| Canadians grab early lead in solo and combo events at Japan Open |
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Tokyo, May 2, 2010 – Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., stands in first place after the solo technical routine and also helped Canada move into the lead in the team combo event on Sunday to open the Japan Open synchronized swimming competition. In solo, Boudreau-Gagnon, a bronze medallist at the world championships last year, is ahead of Andrea Fuentes of Spain, a member of Spain’s team which won the combo event at the 2009 FINA World Aquatic Championships. "Andrea is one of my big international rivals in this event this year and I really wanted to improve upon my world championship result," said Boudreau-Gagnon. "Plus this was the first time everyone was swimming with the new required technical elements that were implemented for this season. It went very well and I’m very confident for the free routines." In the team combo qualifying, Canada performed its Dancing in the Streets routine which earned it a bronze medal at the worlds last year as well. The Ukraine, sixth at the worlds last year, is in second place. The Canadian combo team members are: Boudreau-Gagnon, Jo-Annie Fortin of Montreal, Chloé Isaac of Brossard, Que., Ève Lamoureux of Montreal, Stéphanie Leclair of Laval, Que., Tracy Little of Pointe-Claire, Que., Élise Marcotte of l’Ancienne-Lorette, Que., Karine Thomas of Gatineau, Que., Valérie Welsh of St-Nicholas, Que., and Erin Wilson of Toronto. Welsh said the Canadian combo team made a very strong opening impression "We are very pleased and excited about swimming it again in the final (on Tuesday)," said Welsh. "We made several changes to the routine for this season. We’ve added a lot of speed in our movements which is something the judges are focusing on right now." Competition continues Monday with the team technical event, the duet technical event with Boudreau-Gagnon and Isaac swimming for Canada and the free solo event with Boudreau-Gagnon.
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