earned 17 All-American honors and eight Pac-10 titles as one of the most versatile swimmers in Stanford history. "She keeps pushing people to do better."

Kirk began coaching with PASA when she was a junior in college, as back issues forced her into early retirement. One of her first swimmers was an eight-year-old Jenna Campbell.

"It's the joy of being a club coach," Kirk said. "You see a kid walk in as an eight-year-old and then watch them become adults. I hope I've guided her in the right direction in some small way. I'm so proud of what she's accomplished and how she comes back and works for the summer."

Campbell and Kirk are the guardians of new generation of swimmers coming through PASA and Snyder is a perfect example of how successful their guidance has been.

In addition to Snyder, Gunn swimmers Milan Hilde-Jones, Ashley Stahmer and Grace Tramack were also on deck Friday. PASA had nearly 30 girls, ranging in age from 13 to 20, entered in the four individual events and one relay held at the George Haines International Swim Center.

Campbell and Snyder were the only two who swim in A finals but several up-and-comers swam in either the B or C final, including Tramack, Alexandra Rudolph, J-Cheng, Castilleja's Marie Williams and 14-year-old Stanford resident Cindy Liu.

With a few exceptions, PASA swimmers finished in the upper half of every event, which usually featured up to 115 swimmers.

Half Moon Bay's Grace Anderson, Mountain View's Paige Gambetta, Palo Alto junior Amy Wu, 13-year-old San Carlos resident Audrey Holden, Redwood City resident Lydia Bauer, St. Ignatius' Lauren McCormack, Sacred Heart Prep's Gabriella Ma, Washington State freshman Sophia Balmacede and Palo Alto resident Margot Gibbons fell into the category.

The top male was James Lovette, a sophomore at Williams College, who finished sixth in the 200 free in 1:53.95. Palo Alto resident Yurack Jung was 18th in the 100 breast (1:07.74) and Harker's Yannick Bohbot-Dridi was fifth in the C final of the 100 fly.

SHP's Ryan Kim, Gunn's Shogo Moridaira and Menlo School's Alec Vercrusse all finished in the top half of the 100 breast.

The meet continues through Sunday, with prelims at 9 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m.

At the Speedo Junior Nationals in Irvine, incoming Stanford freshman Amalie Fackenthal (2:04.71) was 33rd overall in the 200 free. PASA's Danielle Carter (2:06.01), Izzy Henig (2:06.71) and Brooke Schaffer (2:07.97) all swam in the prelims.

Paly grad Zoe Lusk (2:40.17) and Gunn sophomore Melanie Julia (2:45.30) swam in the prelims of the 200 breast and Carter competed in the 100 back.

It was the same for the men, with Brooks Taner and Lucas Walker swimming in the prelims, as did incoming Stanford freshmen David Madej and Jonathan Cook.