| Boudreau-Gagnon and Marcotte earn Olympic spot for Canada in duet |
 GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Synchronized swimmers Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., and Élise Marcotte of l’Ancienne-Lorette, Que., earned an Olympic spot for Canada in duet winning the gold medal on Thursday at the 2011 Pan American Games.The Canadians totalled 188.988 points for Tuesday’s preliminaries and today’s final combined. Mary Killman and Mariya Koroleva of the U.S., were second at 179.463 and Lara Teixeira and Nayara Figueira of Brazil third at 177.413. “Our objective this season was to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games and we can now say “mission accomplished”,’’ said Marcotte. ‘’We are also a little bit sad as it was the last time that we swam this routine on Metallica songs. I think this routine will go down in Synchro Canada history.” Boudreau-Gagnon was encouraged by pair’s score which keeps rising at every competition. “We swam pretty well. We can’t ask for more,’’ she said. ‘’We are getting closer and closer to 95 points for the routine. We also closed the gap between us and the other countries.” Coach Julie Sauvé was glad to see Boudreau-Gagnon and Marcotte’s victory was clear cut. “I’m very happy,’’ Sauvé said. ‘’We finished well ahead of the other countries. Marie-Pier and Élise definitively delivered an Olympic podium performance.” Canada will look to land an Olympic spot in the team event on Friday. The Canadians hold a strong lead after Wednesday’s preliminaries. 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. For further information, visit Synchro Canada’s Website at www.synchro.ca or follow Synchro Canada on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. For 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 in Mexico: 011-52-33-3952-6313 Website : www.synchro.ca Facebook: Synchro Canada Twitter : www.twitter.com/synchrocanada |
