| Montreal Synchro tops team preliminaries at Synchro Canada’s 2011 Canadian Espoir Championships |
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GATINEAU, Que. – Jacqueline Simoneau helped Montreal Synchro to the lead in the team preliminary event and also posted the top score in the figures competition on Friday at Synchro Canada’s 2011 Canadian Espoir Championships being held at the Gatineau Sports Centre. In team prelims, Montreal Synchro totalled 74.093 points with Dollard Synchro of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., second at 72.048 and Toronto’s Granite Synchro third at 71.484. "It was a strong performance for us," said Montreal Synchro’s Anne-Marie Chouinard. "We set the tone for tomorrow’s final. We are particularly aiming for a strong artistic performance with this program but the key to our success has always been our team spirit." Dollard and Granite also achieved their goals in the prelims. "It was really good," said Dollard’s Kaitlin McSweeney. "There are a lot of different patterns in the beginning which are really fast and difficult. That gave us a lot momentum for the rest of the program." "Everyone was in tune with the program tonight," said Granite’s Ioana Gheta. "Our routine was about Japanese Warriors and the strong drum music combined with our fast and powerful swimming really made an impact. It was hard to learn, but it is a fun routine." Meanwhile in figures, Simoneau showed why she was an international medallist last year earning 76.667 points. Chouinard was second at 74.024 and Myriam Sabourin of Montréal Synchro third at 73.365. Friday’s figures were the first steps in selecting Canada’s team for the Comen Cup August 3-7 in Italy. The top-25 advanced to a second figures event on Sunday as well as an individual routine set competition on Monday June 6. Those ranked in the top-14 then head to a week-long camp at which Synchro Canada and 2011 National 13-15 Team head coach Elena Podolsky (Toronto, ON, Olympium Synchro) with assistant coaches Nathalie Lagrange (Saint-Léonard, QC, Montréal Synchro) et Kara Kalin (Richmond, B.C., Vancouver Pacific Wave) will select the 10-member squad. This week’s competition has attracted 220 synchro swimmers in the 13-15 age group and is hosted by the Gatineau Synchro Club and Synchro Quebec under the leadership of Synchro Canada. There are swimmers from 25 clubs with 28 officials and 62 coaches. Competition continues through to Sunday. On Saturday, the duet prelims run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., the team final is from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and combo final from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Here are the 25 athletes that qualified for the second selection phase for Synchro Canada’s 13-15 national team on Sunday and Monday: ARMSTRONG, Amy (Toronto, ON, Variety Village Synchro) BJORNSON, Alyssa (Calgary, AB, Killarney Synchro) BRIMO, Brooke (Pierrefonds, QC, Dollard Synchro) CASKEY, Claire (Etobicoke, ON, Granite Synchro) CHOUINARD, Anne-Marie (Anjou, QC, Montréal Synchro) CRANEY, Madison (Kirkland, QC, Dollard Synchro) ENGLAND, Aerin (Burlington, ON, Olympium Synchro) FISET-GRENIER, Laurence (Québec, QC, Synchro Elite) HARDING, Dylan (Gormley, ON, Granite Synchro) HÉBERT, Sandrine (Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, Montréal Synchro) LEBLANC, Cosette (Woodbridge, ON, Olympium Synchro) MAGNAN, Sabrina (Montréal, QC, Dollard Synchro) MARSHALL, Caroline (Toronto, ON, Granite Synchro) McGOVERN, Clare (Toronto, ON, Granite Synchro) OVENDEN, Hannah (Calgary, AB, Calgary Winter Club) RHÉAUME, Katherine (Lachine, QC, Dollard Synchro) ROBARTS, Sachel (Mississauga, ON, Olympium Synchro) ROSS, Carol (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC, Dollard Synchro) SABOURIN, Myriam (La Prairie, QC, Montréal Synchro) SIMONEAU, Jacqueline (Saint-Laurent, QC, Montréal Synchro) SLAVIN, Erica (Calgary, AB, Calgary Aquabelles) THOMAS, Josée (Fredericton, N.-B., Fredericton Synchro) WALKER-BYRON, Madeline (Ottawa, ON, Gloucester Synchro) WHYTE, Kionna (Oshawa, ON, Durham Synchro) WONG, Kali (Calgary, AB, Calgary Aquabelles) About Synchro Canada Synchro Canada is the national organization governing synchronized swimming in Canada. It represents 10 provincial associations, a territorial association, as well as some 150 clubs and 12,000 members across Canada. A member of FINA, the world’s governing aquatic sports organization, Synchro Canada promotes the quest for excellence by developing the athletes, citizens and ambassadors of the sport of synchronized swimming at every level. Synchro Canada would like to thank its sponsors: Official partner: Epiderma Program partners: Sport Canada, Own The Podium, B2ten, the Centre national multisport-Montréal Official suppliers: Speedo, AdUp, MKI Travel, National Car Rental Official Charity Partner: Plan Canada’s Because I am A Girl Program For further information, visit Synchro Canada’s Website at www.synchro.ca or follow Synchro Canada on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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For more information: Patrick Godbout Synchro Canada Communications Manager Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Cell.: (514) 213-9897 Website : www.synchro.ca Facebook: Synchro Canada Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/synchrocanada |
