After Friday’s technical program that left them out of medal contention, the Canadian duet of Audrey Lamothe and Jacqueline Simoneau took to the pool on August 10 at the Centre Aquatique Olympique with one goal in mind: redemption.
They had been so close the evening before. 2 minutes into their technical program, they were having an amazing swim. “Their best in a long time,” confirmed duet coach Kasia Kulesza.
But with 10 seconds to go, they went out of sync and Lamothe couldn’t complete the declared elements in their last hybrid, resulting in a dreaded basemark that reduced their declared degree of difficulty (DD) from 41.1 to 29.3, leaving the pair 15th after the technical event.
“In March, we wouldn’t have even dreamed of attempting a DD in the forties, and today we went all in with the second highest DD of the event,” said Simoneau after their performance. “It just wasn’t our day.”
So when the pair delivered their best free program ever on Saturday, hitting their full difficulty for a monster score of 290.9103 points – the third highest of the day-, it was a testament not only to the special bond they have forged in their short time together, but also to their amazing resilience and mental fortitude.
Not that it came easy. Whereas Lamothe had expected to be able to turn the page on the previous night’s events, the sheer scope of the moment simply wouldn’t let her, and she showed up at the pool still out of sorts.
“Yesterday’s defeat hurt more than I had imagined,” she later confessed through teary eyes. “I was lucky. Jackie could tell right away that something was wrong, and she encouraged me not just as a duet partner, but as a big sister.”
In the end, the third place finish lifted the Canadian pair to 9th in the final standings with a cumulative score of 492.4270 points. China won gold, completing the team/duet sweep at the Games, while the pairs from Great Britain and the Netherlands completed the podium, each earning their country’s first artistic swimming Olympic medal.
For Simoneau, one of the most accomplished artistic swimmers in Canadian history, the moment was bittersweet. There was of course pride in herself and in her partner for having bounced back, but also thoughts of what could have been.
“Recovering from a defeat is difficult, but we did it together. This third place finish is a kind of confirmation that the goals we had set for ourselves were realistic. When an athlete comes back, it’s to reach the top of the podium. But beyond that, it’s really about the journey and sharing my knowledge. That’s what I love to do.”
Knowing that she would never compete in the Olympics again, Simoneau took a few extra beats waving to the crowd after the music stopped, trying to savour the moment. While it’s still difficult to measure the full extent of the extraordinary legacy she will leave behind when she retires, it’s already safe to say that her experience will endure through her duet partner and her bright future.
“Swimming with your idol comes with a certain amount of pressure,” confirmed Lamothe. “But it also comes with knowledge that no one else could have given me. No coach, no other athlete could have given me all the knowledge and experience that I’ve gained this year with Jackie. I see these Games as a stepping stone to the next level in my career