The period of first feeding, when young salmonid fishes emerge from natal stream beds, is one fraught with predation risk. Experiments conducted in semi-natural stream mesocosms have shown that growth hormone transgenic salmonids are at greater risk of predation than their non-transgenic siblings, due partly to the higher metabolic demands associated with transgenesis, which force risky foraging behaviours. This raises questions as to whether there are differences in the swim-performance of transgenic and non-transgenic fishes surviving predation experiments. We tested this hypothesis in wild-origin rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that were reared from first feeding in semi-natural stream mesocosms characterized by complex hydrodynamics, the presence of predators and oligotrophic conditions. Using an open-flume raceway, we swam fish and measured their capacity for burst-swimming against a sustained flow. We found a significant genotype effect on burst-performance, with transgenic fish sustaining performance longer than their wild-type siblings, both in predator and predator-free stream segments. Importantly, this effect occurred before differences in growth were discernable. We also found that mesocosm-reared fish had greater burst-performance than fish reared in the controlled hatchery environment, despite the latter being unexposed to predators and having abundant food. Our results suggest a potential interaction between predation and metabolic priming, which leads to greater burst capacity in transgenic trout.