Marit Stiles first competed in the pool. She wants to lead an orange wave in Ontario [Video]

In some ways, her political career began at the community pool.

As part of a synchronized swimming team during their childhoods in Newfoundland, Marit Stiles and her younger sister, Enid, regularly had three-hour practices, weekend meets and competitions.

“Probably the first time I saw her leadership was on our teams in synchro,” Enid Stiles said in a phone interview from her veterinary practice in Quebec.

Her older sister was a natural, she said, somebody their teammates would often ask for.

“She was very good at her choreography.”

The precision and artistry of synchronized swimming might have given the now-Ontario NDP leader a leg up in her political career.

And Marit Stiles, 55, said she’s always been a “competitive person.” That’s what’s propelling her to run for the premiership after two years as leader of the Official Opposition, she said.

But with the NDP trailing far behind the Conservatives and the Liberals overtaking them in the polls, it will be …