RIO DE JANEIRO – Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., and Elise Marcotte of l’Ancienne-Lorette, Que., won the gold medal in duet and Canada took the team competition as well on Sunday to conclude the Brazil Open synchronised swimming competition.

Canada swept gold in all three events.  On Saturday, Boudreau-Gagnon also claimed the solo final.

The event was an important tune-up for the Canadian synchronized swimming team as it prepares for the 2011 Pan American Games, the first opportunity for the national team to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Shanghai next month.

In duet, Boudreau-Gagnon and Marcotte totalled 188.551 with Nayara Figueira and Lara Teixeira of Brazil second at 179.564 and Sara Labrousse and Chloé Willhelm of France third at 178.877.

‘’It was a big win for us,’’ said Boudreau-Gagnon, 28.  ‘’This was a rare opportunity for us to face some of our top opponents that will be at the Pan Am Games.  The judges here are potentially those that will be at the Games as well and it was important for us to make a strong impression, especially that this is our first year together in duet.’’

In the team competition, Canada compiled 188.389 points for the win.  France was second at 177.764 and the U.S., third at 177.426.  The Canadian team members were Jo-Annie Fortin of Montreal, Chloé Isaac of Brossard, Que., Ève Lamoureux of Montreal, Stéphanie Leclair of Gatineau, Que., Tracy Little of Pointe-Claire, Que., Élise Marcotte of l’Ancienne-Lorette, Que., Valérie Welsh of St-Nicholas, Que., Stéphanie Durocher of Repentigny, Que., and Karine Thomas of Gatineau.

‘’We were very confident and we gave a very good performance,’’ said Welsh.  ‘’It was a program that we did last year but we really worked on changing and improving our acrobatic lifts in the program.  And they were done with a lot of precision today.’’

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
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